The Forsaken Call

by Jamie Murray

  "But you're part of something much bigger now. It's something I had to do ten years ago."

  "And look what it got you. You've been missing for ten years, and now you have to risk your life to go on another huge adventure. I mean, just how many times did you almost die in the past two days?"

  "Is that what this is about? You're afraid to die?"

  Luke glared at his old friend angrily, and Jameson regretted what he had said right away.

  "That's not what I meant to say," Jameson said. "I'm sorry. You risked your life too and saved me. You saved all of us. It's just…I think you should come with us."

  "I'm going to stay here," Luke decided. "I'm not going with you."

  "I said I was sorry."

  "That's not what this is about," Luke said angrily. "I already told you. I can't leave the Forest, especially not now. You can go off with your destiny and adventure, but I have to finish this job before I leave it or else maybe people will never come back."

  Jameson couldn't think of anything else to say. "I wish you would reconsider," he tried.

  "I'm not going to," Luke said firmly. "If you ever come back to the Forest, I'll be here and I'll do whatever I can to help you, as long as it's here."

  Jameson nodded gravely and started to back up to go where Cyrus and Louisa still were. Before he turned, he put his hand to his waist and felt the sheath with the short sword Luke had given him, and promptly took it off. "Here," he offered, holding it out for him.

  "You can keep it," Luke said. "I'll make a new one."

  "Just take it," Jameson urged. "It's too short. I can't use it well after all."

  "Keep it," Luke repeated. "Save it for a last resort."

  Jameson looked down at the sheath and then back up at his friend. "All right," he said.

  "I'll see you around sometime, I guess," Luke said.

  "Yeah," Jameson said, not particularly wanting to turn and leave.

  Luke suddenly smirked. "I think I knew," he said in a rehearsed manner. "That you would leave someday." His smile widened. "I think."

  Jameson tried to remain stoic at first, but a smile forced its way out. "I'm coming back," he said.

  "That's the thing," Luke said, and he exhaled, satisfied. "You're telling the truth this time."

  "Soon, Luke," said Jameson. "I'll be back soon."

  Luke raised one hand as a wave to Jameson as he finally turned and ran off, not looking back.

  23. Part 2: MAZE: Then Where Is He?

  PART 2: Maze

  Chapter 23

  "Jameson? Jameson."

  Jameson popped back into reality, perched on top of his horse and outside the Forest. He looked over his shoulder at Louisa and Cyrus, both sitting on their own horses, waiting for him to come around.

  "Sorry," Jameson said, pulling the reins to turn the horse to turn it. "I didn't realize I stopped."

  "Is this the right thing?" Cyrus asked. "He should come along, shouldn't he?"

  "I can't force him," Jameson said.

  "I can," Louisa offered playfully.

  Jameson laughed a little and shook his head. "Let's get back to Miner Town," he said. "I'm sure Baloric's angry enough as it is without us taking any longer."

  "I will find it hard to sympathize with him," Louisa announced. "After all, the way he just ups and leaves so often. I was bound to do it eventually, I suppose. Though, I guess the two of you each have your own tendency to disappear for years at a time."

  "Mine doesn't count," Jameson said. "I still don't have my memory of then and I definitely didn't want to go wherever I went."

  "Fair enough," Louisa said. "What's your excuse, Felix? The Princess wanted you to go? We all know that's not true because she was the one who chased after you."

  "There were things I had to sort out for myself," Cyrus said. "And I couldn't do that with you and Baloric constantly breathing down my neck."

  "Jameson, this is how the story went," said Louisa. "All of us were trying to stay together after Ailyth fell. And, at first, we were doing pretty well. Then once Felix turned twelve, younger than you were when you disappeared, that's when he started getting difficult."

  "Difficult," repeated Cyrus. "That's not the word."

  "He started thinking he really could wield this power he had accidentally taken," Louisa explained. "And Baloric definitely didn't think he could. Felix was only a little child. How old were you when you first took the Fighter?"

  She looked at Cyrus for the answer. Even though she knew the correct response perfectly well, she still delighted in forcing Cyrus to say it.

  "I was eleven," Cyrus said.

  "No, you weren't!" Louisa exclaimed, pointing dramatically at him. "You lied to us all the time! You weren't eleven. You were younger than that. Why don't you tell Jameson how old you really are?"

  "It doesn't matter to me," Jameson said.

  "It matters," Louisa said. When he realized Cyrus was not going to relinquish any information, she decided to intervene. "He was nine. Nine years old! He told us he was eleven years old and we just believed him, I suppose."

  "Why does it matter?" Jameson asked.

  "Because a nine year old took the Fighter," Louisa answered. "That in and of itself makes it infinitely worse than if an eleven year old took the Fighter. Or, imagine maybe, if Walden took the Fighter."

  Cyrus pulled the reins of his horse and hurried out in front of the group, hopefully out of earshot, clearly not interested in hearing anymore about the conversation.

  Jameson gave an exasperated sigh and looked at Louisa. "Does it matter?" he said.

  "No, not really," she admitted. "But he did lie to us. And, in the end, even after ten years have passed, he's really still a child. He's not even twenty yet."

  Jameson' primary argument was going to say something about he, himself, was only fourteen when the adventure began, but somehow he didn't think the argument would do any good so he decided to change the subject.

  "It doesn't matter," Jameson said firmly. "Leave him alone about the Fighter and all that. We'll figure out what happened and we'll figure out what's going on with Luke later on. For now, I really think we should just all work together to head for Miner Town and get Baloric to tell us what's next."

  "Guys—"

  Jameson and Louisa looked at each other, and then up at Cyrus who was several strides in front of them, gazing over a hill which made the Market Field visible. However, Cyrus's concern seemed to be more distant and past the Market City, all the way back to Miner Town. There was an enormous back cloud settling on top of it like a hat, enveloping the entire town with darkness.

  "What is that?" gasped Louisa.

  "I have no idea," Cyrus said.

  "Could it be something Baloric's doing?" Jameson tried.

  "Definitely not," said Louisa. "That is not his style. I think there's trouble."

  "We haven't even had time to recuperate," Jameson said, gesturing towards Cyrus who had a crude cloth tied around his head to keep him from bleeding into his eye.

  "The Forces aren't going to hang around wait for us to get better," Cyrus said, pulling the reins up straight. "We have to go. I'm getting one of those bad feelings."

  "I think I had it too," Louisa said, putting her hand on her stomach. "It's a sinking feeling, like the other point to our triangle is going to collapse."

  "We have to hurry," Cyrus decided. He snapped the reins of the horse and immediately took off in the direction of Miner Town, lowering his head and urging the horse to go faster.

  "Let's follow," Jameson said to Louisa. "If there's trouble, we have to be the ones to do damage control!"

  "Oh, so we're damage control now, is that it?" Louisa groaned as she too moved her horse into position to follow Cyrus. She and Jameson began ridging, deciding to stay together as they did so simply to avoid missing each other or causing anymore separation. As long as they could see Cyrus ahead of them, they still felt as though they were still all together.

  But the sudden departure a
way from the Forest wasn't exactly what Jameson had in mind. He found himself constantly turned around to look at it, watch it disappear into the distance, and childishly hoping that maybe Luke was going to tear out of the Forest and insist on coming along. They would allow it, of course.

  "I think I knew that you would leave someday, I think."

  "I'm coming back," Jameson mumbled. "This time, I really am coming back."

  When he decided not to look back again, it felt as though there was a weight lifted from the pressure to see the Forest for as a long as he could. He knew that would not be the last time he saw Luke, so he eagerly looked forward to returning to the Forest soon when he had a better argument to convince him to leave as well.

  And, so, he had a new mission and a new reason to feel sick to his stomach. The darkness flooding Miner Town was definitely something to be concerned over, but he didn't know which aspect of it worried him the most. If Baloric had left to find Jameson when he had gone off to the Forest, then Jameson knew the consequences resulting from his absence would be his fault. Then again, there was always the chance Baloric was still there and the Forces had overwhelmed him.

  Jameson quickly shook his head at that notion. Baloric was the Powers and a great hero and it had been that way for ten years, so why would right then be the time when he was defeated?

  "Jameson," Louisa called to him, and he looked over. "I'm worried."

  "I am too," Jameson agreed.

  "Baloric was really weak after reviving your memory," she said. "And his powers weren't at one hundred percent."

  She kept her eyes on him, wanting him to say some comforting words but he was at a loss since she had managed to vocalize the opposite side of the argument in his own head. She had done nothing but propel his fear forward so, hoping he had not paused for too long, Jameson said, "I'm sure he's fine."

  "Yeah," Louisa said, nodding unconvincingly.

  There was still a long ride to Miner Town, but Jameson was just relieved they weren't headed someplace further away. In relation to the other nations, Jameson guessed Miner Town was perhaps the closest, though it still wasn't convenient.

  As they got closer to their destination, the sky was also becoming darker, though it was still day time and nowhere near the time when the sun was setting, but it was increasingly apparent that the darkness in the sky was covering up the sun. By the time Louisa and Jameson got to the gates, Cyrus was already waiting for them to open.

  "What's taking so long?" Louisa asked.

  "I had to convince them I was a friend of Baloric's," Cyrus said.

  "You should have just let me do it," Louisa said. "We don't have time to mess around right now."

  Cyrus nodded, and Jameson wondered if he was going to point out that it would have taken just as long to wait for Louisa to catch up with him. Cyrus just remained quiet and knew, perhaps, internally that he had done what he could to move the process along but he wasn't going to say it out loud.

  The gates began to open and Cyrus hurried through when there was barely enough room for him to fit. The other two were quick to follow, racing down the main street to find the old inn, but the town was hardly recognizable through all the devastation. Most of the buildings were flattened and there was debris and bewildered people in the streets, wandering about and calling out for loved ones. However, the largest concentration of people was around the site of the old Sparrow Inn; the inn itself was completely razed and citizens of Miner Town were all working together to move beams and planks of wood.

  Cyrus dismounted while his horse was still in motion, gaping in disbelief. He only managed to stutter, "Princess…" as his eyes fell on the wreckage of the inn.

  "Oh no," Louisa gasped, dismounting as well. Jameson took her by the arm and led her to where Cyrus had pushed through the crowds and apparently discovered a very shaken up Johanna who was filthy, trembling and scraped, wrapped in a blanket which barely covered her torn pajamas.

  "What happened?" Cyrus began to interrogate her.

  "Louisa!" Johanna exclaimed, basically ignoring Cyrus as she ran right to Louisa and dove into her arms. Jameson let her go and stood back as she cried, "The Forces came from the mines. There were so many of them! Tina and I went to find Baloric…"

  "Princess Erestina wasn't in here?" Cyrus said frantically.

  Johanna shook her head. "But Baloric was," she said, tears streaming down her face.

  "Baloric?" Louisa repeated for confirmation.

  "He had come back during the night when we were asleep," Johanna said. "When the Forces left, me and Tina looked for him, and his horse was around the back and his boots were outside. I always told him to leave his boots outside when he came back from the mines or else I would have to clean up after him…"

  "But where is he now?" Jameson led.

  "They're looking for him," Johanna said, looking back at the citizens of Miner Town who were sifting through the debris. "But he hasn't made any effort to get out. That makes me think…" She closed her eyes and began to cry.

  "Felix!" came the voice of the princess as she ran over to the small group, also wrapped in a blanket but looking much more put together than Johanna. She went right for Felix and hugged him for a brief second before quickly pulling away to face the others, especially Jameson. "Jameson," she whispered, lowering her head to him.

  "There's no time for this now," Louisa ordered. "We all have to help to find Baloric. I know he's alive under all this, somewhere."

  She pushed through the crowds and went to a group of women who were shuttling overturned debris to the road. Cyrus looked longingly at Erestina's turned back, clearly wanting to tell her how worried he was about her, but Erestina was too busy looking Jameson over, as if he might suddenly change.

  Jameson, feeling nervous, quickly excused himself to go to the damaged building to help wherever he could. A man who was clearly in charge of the organized effort saw Jameson and knew he was a strong able bodied individual, and immediately put him to work helping several other men lift a large beam which had supported the main structure of the building. Within a few seconds, Cyrus was next to him, also helping to move the beam. He hoped that when they moved it, they would see Baloric alive and well underneath, but as they carted it off of the other wood, there were only more layers of debris underneath.

  "Are we even sure he's underneath here?" Jameson asked Cyrus. "What if he went to Market City?"

  "Without his boots and horse?" Cyrus questioned. "No, he's got to be here."

  "Maybe you should take this time to rest," Jameson suggested. "You got hit pretty hard."

  "I'm fine," Cyrus assured him. "They need all the help they can get to clear this stuff out."

  Jameson resumed the work, keeping to himself that he was pretty sure Baloric was not in the wreckage. He didn't see Baloric being in a situation like that, allowing himself to be crushed by a house all around him after ten years of heroism. The dark cloud above Miner Town appeared to be moving on at around the time night started to fall, so soon it was getting dark.

  More people turned up to move the inn; it appeared to be everyone's first and only concern. With the amount of people working on the damage, it was soon all moved and, as Jameson originally predicted, Baloric was not discovered. Initially, people were relieved, but then they started to worry about where he might actually be.

  Jameson and Cyrus returned to an inn which had been designated to people who had lost their homes in the attack. Louisa, Johanna and Erestina were already inside when they entered and even though they weren't present at the site, they seemed to already know the outcome of the excavation.

  "I hate to think he's under some building someplace else," Johanna cried. "I mean, he probably ran off to help fight."

  "He could be all right," Jameson suggested.

  "Then where is he?" Johanna demanded.

  Jameson uneasily sat next to Louisa who shook her head to indicate to him not to speak again. He frowned at Louisa, and she decided to intervene so she stoo
d up and took him by the arm, leading him out of the room and into the hallway. Jameson gave an exasperated sigh as she led him and then closed the door.

  "Just leave her alone, all right?" Louisa said.

  "I was being supportive," Jameson reminded her.

  "You don't know her," Louisa pointed out. "She barely even remembers you so she doesn't need you to start spouting nonsense like 'he could be all right.' Really, Jameson?"

  "I don't know what to say."

  "Just don't say anything," Louisa said, rolling her eyes. "She does better in her own head. She's Walden's daughter, remember?"