by Dusks, Rydre
"There may be one," Sylvain continued as Crane opened his arms. Sylvain embraced him. "Not a god, but a demigod. IkioElle had a mortal son with a human. His name is Stelliot."
"A godling... how fascinating," Crane continued. "As I am sure you know, brother, demigods are unpredictable. Sol does not approve of them because they are even stronger than we are--or can be. This Stelliot could change this world for the better."
Sylvain looked at his eyes. "So you want to use Ikio's child to remove the Curse and put an end to the corruption?"
Crane nodded. "And then we will take the boy to Sol to find out what to do with him from there. From what you told me some time ago, it is definite that the mortal body housing IkioElle's spirit has lost his divine memory. He has broken a law that cannot be forgiven. The only option is to remove that which caused the break."
"...Crane, there is no need to kill a child. He is barely out of toddler years."
Crane's hand breezed across Sylvain's face in a smart slap. It made his ear ring and left eye tear up. "Sylvain, how could you betray me like this? We are companions. Soulmates even. Sometimes sacrifices must happen for the betterment of the world. SolTansra will know what to do with Stelliot. And if that involves killing him, then what better way to go about cleansing this world than pleasing the Fathergod as well as Kairenz itself?"
Sylvain touched his cheek tenderly, flinching when Crane continued speaking. "Do not tell me that you have a soft spot for IkioElle. He is a rogue god incarnate. He has little to no connection to Sol. I'm sure he can barely even harness his own power. Once his son is taken care of, I will kill him as well, if necessary."
"I don't know where he is, Crane," Sylvain replied quietly, inching slightly out of the other's reach. "I have not been able to feel his presence for nearly two years now."
"Then where is this Stelliot?"
"...I don't know."
Crane frowned. Just seeing that expression wracked Sylvain with a despairing feeling. It made his very core wilt with an emotional pain that turned his mind nearly suicidal. The very thought of Crane being angry with him made him want to kill himself from guilt.
"You really don't know... or you are hiding him just like Siyari?"
"No, Crane, I truly don't know. Crow Hightower, IkioElle's mortal form, was the only one who could connect with Siyari. And I don't even think that Siyari knows that much."
Crane's expression lifted a bit. He pulled Sylvain back into a forceful hug. "I am sorry for slapping you, my darling. This family feud has gone on much too long. Will you do something for me?"
"And what is that, Crane?"
"Do your best to contact Crow Hightower. Sweet-talk him if you need to. I must find out where he is, and where his child is located."
I broke the connection with a gasp. The feeling of wind against my face brought me further back to the present. So... Sylvain hadn't contacted me for help--he had internally been attempting to track me for Crane's sake. I should have known. I’d known how strong Crane and Sylvain’s bond was, but didn’t realize it until now. Sylvain was Crane's puppet, and would probably stay that way whether Sylvain found situations moral or not.
"Siivash..." I whispered mostly to myself. "Let's try to hurry to Stelliot. I will die fighting for my son before Crane even manages to get his sadistic claws close to him."
No sooner had I said this that I noticed something in the distance. It glinted in the sunlight just like the rest of the Plains, but unlike the Plains, it was a structure. Siivash slowed when we neared the object, and once we were closer I noticed that it was a building. The entirety of it was encased in the Curse, but it hadn't leveled out with the rest of Cantor. Siivash circled the building a few times, allowing me to get a better look. It was a moderate size, perhaps only a couple of stories tall--like a house. It was hard to define what it had been from the lack of other colors, but there were window panes.
"What's the plan now, Siivash?" I asked my robotic mount. "Do we just fly around this thing forever? I assume I need to get down there and check it out?"
Smoke billowed out from the dragon's nostrils as it dropped a few feet, then leveled its glide to the ground. It didn't touch down, probably not wishing to attract the attention of the Curse. I figured this was my stop, and I would have to set my feet on the black crystal and enter the structure. Swinging one leg over Siivash's back I perched myself on one side, balancing with only one hand on the dragon's neck.
"Thanks for the ride, Siivash. I expect you'll be back to get me in a few." I patted its neck a couple of times, then pushed myself off the saddle. My feet planted hard on the glassy surface, and I nearly slipped. After righting myself I listened carefully for the cracking, splintering sounds of the Curse. Not hearing anything, I looked for any odd ripples a distance off.
Still nothing.
Apparently the Mirrored Plains saw Siivash as an enemy, but not me. Velzae had been right--the Curse was a consequence on the planet. Instead of Sol creating a way to purify the planet, he had made a type of retribution. And as God of Justice, I could travel across it unharmed, and could even try to change it for the better, just as I'd changed the trees in the Alker marsh. Glancing once at Siivash flying up higher and circling the building again, I walked to an open door of the structure and entered.
It was cool and completely dark inside. Everything was still eerily quiet, and perhaps even more so without the outside breeze. My boots echoed in the chambers of the building and were the only company besides the sound of my breathing. Because of the stillness, a foreign shift sounded to me from higher up inside the house. My heart beat harder, and it accompanied the rhythm of my breath and footsteps. Could it be my son?
"Stelliot?" I questioned. I hadn't raised my voice much, but the noise still bounced around inside the house loudly.
I received no answer, so I walked further in, relying on the light from outside and my slowly adjusting eyes to guide me. I stubbed my toes against a flight of stairs and climbed them gingerly.
"Stelliot, it's me," I said. "Is es uvar papa. I finally came for you. Velzae did a good job hiding you from danger."
I was still not answered. As I reached the top step, it was a little easier to see due to a broken skylight above my head.
"Stelliot, it's safe to come out now. Velzae sent me to come get you."
I stood where I was, and after a moment more shifting was heard, and a young figure peered around the corner of a bedroom down the hallway. His hair was an inky black, and his dusky skin was only a couple of shades lighter than my own. There was no mistaking Stelliot. He had my eyes, Oraia's nose and curly hair, and my mouth.
For a moment Stelliot simply stared, coming out further from the room. He gazed at me as if I were a stranger for only a few seconds before breathing, "...Papa?" His voice was muffled from a long shirt sleeve stuffed into it. He'd obviously not grown out of his chewing habit.
I crouched and opened my arms, smiling to him. More than anything I wanted to sweep him up into an embrace and never let go, but I didn't want to scare him. I couldn't stop my eyes from brimming with moisture, however. He looked so much older, leaner, wiser. Already six years old.
After another second or so, Stelliot pulled his sleeve from his mouth and raced toward me, falling into my arms. I held him tightly, pressing him close and finally letting go of my tears. "Oh Stelliot... I've missed you."
Until now I had felt that I'd lost Stelliot to time forever. That even if I found him again, he wouldn't recognize me. He'd only been two when he'd been captured, and I didn't know if he had any firm recollection of where he'd lived and who he'd been with at such a young age. I could only hope. The way in which he held onto me... like his own wishes had come true... it was more than my body could handle, and I broke down.
I sobbed for a long time, keeping Stelliot in my arms. He protested a little and questioned if I was okay, but all I could do was hug him and let the tears fall. I could barely get any words out.
I'd met my goal. This en
tire venture from GreyCross to now had felt like a dream up to this point. All that stagnant time spent in Roavo dreaming of the day that I would sweep Stelliot back up... I'd done it. I'd proven that nothing could get in the way of my mission.
"Velzae said bad men took you away. But you beat them all up to come get me, huh, Papa?"
I sniffed, trying to compose myself. "Yes, big guy, I beat them all up and won. But there're still a couple bad people left who want to take you away from me."
"Papa, Velzae said when you came, you would be really tired from everything. So you know what, Papa?"
"What, Stelliot?"
He made sure I was looking him in the face. "You can go rest, and I'll beat them up instead. I'm strong like you, Papa."
I smiled and ruffled his hair. "Oh, I don't doubt it. But it's Papa's job to take care of you, and so that's what I'm going to do."
"But Uncle Velzae said I'm strong," Stelliot argued.
I touched his cheek after wiping my eyes. "You are strong, Stelliot. Tell you what... Why don't you and I fight the bad guys together?"
Stelliot's eyes brightened with innocent excitement. "Okay. Where are we going then, Papa?"
I picked him up and placed him on my shoulders, walking carefully back down the stairs and heading for the exit. "We're going back toward home, kiddo. We're going to go see Mapa."
"And Click and Zlade?"
"And Click and Zlade, too."
I stepped out past the entry door and onto the black Plains, looking around for Siivash. Stelliot spotted the bot before I did.
"Papa, is that a dragon?" he asked, pointing upward. I followed his point to see Siivash still circling the building above. The robot dropped lower.
"Yeah, that's Siivash. It’s helped me get here."
"Wow... a dragon."
Siivash descended until it touched down in front of Stelliot and I. I walked toward the robot while taking Stelliot off my shoulders, and heard the faint rattle of the Curse approaching us.
"Papa, that noise happened when Uncle Velzae brought me here. What is that?"
I was about to climb onto Siivash with Stelliot but paused. "That's a curse, Stelliot. And I think it needs to be stopped." I set him down beside me, waiting until I could clearly see the ripples in the crystal. I took a deep breath and lifted my hand, directing my dominance toward the Curse.
"I command you to leave my ride alone!"
The Curse slowed, but it didn't stop. Instead I'd seemed to aggravate it, as it veered away from the direction of Siivash and headed straight toward Stelliot and I.
"Oh no you don't!" I stepped in front of my son, but then Stelliot did the unexpected. Ducking under my legs, the boy rushed forward toward the Curse. "Stelliot! No!" I shouted, but he cut me off with his actions.
He threw his hands outward and screamed. Even Siivash flinched from the noise. To my shock the Curse stopped completely, but it didn't just fade away like the times before. An entire streak of the black Plains lifted and shattered in an explosion of glassy crystal. I stumbled backward in alarm. Where Stelliot stood was a long line of dry desert that had been uncovered from its petrified state. Stelliot looked back at me with a small smile.
"See, Papa? I'm strong just like you."
So Crane and Sylvain had not been kidding when they'd said that demigods could harness more power than they could. I'd never imagined Stelliot being gifted with unrelenting will like I had. As a baby, he had been born premature and dangerously weak. Oraia and I had nearly lost him twice. That had mainly been from Oraia's drug abuse while pregnant, and Stelliot had grown to possess a strange sort of reserved personality for a toddler. He was closed in, and only opened to me. Seeing him so enthusiastic and expressive told me that Velzae had done well raising him.
"So you knew you could do this?" I questioned.
"Velzae said I'm really, really strong. He said once you came to get me, we were going to go save lots of people and be heroes. He said that me and you can go make the world a happier place and get rid of all the evil. Like this black land. See, if I think real hard like this..." He squeezed his eyes shut and balled up his fists, and with a rush of energy the entire perimeter around us swept away with another explosion of dark fragments. More desert was revealed, as well as a portion of the house we'd just walked out of. Stelliot's expression slackened, and he dropped into a gasping sit.
I rushed to him and helped him up slowly. "Stelliot... You're still too little to get rid of the entire Mirrored Plains."
"I-I'm not little," he argued. "I'm big and tough. Like you in the camp."
I walked him over to Siivash and lifted him into the saddle, climbing on behind him. "You know about Roavo? Did Velzae tell you?"
He nodded. "Uncle Velzae told me lots about cool things you did."
I smiled just a little. "You may be tough, but you have to remember to take care of yourself. We'll get rid of the Mirrored Plains together, but not now. Right now we should go see Mapa and Click." I should get you someplace safe. Some place where it can be just you and me with the family, and we don't have to worry about things for a while.
Stelliot didn't protest, so I whipped the reins and led Siivash into a new gallop before it spread its wings and took off into the air. My next concern was centered in Va'lent.
15
Haste
The fastest way back to Va'lent was not across the thin ocean. From Cantor, following north I could have easily flown over the waters, coasted past Ifearor, and landed us back in GreyCross, Iason in no time. But unfortunately Ifearor's borders were extremely guarded, and probably even more than ever due to the war. I'd long ago heard about an underwater passage that led up to the higher, southern parts of Souloroh, about a hundred miles from Ckin. Without risking jumping more time through a crack in dimensions, the safest and fastest travel back to Va'lent would be through the connecting tunnels. Back in the day when Cantor still existed, Lentans used the tunnels frequently to get to Va'lent and make new settlements in Souloroh. It was also a good way for Cantorians to escape up into Ifearor and Iason, especially once the Mirror Curse started.
As a native of the Gasaidiatt, I had little knowledge about what exactly went on during the war, so I wasn't sure if there were many entrances left to the tunnels, or if they were even still navigational. But it was certainly worth a try.
Stelliot, though still tired from his endeavor earlier, was completely fascinated by the flight. I held him close to me whenever he leaned just a little too far to look below us, worried he would slip off the saddle.
"Siivash!" Stelliot called to the dragon. "Siivash, fly faster!"
I smiled softly, keeping him protectively close. One of my biggest dreams had finally been fulfilled. Being reunited with my son made me feel whole again, even with a world still crumbling around us.
"Where are we going, Papa?" Stelliot wondered after twenty minutes or so. Siivash had altered direction, heading more north instead of the way I’d come.
"We're going to take a little detour to get home," I replied quietly.
"What's a detour?"
"It's a different path than I would normally go," I answered, hugging him close for a moment. "We're going to go under the ocean."
"Is this an adventure?" Stelliot asked, looking up at my face.
I paused before smiling to him. "You've been on an adventure for a long time now, big guy. And so have I."
His eyes grew wider. "Tell me about your adventure, Papa. Uncle Velzae told me some about how you got in the desert camp, and how you teleported into another land, too. Did you run into any monsters?"
I thought of Radley Stone, then I thought of the Roavo hounds and the mining MetalArt. That in turn led me to think of the giant, rusty smile-bot inside Uncertainty. "Yes, Stelliot, I ran into a lot of monsters." One by one, I told him of my run-ins with the enemies of the last few years.
"Does Siivash know the way?" Stelliot questioned after I’d finished my accounts.
I leaned forward a little and pat
ted the dragon's metal neck. "It certainly seems like it does. Whoever programmed it really knew everything about Kairenz."
"Siivash doesn't act like a robot," my son commented.
The dragon let out another spout of smoke and lowered down slightly as the ocean came into view. With a haze of mist over the horizon, it looked as if the ocean extended forever. In reality it was quite thin, and cut the two continents apart with a single strip. The shores of Ifearor were only thirty miles or so from Cantor. The ocean grew biggest between Souloroh and the easternmost edge of Iason on the other side of the planet.
"Some machines have come a long way," I breathed as I gazed at the ocean. I'd never actually seen it firsthand--only on TV. A live view was so much more breathtaking.
"It’s so pretty, Papa," Stelliot remarked as some of the haze lifted when we approached. The sun sparkled across the waves in a shimmer of white rays.
"It certainly is," I replied.
Siivash swept down and touched ground softly. We weren’t off the Plains yet, as much of it extended under the ocean. There was, however, sure to be an entrance to the tunnels somewhere close by. I helped Stelliot off Siivash, stepping down on the black crystal and gazing at our surroundings.
"Where do we go now?" Stelliot questioned.
Siivash blew more smoke and began tapping one of its forefeet against the ground. I watched it for a moment before understanding.
"Stelliot, I think the path we need to take is actually under our feet. Do you think you can get rid of some of this Curse so we can see the beach?"
Stelliot smiled to me, looking happy to help. He backed up a bit and sank down to his knees, placing his little hands against the glossy crystal. With a wave of splintering, shattering bits of Curse, several yards of dry soil were revealed, along with four different man-sized holes leading down further into the earth.
A couple of them closer to the shore seemed full of water, and another was completely blocked off with packed-in dirt. The fourth and closest had been untouched, however. Some of the Curse had seeped into the entrance, but stopped short after touching the seam of a different kind of mineral that coated the inside of the tunnel and gave off an eerie glow from the sunlight.