by Scott Toney
“Yes,” Elias responded.
Ivanus turned from the men and entered the shadow of the trees. His body morphed quickly. He felt his heartbeat quicken and his muscles firm as the snoot scurried into the neck opening of his shirt. He knelt down, bracing the earth with his claws. His breath was moist and puffed back into his eyes. To Julieth. With a thrust of his legs and then his arms, moving in synchronized force, he bounded through the woods, leaping in great strides.
Chapter 19
Julieth’s heart beat quickly as she soared above the land. The cracked earth, partially covered in sand, stretched far as Kaskal neared in the distance. Ineal’s trees blurred below her, like a great river of green. She and Orpheus, or rather Shaun Dune, had only stopped a few times to partake of the fruit there, being so eager to get to Kaskal.
She looked at Orpheus. The enormous black dragon watched her with its crimson eyes. Though his eyes were piercing and his words harsh, Julieth had grown to respect the beast she traveled beside.
“They see me. I can see them watching from behind the city walls. I doubt they see you.”
“Unless they are using magnification glass,” Julieth remarked. “Perhaps it is best that I speak with them first and you remain beyond the city, somewhere in the distance.” The rust-flecked wind that Julieth had become so accustomed to as a child stung her face as they flew. She curved her wings and dove below the dragon before soaring back once more and flying beneath it.
“A dragon fears nothing. Listen to me… I am the last. No, I will wait near the city. If they attack, then I will respond.”
“A bullish pride!” Julieth called to him. “Let us land near the city and then you can transform back to Dune!”
Heat emanated from the dragon’s underside.
“Very well, winged woman. As you wish. But if I… if Dune is threatened, then I will retake my dragon form.”
“I would expect no less!” The wind batted Julieth’s ears. She searched below for any sight of Ineal but could still see nothing. Where are you? Julieth swept up, around the dragon’s hull, and then leveled herself with his eyes. “There! They have opened Kaskal’s gates!”
“I have eyes,” the dragon returned curtly.
“Follow me to land! We must give ourselves distance!” She angled her wings down, arching her back as she dropped from the sky, catching a current of wind and spiraling down through the different wind strata. With another adjustment of her wings she dropped a short distance and then brought herself to a smooth drift towards the ground. Her feet set down gently. Wind swept over her back as she met and braced the earth. She waited a good distance from the trees, which stopped short of Kaskal. A moment later she felt the thundering wind pulsing off Orpheus’s wings behind her. When she turned toward the dragon she instead saw the almost blinding white form of Shaun Dune walking toward her. “Has the dragon translated everything that has transpired to you?”
“He has.” Dune approached in a steady walk. “I know they fear the dragon. What will they think of me?”
“You are at least a human body. We can explain your anomaly, and even the dragon, with talk of essences.”
“You make a solid point. I will follow closely behind you.”
When Julieth turned back toward Kaskal she breathed deep, watching as a large mass of people ran toward her. She held her arms up, stretching her wings fully so that people would see them, and she hoped, recognize her.
“Julieth, you’ve returned to us!” a short man with ragged clothes shouted to her as he led the group. “What of Bayne? What of the cyborg?” The man reached Julieth and Dune first, stopping before her. His smile was wide as he eyed them both.
“You throw caution to the wind?” she questioned as others came up behind him. “Since when can the people of Kaskal afford such naivety?” She did not recognize the man, or anyone from Kaskal that approached. Perhaps my mind has forgotten their faces in the eternity of my experiences since we left.
“Did you not leave to rid Solaris of Samuel?” The man’s brow furrowed. “Surely it is a good sign that you have returned. We’ve neither seen anything of Samuel’s armies nor heard of him since you left.”
Julieth lowered her wings, folding them behind her back. “This man is Shaun Dune.” She motioned behind her. “He is to be trusted. The essences allow him to transform into a dragon.” She waited a moment before continuing. The man before her had a deadpan expression. She wished she had not been such a loner when she had lived in Kaskal. I have never felt accepted. She pondered at the thought. Except perhaps by Ivanus… and even with Dune, I suppose, though I am just getting to know him. “Yes, Samuel is dead, and at Bayne’s hand, but all is not as well as you would have it. That is why I return, to defend you.”
The short man fidgeted with his hands. Where was his strength, the strength she had known so well that all of Kaskal’s citizens possessed?
He looked behind her at Dune. “If Samuel is dead then what have we to fear?”
“The world.” A shiver ran through Julieth. “Look around you. It is one thing to have hope and to find peace, but always be prepared.”
“We even have trees and fruit, now, though we do not know where they come from.” The man motioned to the foliage.
“My friend, Ineal, brings that. He is hidden somewhere close by, I am sure. He only makes himself known when he wishes.” Julieth placed a hand on the man’s shoulder. “I am here because the essence which bonded with Samuel is now in Bayne. I believe it is controlling and distorting him. It is likely he will come to take Kaskal next and will attempt to possess your minds. We are here to defend you, and others are on their way.”
“Possess our minds? Bayne… not the boy?”
“He is not a boy. No child is, not in this time. Can we come into the city to talk? We have an idea that could give you defense against him and his army, but this is something that should not be discussed out in the open.”
“Yes, certainly.” The stout man waved his hands above him and the fifty or so people nearby turned to head back behind the city gates.
Dune followed silently, close behind Julieth. She was happy the man who had greeted her did not speak more. He seemed content to wait until they were alone.
It looks much the same. Julieth wondered at the high gate as she passed through it. Rusted holes pocked its form. Rust also peeled from its face. Sand whipped around them.
As they entered the city several children ran past, chewing on green fruit as they laughed. One girl fell and rolled, eying Julieth in awe before quickly standing and running off toward the other children. “Wait for me! Let’s go get Lucie!” she shouted.
Julieth eyed the buildings. Our homes are completely different than in any other cities I’ve seen, she thought. It does feel good to be home, especially now that there is fruit here as well and we won’t have to eat replicated food. I wonder if Sara survives. And yet… this peace they are experiencing reminds me of Gest. She thought of taking walks in the desert with Sara, mostly speaking of defense for Kaskal and structural rebuilding. They spent many days repairing the homes of others who were too weak or malnourished to repair their own buildings. Many repairs were needed to protect against the rust-wind. The last time she had spoken to her was when she left Bayne in Sara’s charge during Samuel’s army’s attack. There will be time to search out Sara later. First we need to talk with Kaskal’s leaders and convince them to accept what the beasts have offered, to take in their blood in order to be safe from Bayne’s mind control. It is the only way. Wind flowed through her hair, tousling it behind her.
They went directly to the structure where Julieth met with Riad, Ivanus and Bayne before leaving Kaskal. Julieth looked up its walls as she entered. They were worn, with areas missing, and as she passed through the doorway she noted the holes in its roof. Sunlight shimmered down in vast beams. Almost one-third of the roof was missing, whether from age or from damage taken in battle.
A stone table was in the center with stone chairs aroun
d it. She went to the table, sitting and placing her hands on the stone before her. Its crevices were rough. The room was hollow, devoid of any decoration. It somehow seemed warmer that night with Ivanus and the others. It is the time that has lapsed, and the knowledge that there can be so much more than I ever had here.
Dune sat in the chair nearest her. His brilliant light dwarfed the light falling through the roof.
The stumpy man who had greeted them stood in the doorway. “Pardon my not giving my name. I forget that you may not remember me, though we did have dealings before, when you came for your share of rations from the food-replicator. I, however, cannot forget you and your wings… the way you rescued us before. I am Naith. I will assemble Kaskal’s other leaders. That circle has changed completely since you left. Some died. Some stepped down. They will be excited to see you.”
“We will wait here. It is a pleasure to meet you.” Julieth let herself give a smile. “I only wish it were under better circumstances.”
Naith was gone for only a short while. When he returned, two men Julieth was unfamiliar with were behind him, both with long-swords. They had hard faces and worn robes.
Then a woman’s voice came from beyond the door. “Julieth!” It was Sara. She entered in rags, her face worn and aged even more than Julieth remembered. She ran to Julieth as she stood. They threw arms around each other. Tears streamed from Sara’s eyes. “You look as if you have not aged a day!” Sara wiped the tears away.
When they released the embrace Julieth took the woman’s hands in her own. “You are one of Kaskal’s leaders now? Truly?”
Sara ran a hand through her hair, brushing it from her eyes. “After Samuel’s attack few wanted to have the responsibility of leadership. I remembered your strength and wanted to give to our people. You inspire me.”
“It is so good to see you.” Julieth’s heart warmed as she hugged Sara again.
Then Sara and the men sat at the table. Sara sat directly across from Julieth whereas Naith took a seat to Julieth’s side.
“Now we can speak. We are all gathered,” one of the new men said as he placed a hand on the table. The man’s forehead was freckled and his skin was tan and weathered like leather. Julieth could see that he was younger than he appeared when she watched his eyes. “I am Barbus and this,” he motioned to the other man beside him, “is Carl. We are brothers who served a long time as city runners before accepting these posts. I am afraid we are unfamiliar with you, Julieth. When Samuel’s army attacked we were trekking across the desert. I do not remember you from before.”
“Pleased to be introduced. My companion is Shaun Dune,” she spoke as Dune bowed his head. “We have returned to…”
“You are a harbinger, Julieth. I sense it in the wind and Naith as much as confirmed it when he shared what you told him.”
Frustration built in Julieth. “I have done nothing to deserve this. Without us Kaskal would not stand at all. I am one of you. Do you forget that? No, Bayne would bring his army to you whether we had come here or not. I come with offer of a way to save you… a way to divert destruction.”
“How?” Carl returned sharply, his eyes cold but yet somehow open. “Do you wish to infect us with essences so that we will become like you? That is hardly freedom. I have studied the essences. I know what they bring with their gifts. It is no way to survive.”
“Of that we agree.” Julieth watched Sara’s eyes. “Surely you know me, Sara. Surely you know I would not have come unless I thought my ideas could save you?”
Sara watched Julieth’s eyes for a moment and then lowered her stare to her hands on the table. “Who you are now is seemingly so distant from the woman I knew. I have trust in you, yes, but I am also leery. Speak, Julieth. We will listen.”
“I have told some of this to Naith, but I will begin again. You know that we left to attack and defeat Samuel. Instead, I broke off from the company, and from what I have been told, when Samuel was defeated his essence bonded with Bayne’s body. That essence gives its host the ability to control the minds of others. Bayne also still is influenced with the first essence which bonded with him, the one that gives him the ability to speak and render all around him unconscious.” Julieth paused for a moment, looking to each of the four leaders’ eyes to make sure they followed what she explained. “Dune was there when Samuel died. He can confirm this. Anyway, we fought Bayne and his army in recent days in the city of Gest. We barely defeated Bayne there, and it was only thanks to Dune. I have strong feelings that Bayne will come here next. I can tell that seeing me in battle triggered something in him. I believe he will want to return to his ‘home’ and will look to control you. He seems to control all around him. The essences place that desire in him… the desire for power and control. I believe the essences bonding with him have caused his behavior to change. He killed Andral before my eyes.”
“Andral…” Sara gasped. “His own brother?”
Carl placed a hand on Sara’s hand. Did they have some emotional connection? Could they be a couple? “I remember Andral. He was a good lad. He was intelligent as well,” Carl spoke.
“Do you see what Bayne is capable of?” Julieth watched his eyes. She felt horrible. Why did she not command Bayne to stay with her in Gest instead of going after Samuel? No, the boy would have gone either way. “I love him.” Tears welled in her heart, though she kept them from her eyes. “I will always love him, and if it is possible I will find a way to sever the essences from his body, but we must first defend Kaskal.”
Sara’s eyes were dark. “What is our timeframe and what do you suggest?”
“It is a hard choice.”
“We are all adults here,” Sara spoke frankly.
Julieth was surprised at the sharpness in Sara’s voice and the quick change from her greeting embrace. She told them in detail about Gest being attacked by the beasts and then how they were changed into good-beasts in order to not be effectible by the essences and Bayne’s control. She told them about being in mortal form in the sunlight but in beast form in the shadows and dark.
“You would surrender yourself to such a life?” Sara looked terrified. “Would it not be better to die than surrender to such a thing? How can that be better?”
“The essences within me seem to protect me from Bayne’s control. And somehow Dune seems to be immune as well, or at least Bayne did not control him. As a beast you could fight back and could defend yourself.” Julieth’s heart raced. “Would you rather Bayne possessed you and used you to kill your friends?”
Dune moved ever so slightly beside Julieth. It startled her, because he had yet to do or say anything since Kaskal’s leaders entered. “It is an individual choice. But do not think that those who choose to survive and fight Bayne will spare you because you choose mortality instead of an evolution which would protect you.”
Julieth expected Barbus, Naith or Carl to respond, but instead it was Sara that stood, bracing her knuckles hard on the table while leaning over it, eyes fixed on Julieth. She seemed the most in control here. She was apparently the alpha of the group. “Do not patronize me.” The words were directed to both Julieth and Dune. “I will speak in mass to our people, and it is their individual decisions to make. I know my mind. I will not submit, and we will not allow your friendly-beasts within our walls.”
“Sara, I beg you to consider what I suggest. You do not understand the danger.” Julieth’s wings flexed behind her in her agitation.
“We will leave you now to talk amongst ourselves.” Sara walked to Julieth and embraced her once more. “It is truly wonderful to see you again. And these fruit trees that you have said your friend brought to us are a delicious wonder. They will do much to lift Kaskal’s spirits. Please understand our mistrust. Why would we turn to something that would completely change us to prevent being changed by something else? We will leave now, but let us talk tomorrow at the city gates. Surely there is much for us to speak of.”
“When will you speak with Kaskal’s citizens?” Julieth aske
d. Chill ran through her, though the room was warm with heavy sitting heat.
“Tomorrow, when all gather for the food replicator’s rations. Though I wonder how much less we will need to portion out, thanks to the fruit trees.”
Then I will have one last chance to convince her of the need to accept the beast blood. “I will see you at the gates as the sun rises. Where should Dune and I stay?”
“Your home is vacant. We kept it so that you would have a place to live should you return. Your companion could stay there with you or there are a few other vacant structures around the city.”
Dune walked to the women’s side. “I will stay in the desert. Do not worry about me.”
“Then we’ll meet tomorrow.” Sara touched Julieth’s hand once more before following the men out.
What horror will befall Kaskal if Bayne controls a portion of them? Julieth looked up at the holes in the building’s rusted roof, at the dark and brilliant contrast of the sun. Will the darkness prevail?
Dune departed, walking beyond the city gates and into the woods, where Julieth was sure he’d assume dragon form. She did not see Ineal for the remainder of the day.
When she went to her old home she found it much as she had left it, worn stone walls crumbling down into the street, and a rusted door that would not properly close. Inside she found the stone slab where she had spent so many nights and also stone beds she had brought in for when Bayne and Andral lived with her. It was stuffy and dust hovered in the air as she moved, stirring up their settlement. With a sigh she lay down on her bed, stretching her taut muscles and back, staring at the sunlight beneath her door. She thought of the day when she had taken the boys to see how the replicator worked for the first time. She remembered the awe on their faces and how the machine startled them when it first started up. Such innocence, she marveled. Where does innocence go? Why does it leave? I suppose it must for us to progress and be able to care for ourselves, in order to survive. But what a shame when it leads to a darker soul. Why did you have to become what you have? Bayne’s face hovered in her mind as she closed her eyes. Then Andral’s replaced it. Dead. It was as if frost covered her body. My boys are lost forever.