by Jerry Hart
She gasped. It was the man from the hill, the one she’d thought looked familiar. He was still dressed in his green burial robes, his long black hair pulled into a pony tail. His face was painted half blue and half yellow, split right down the middle.
“Hello, Aneela,” the man said.
“Hello, Father.”
* * *
Andor stood on the small second island, staring at the large cliffs that made up the coast of Dargo Island. He held little Joshua in his arms. The baby hadn’t cried the entire time he was in the man’s possession. It was quite impressive; he would’ve made a good king.
Andor saw them coming, dark shapes making their way from the main island in groups of three. It appeared Aneela finally found him.
The boats reached the small island’s shore and Aneela came running up the grassy hill toward him. Her three remaining guards followed her, along with the human doctor Shae. The dwarf was nowhere in sight.
There was someone else behind the guards, someone familiar.
No, it couldn’t be.
“King Taleeno!” Andor called, trying to hide his surprise. “It’s nice to see you again. I see even giants can’t keep you down.”
“It wasn’t the giants that killed me,” Taleeno said. “It was Rockne. But you can rest assured you will die, either by my hands or by one of my people’s.”
“So sure of yourself, aren’t you?” Andor kissed Joshua’s forehead. “Someone will definitely die tonight.”
* * *
Astrid flew toward the mountains, to the valley with the constantly frozen lake and the entrance to the former giants’ kingdom. She didn’t know where everyone was, but she remembered where they’d been going before she went off to tame the weather over Dallas.
She flew through the ice and down the hole in the ground far below. She found herself in a large cavern filled with green and purple crystals. Between the large stalactite and stalagmite stood a green figure glowing brightly.
“Rapatha?” Astrid called. “Is that you?”
“Yes. You must be Astrid.”
“I am.” She flew up to Rapatha. “Where is everyone?”
“I don’t know. I can’t sense them as well as I used to. I’m growing weaker.”
“Is anyone helping you?”
“Yes. Josh and Rockne went off to retrieve something that may help, but they haven’t returned. May I ask you something?”
“Of course.”
“Are you…a nature demon?”
“Yes. How did you know?”
Astrid could see a faint smile in the green light. “I used to be one too.”
“Really? What happened?”
“I ran away. I was afraid of the responsibility that would fall on me once my father perished. That’s how I ended up in this mess in the first place.”
“Oh.” That saddened Astrid. “Do you regret your decision?”
Rapatha was a long time in replying, but she finally said, “No. I became a home for many lost souls. I can ask for no greater joy.”
“I was born here, you know,” Astrid said, wiping tears from her cheeks. “You’ve been my home for all of my life. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome, child.” Rapatha sighed. “Is it difficult? Being a nature demon, I mean?”
Astrid considered the question for a few seconds before saying, “Yes. But, like you, I can think of no greater joy.”
Chapter 22: Life and Death
Josh and Rockne ran from the train after it entered the station and then mounted their horses. They raced toward the mountains as the ground shook beneath them. Josh could see the air grow orange in the distance to his left as lava erupted from cracks in the earth. They were most definitely running out of time.
They grew closer to the mountains. The horses panted and foamed at the mouth, but they kept running. They were almost there.
Suddenly, a crack opened directly in front of them. The horses tried to stop as lava shot into the air. Josh flew off his mount, toward the geyser. The jar with Rapatha’s essence was lost to him as he was engulfed in the fire.
* * *
The little island shook. Andor spread his feet farther apart to keep from falling. Aneela tried to approach but Andor suddenly flashed his knife before Joshua’s eyes. She stopped in her tracks.
“I never asked for any of this,” Andor told her. “I never asked for my son to be killed by Dargo’s plague. What would you have done, Aneela, were you in my shoes?”
“I am in your shoes. You have my son.”
He chuckled. “I suppose you’re right. I never thought of it that way. You can’t possibly know what it’s like to lose a child until you actually lose him.” He pressed the knife against the baby’s throat. “After I released Dargo from his prison, he did what he promised: He cured everyone of the plague. It was too late for my son, though. If you’d listened to me when I begged you, Joffey would still be alive.”
Andor spoke quietly, refusing to yell and scream. Deep down, he knew this had more affect than acting hysterical. He could see it on Aneela’s face.
“Nothing you do or say will bring my son back. I will not live the rest of my life, however long that is, knowing you and your family is safe and happy. You don’t deserve that.”
With that, he raised the knife high, preparing the strike Joshua. In that moment, he heard Aneela and Shae scream. He saw, from the corner of his eye, the guards racing toward him. But they would be too late.
The knife came down, and everything seemed to slow down. Andor smiled down at the baby, and the baby smiled up at him.
Before the knife could strike Joshua’s heart, however, something erupted from the water behind Andor and quickly snaked its way up the hill.
It was a hexl. The dwarf, Victor, was riding it.
Someone ran up to Andor while he was distracted and ripped the baby from his grip. He turned and saw Aneela running backward, hugging her child to her. Andor raised the knife once again and threw it at them as hard as he could.
The hexl slithered between Andor and Aneela. The dwarf stood, his arms raised, and took the knife into his chest. Aneela screamed as the dwarf fell to the ground. Even in the chaos of the scene, Andor knew the knife had found Victor’s heart.
The dwarf was dead.
* * *
“Josh!” Rockne cried as he guided the horse away from the lava flow. He’d seen Josh vanish into the geyser. If he’d been merely human, he would’ve been as good as dead. But Josh was a nature demon now.
Or was he?
He’d been wearing the necklace, trapping him in a solid body. Was he capable of being killed?
“Josh!”
Nothing. No reply, no sight of him. He had to be dead.
“I hear you, old man!” a voice said from above.
Rockne looked up and saw Josh floating there. He looked unscathed. The necklace was no longer around his neck. “Thank goodness, Doctor. I feared the worst.”
“Keep fearing,” Josh said. “Rapatha’s essence was destroyed.”
* * *
Josh flew down to Rapatha’s cavern and saw Astrid floating before her. “When did you get back?” he asked.
“A few minutes ago,” Astrid replied. “Did you get what you needed to help Rapatha?”
Josh didn’t know what to say. He floated next to her. “Yes, but it was destroyed. I couldn’t do anything to stop it.” To Rapatha, he said, “I’m so sorry. We had it, and now it’s gone.”
“It’s all right, Josh. I thank you for trying.”
Josh couldn’t help it. He cried. Astrid pulled his head to her shoulder and cried with him. The cavern shook around them. Crystals from the ceiling rained down and crashed in the garden below.
“Wait!” Josh suddenly said, looking at Rapatha. “I met your father. He told me something, about how I could help Astrid’s father. He told me I had to give my energy away to something that’s the opposite of me. He called me a negative energy, that I had to give it to a positive. Rapatha, I thi
nk you are that positive.”
“Josh,” Astrid said, grabbing his arm, “what are you talking about?”
He could see Astrid getting weak again, now that he lost the necklace and was leaching her. “I have to give my energy to Rapatha.”
“What happens to you, though?”
“I…I die. Forever, this time.”
“Josh….” She tried to speak, but couldn’t find the words.
“It’s all right, Astrid. I’m ready. For real, this time.”
Tears spilled from her eyes, but she nodded and let him go. Josh flew closer to Rapatha’s light. He didn’t know quite what to do, but he’d seen enough movies and read enough books to know sacrifices were usually as easy as just walking straight.
In this case, he had to fly straight.
“Josh!” a voice called from below.
He looked down and saw Rockne waving. “Don’t try to talk me out of this, old man!”
“I won’t. I knew you were special the moment I met you. So did Nalke, and my brother was a smart man. We never doubted you, and you never disappointed. You’re a hero, Josh.”
The words hit Josh harder than anything before. He had taken so many lives he had no right to, and the burden had weighed heavily on him. He thought sacrificing himself to stop Dargo would make up for what he had done, but he ended up returning as a nature demon and harming Nalke and Astrid in the process. In life and in death, he harmed those around him.
But now he had the chance to give life rather than take it. Rapatha was the only life form he encountered that he couldn’t harm. He could only help.
“Thank you, Rockne,” he called down to the wizard. To Astrid, he said, “Tell the others I’ll miss them.”
To Rapatha, he asked, “Are you ready?”
“Yes, Josh. And thank you.”
“Here goes nothin’.”
He floated toward Rapatha’s glowing embrace.
Chapter 23: Burning Bright
The little island shook again, but this time it felt different. Aneela, holding Joshua close to her, looked down at Victor’s body. The knife stuck out of his chest. His eyes were open and unseeing.
The very air pushed down on all of them as the island rose. Something strange was happening.
The sun was rising in the distance, casting everything orange and purple. The hexl slithered around aimlessly, so used to Victor’s guidance. Andor ran up to the dwarf and retrieved his knife. Aneela’s three guards had been too distracted by the island’s behavior to stop him.
Andor ran down to the shore and looked down. The water’s edge was gone. Aneela looked about herself and saw they were several feet in the air now.
The island was flying.
* * *
Andor turned back, looking panicked. He held the knife in front of him, breathing heavily. Aneela, Shae, Taleeno and the guards watched him.
“I will not let you take me!” he screamed at the group.
“You never had that choice,” a voice whispered behind him.
An arm wrapped around his chest and then he felt a hot pain in his back. Blood filled his mouth suddenly. He felt something slice into his back, and then quickly get pulled out. He turned and saw an unlikely sight.
Rhys, husband to Aneela and king of the island, staring at him. The man grinned wickedly at Andor as he backed away to rejoin his family. Andor stood there, on the edge of the large drop, coughing up blood. He looked up the hill, behind everyone else. Standing there was Joffey, his son.
“I can’t, Joffey,” he whispered. “I won’t live without you.”
With that, he fell backward. He fell for an eternity, toward the ocean far below. He never felt the impact.
* * *
Aneela turned around but saw no one behind her. The island continued to rise, higher and higher. To Rhys, she said, “How did you get here?”
He pointed to something. She saw a large rock formation joining the small island to the main island. A land bridge. “I was swimming, but then the island started to rise. I crossed that bridge the rest of the way.”
“And now we must use it to get back,” Aneela finished. “Look.”
The bridge started to crumble before her very eyes.
“Everyone,” Rhys shouted, “get on the hexl!”
The giant weed slithered toward them. Aneela, Taleeno and Rhys climbed on. Aneela told one of the guards to grab Victor’s body. Together, the group rode the hexl as it snaked its way across the land bridge toward the main island, which towered far above. The bridge continued to crumble below them. The parts that connected to the tiny island broke away. The island fell into the ocean.
The noise and sights were almost too much for Aneela. She held tightly to Joshua as Rhys held tightly to her from behind. Aneela didn’t know how they would get to the top of the island from where they were now. Before today, she’d never known of the land bridge’s existence. She also hadn’t known the island could fly.
They got closer to the rock wall as chunks of earth rained down on them. Aneela grew more nervous as they raced to the very solid wall.
“Hold on, everyone!” Rhys shouted.
The hexl drilled right into the rock wall, as only a hexl could. Aneela closed her eyes as the brightness of the sun was replaced by darkness. The hexl tunneled through the earth with eight bodies on its back.
Aneela counted the seconds to distract from the claustrophobic darkness. Minutes later, they emerged from the ground.
* * *
The people of Rapatha Island gathered in the cemetery, working together to re-bury the bodies that escaped from their graves. Victor was given a special mausoleum next to Josh’s, due to his sacrifice to save the queen from Andor.
“Fellow Rapathians!” Aneela said to her people from atop the hill, in front of the mausoleums. “Once again, we have faced great challenges, and once again we prevailed. Not all of us survived.
“We lost friends, but their sacrifices saved us all. Josh Debelko, my son’s namesake, gave himself to the island’s soul Rapatha. Had he not done so, we all would have perished.
“Victor saved me. I’d known him all my life. He was around when even my father was a child. I’m ashamed to admit I didn’t know him as well as I should have.”
Aneela paused, choking back tears. She saw Astrid floating next to Shae among the surviving islanders.
There were so few islanders left.
“We just faced our greatest danger,” Aneela continued. “If we can survive this, we can survive anything.”
The islanders cheered.
“But, milady,” a man called once the cheers died down. “Where are we?”
Aneela looked around at their strange new surroundings. “It appears we’re in the clouds.”
The island had reached the cloud cover after departing the sea, and no one had seen anything since. No sky, no sun, no ground, nothing. It was like they were in limbo. No one seemed worried, however, and Aneela was grateful for that. Wherever they were going, she knew they would be all right.
* * *
People everywhere watched the news footage of the large island floating in the sky. Up, up, up it went, and it seemed it would never stop. Josh’s parents watched with open mouths. Estevan, Josh’s best friend, cheered from his room in Fort Worth, Texas. He didn’t know why he did so, but it felt right.
The news groups broadcast this footage from aboard naval ships and helicopters. Everyone in the world saw a gigantic waterfall suddenly appear, between the ships and the island. As quickly as it appeared, it connected with the other side of the ocean where the island had been. Water rushed in to fill the gap.
The island continued to rise until it disappeared in the clouds.
* * *
Wesonger stood at the edge of Lacey, his feet in the water, and stared out at the endless dark ocean surrounding him. The stars were shining above, like usual. He truly was alone in this town. He’d searched for nearly a day and found no one. They must’ve died out long ago.
But now he had no one and nothing, and he was fine with that. He was ready to die. But he didn’t want to die alone.
Something in the distance caught his attention, which was quite a feat because he was surrounded by the brightest stars known to man. There was a light in the sky. It broke through the cloud bank. Wesonger had to cover his eyes just to look at it properly.
When his eyes adjusted, he saw it was an island. It was bigger than the one on which he stood, and it glowed from some inner light.
“Rapatha!” he shouted, waving. “You really did turn into an island.”
Why she had returned was beyond him, but he was grateful. He’d been alone for far too long.
Something happened, something that had never happened during his stay in the town of Lacey. The stars slowly vanished as the sun rose in the sky. The Land of Constant Starlight would need a new name, it seemed.
* * *
Astrid sat in the coffee shop, sipping her hot tea, and just people-watched. She was in Dallas, watching her work, the snow, fall onto the streets. People piled in, laughing and shaking it from their clothes. Astrid wore a turtleneck and brown jacket, a white toboggan on her head.
She watched a young couple sit together near the entrance. Seeing them made her think of Josh. She missed him so much, and though they’d agreed to be only friends, she wondered what it would’ve been like to date him. The first time she saw him, on the island, he’d been so nervous. He had just started the job of guarding her neighborhood, and he’d been ordered to keep her inside. This was back when everyone thought her father was the bad guy instead of Rockne. All that time, she could’ve been getting to know her father instead of hiding from him. All those years wasted….
She tried not to think of that. Thinking of what Rockne did to her, to everyone, made her angry. Whenever she got angry, the weather got really bad. Right now, she wanted everyone to enjoy the snow she made for them.
After finishing her tea, she got up and left the shop. She aimlessly wandered the streets of Dallas, trying to decide upon something to do. She’d already checked the weather in the other parts of the world and everything was perfectly balanced. She looked down at the green gem hanging from her neck. It really was a nifty little charm, even if it came from the dreaded Dargonius.