by Jeff Kish
“It’s a different currency over here, Era,” she groans, “and even if we manage to exchange our money, we’re Valvorans! The shopkeepers are going to charge us an arm and a leg for basic supplies.” Extending her fingers one by one, she lists off, “We need information, we need a map, we need rations, we need-”
“Whoa, whoa,” Era interrupts, “back up a second. You’re not a Valvoran! We’ll just hide while you do the shopping.”
Jem raises an eyebrow. “Do I sound like an Allerian to you, Era?”
He scratches his soaked head and admits, “I guess you sound different from Turk and his crew.”
She watches the rapidly approaching coastline with trepidation. “I’ve been gone far too long. I may look like an Allerian, but I act, smell, and speak like a Valvoran. Maybe I can fake it for a while, but they’ll quickly figure it out and treat me like an alien, just like Valvoren does.”
“Are the two nations really all that different?” he asks, still not convinced.
“You’re in for a treat, Era,” she says as the ship pulls alongside the pier. “This is a different world over here.”
The drizzle grows to a downpour as sailors scramble to lower the sails and fasten the riggings. The boarding ramp is lowered, and a pair of officers awaits with record logs as an Allerian shipmate descends. Following the quiet exchange of a sizeable leather purse, the soldiers check the ship off as inspected and hurry for drier quarters.
Back on deck, the captain barks at his men to start unloading their cargo before turning to Era and Jem, evidently pleased with himself. “Told ye we’d avoid any trouble. It always pays to take the long way ‘round the keys, and this port’s inspection crew is easily swayed to look the other way.”
“We’re cleared to depart?” Era asks.
“Aye. Thanks for yer business, and best o’ luck to ye.” With that, he offers a half-hearted wave and hobbles toward his cabin.
Era beams at Jem, the thrill of adventure in his eye. “Let’s go! We should find someplace to get dry.”
Jem glances around. “Fire still hasn’t shown up.”
“Oh, right. Must still be below deck?”
“Ugh, I want to get off this ship. Let’s hurry and find her,” Jem calls over the roaring rain as she hurries into the companionway. They wander below deck and search every nook and cranny until they ultimately arrive back on the deck, where the sailors are still raising cargo from the hold, and Jem covers her head upon reentering the deafening downpour. “Just where in the world did she go, anyway?” she calls back to Era. “Is she really asleep somewhere?”
“Who knows?” he replies. “Maybe we missed her and she’s already in town.”
Jem storms down the boarding ramp. “She’d better be! Where should we start?”
“The tavern might be our best bet,” he offers.
“Shouldn’t be too hard to find- YIPE!” Jem squeals as her foot slips out from under her the moment it hits the grimy pier. Era helps her up, and she winces while massaging her backside. “Stupid, slippery dock…”
“Phew, this town reeks,” Era complains, plugging his nose for effect. “Is this what Alleria smells like?”
“This is what the dregs of society always smell like,” she says. “This town is probably isolated from any main thoroughfare. There’s a reason the smugglers picked it to harbor.”
“Might mean it’s a rough town, then. We’d better watch our backs.”
Jem acknowledges this as they hike through the muddy streets of this strange new world. The dark night is lit only by the lanterns beaming through the windows of the local establishments. The few locals walking the streets keep their distance from the travelers.
A jubilant crowd echoes from around the corner, signaling the travelers have found their target. Era grabs the handle of the warped, wooden door, but Jem places her hand against it. “Let me go in,” she says. “I may not act Allerian, but if I just take a quick look they should leave me alone.”
“The drunk old men will leave a pretty maiden alone?” he challenges.
“Awwww… you think I’m pretty?” she asks with a cutesy smile. Before he can respond, she punches him in the arm and yanks the door open.
Era leans against the outer wall, allowing Jem to scout while staying out of the way. He flexes his arm to soothe the shot from his partner, realizing how much he misses his other appendage if only for massaging the random beatings he receives. As he takes in the sights, he starts to notice the subtle differences in Allerian architecture. The archways in their doorframes and windows immediately stand out from their Valvoran counterparts, and the structures are made mostly of clay. He wonders if Alleria lacks the abundance of forests that Valvoren boasts.
The door reopens amidst a flurry of whoops and hollers, and Jem shoots Era a nasty look as the rain continues to pour. “Your best friend isn’t in there. Where do we go now?”
Suddenly, Era notices a solitary figure approaching Jem from behind, and he pulls his partner behind himself as the stranger moves quickly toward them. The earth shaper tugs at his concealed leather pouch and dips his fingers into the dry sands within, readying himself for a confrontation.
However, the foreigner stops well short and bows his head low while extending a satchel. “P-Please accept this…”
His thick and guttural Allerian accent is the first of its kind to strike Era’s ears since meeting Turk. He eyes the stranger suspiciously, trying to ascertain his intentions, but Jem impatiently shoves Era aside and demands, “Explain yourself.”
“Y-Your traveling companion. She wants you to have it.”
Era wipes the rainwater from his eyes and cautiously reaches out to accept the bag, and the messenger’s retreat is instantaneous. He dashes from the two travelers and disappears into an alleyway down the street. Unable to do much with one arm, Era tosses the satchel to Jem. “Seems Fire left us a gift.”
“That better not mean what I think it means,” Jem growls as she rips open the flap and digs through it.
“Can you see what’s in there?”
Frustrated, Jem pulls her light rune from her pocket and shines it inside. “Glad I’ve managed to keep this thing around.”
“It’s the one treasure you’ve managed not to lose in the past month,” Era chides. “So what did she give us?”
“Looks like a map and a bunch of ault,” she mumbles.
“Ault?”
“It’s Allerian money, Era!” she scolds as she flips the lid closed. “So there it is. Your girlfriend split on us. She did us one last favor to relieve her guilt.”
His heart sinks. “She… She wouldn’t have…”
“She brought us to this terrible, horrible place and left us!” she yells. “That no good, sleazy, selfish scum!”
Era has no response as his mind wanders to his last conversation with their ally. Despite his distrust of Fire’s intentions, this scenario had never crossed his mind. He peers back into the darkness of the streets; for the stranger to have faithfully delivered a satchel of cash, he must have known he was being watched by the dangerous mercenary. However, even if Fire was nearby as of a few moments ago, they have no way of finding her now.
Jem watches Era closely. “What is it? Do you know something?”
Era sighs deeply. “Remember what I said about Fire having an agenda? She finally confided in me what it is. She came to Alleria to kill someone.”
“She came here on a JOB?”
“Not a job,” he corrects. “I think it’s revenge or something.”
“Revenge for what?”
“I don’t know! I’m shocked I got that much out of her,” he admits. “But she never said she was abandoning us like this! Maybe she’s going to meet up with us later?”
“Oh, yeah, Era. You’re spot on with that one,” she scoffs as she pockets her light rune and marches away. “That makes perfect sense! She’s going to meet up with us later, which is why she left us this parting gift. You’re brilliant!”
�
�Hey, cut that out!” He gives chase and yanks her around as the rain hits its heaviest yet. “What gives? Why are you blaming me for this?”
“WE’RE IN ALLERIA!” she screams over the downpour. “YOU brought us here! YOU said it would be alright!” She hits him in his arm again and says, “And now we’re stuck here.”
The weight of this brutal reality hits Era as Jem again storms off. Somehow, Fire had become their testy but reliable leader. Even Jem demonstrated an uncharacteristic leap of faith by following them here. Now it’s evident the mercenary only came to Alleria to satisfy her own agenda.
He follows his partner to the edge of town, lost in an ocean of despondent thoughts, angry with Fire and angry with himself for trusting her. Regardless of the details, the situation is clear. He and Jem are alone in Alleria.
* * *
A chilling wind offers an unkind wake-up call to Era, and he sits and rubs his eyes with his arm. The parting clouds hide the direct sunlight, but the rain has stopped. Contrary to their usual routine, Jem is still sleeping nearby on the damp wilderness floor. The tiny cluster of thin trees provided as much of a shelter as they could have hoped to find outside of town, and he shivers as another breeze sweeps through the area.
He stretches while lamenting the lack of tree cover in this part of the world. The terrain is flat and rocky as far as he can see, and he rubs the back of his stiff neck. The ground here is much harder than back home.
As he surveys the landscape, he spots someone leaning against one of the few trees. Realizing they might not be as alone in Alleria as he thought, he leaves his sleeping partner and marches boldly toward the interloper. However, as he approaches, it’s clear that his target is sound asleep, with his head hanging forward. Era quietly squats in front of the Valvoran and flicks him in the forehead.
Ospif snaps his head back into the tree. “Gyah!” he yelps. “Now why would you do that, you ruffian!?”
Era stands with a sigh, surprised that Ospif’s presence brings a form of peaceful familiarity. “Come on, we have rations we can share for breakfast. I thought you were fending for yourself, but you followed us?”
“As if I had a choice,” he mutters while scrambling to his feet. “I had to escape that barbaric, backwater port town before they strung me up by my ankles and tarred me. I was weighing my options just outside town when you two romped by without paying me any heed.”
Era grimaces. “Yeah, we were distracted last night.”
Ospif leans forward. “Pray, do tell?”
“Fire left us,” he explains. “Without warning, no less.”
“Ah, your fearless leader abandoned you, did she?” he gloats, not hiding a smile. “That is hardly sour news to my ears.”
“She wasn’t our leader,” Era corrects, “but she was the one with the plan. It just turns out the plan didn’t involve us.”
“So now you’re as stuck as I am,” he snidely smirks. “Serves you brigands right, the way you treated me.”
Era summons every ounce of goodwill to say, “For what it’s worth, I’m sorry for dragging you into this. You didn’t deserve it.”
The regret surprises Ospif. “W-Well, naturally you should be apologizing. And helping me get back home, which is what most concerns me.”
“Not sure where to begin with that,” Era admits, “but your blood status should be helpful, right? I’m sure you could find safe transport across the border if you found someone sympathetic to the Valvorans.”
“A nigh impossible feat,” he contends, “and it is not without risks. Should the wrong ears discover my secret, my status will quickly become a curse.” Reluctantly, Ospif clears his throat and says, “As such, I’d like to propose an alliance, of sorts. Perhaps we can be of service to one another.”
Era can’t help but chuckle. “An alliance? Really?”
“Yes, really! I need protection as we trek across this treacherous land. Serve as my escort as we march toward the border and, when we meet up with Valvoran soldiers, I promise to take you home as well.”
The mention of soldiers causes Era’s eye to twitch. “Have you not picked up on how wanted we are in Valvoren? Half the reason we fled is to seek asylum here.”
“So you intend to stay in Alleria once you’ve conducted your business?”
Era scratches his head. “Again, I suppose I haven’t thought that far ahead.”
“Lovely,” Ospif complains as they come upon Jem. “I suppose the Allerian is happy to stay over here as well?”
Era shrugs as he kneels next to his sleeping friend, who is using her bag as a pillow. Dark brown hair covers her eyes, and her deep breathing boasts a peaceful demeanor he seldom witnesses. He can’t help a smile at her form; it’s rare to witness Jem so soundly asleep, but, when he does, she always seems to be entirely sprawled out.
“Rations are in the bag,” he whispers, pointing to her makeshift pillow.
“Well? Hurry and wake her,” Ospif says impatiently.
Era frowns. “I don’t like waking her up. She usually hits me.”
Ospif is incredulous. “I would have suspected the diminutive demon to be the violent one.”
“Strangely not,” he says. “Pretty sure Fire’s never laid a finger on me. At least, not unless we were actually fighting.”
“Wish I could say the same,” Ospif grumbles.
Era leans back on the wet ground. “We’ll just wait for Jem to wake up. It can’t take that long.”
“Oh, for the love of…” Ospif huffs as he squats next to her. “Wake up, already, you lazy Allerian! Do you intend to slumber all morning?” Era cringes as Jem slowly opens her eyes, and Ospif greets her with a judgmental gaze. “About time. Now move your carcass so we can eat our-”
Jem’s palm swiftly meets Ospif’s chin and sends him reeling to his back with a yelp. She sits in a sleepy stupor and rubs the sleep from her eyes. “What is he doing here? I thought we’d finally gotten rid of him.”
“He found us,” Era needlessly says while snagging Jem’s bag.
“Accursed, lousy Allerian!” Ospif shouts as he gets to his feet. “You are certainly a shining representation of your species.”
“My species? If you hate me so much then why are you still following us?”
Era flips Ospif a piece of stale bread before retrieving one for himself. “He wants to work together to get back to Valvoren,” he explains between bites as he retrieves Fire’s satchel and flips it open.
“Valvoren?” she repeats. Fully awake now, she starts processing the events from last night. “Do we even want to go back to Valvoren?”
“Well, you two are a fine match for each other,” Ospif spouts. “Did you use any foresight before jumping deep into enemy territory and dragging me along for the ride?”
“I don’t need this right now,” Jem says, rubbing the bridge of her nose. “Like it or not, Fire is gone. We need to rethink our plan.”
“Fire may not have completely abandoned us,” Era comments while unfolding the map she provided. “She actually wrote that she intends to meet up with us later.”
Jem eyes him with contempt. “Mighty presumptuous to think we would take her back. She’s dead to me, Era. I never want to see that monster again.”
“She also wrote some notes on here,” Era offers, choosing to move on, “including the location of the Academy.”
“The Academy?” Ospif’s eyes light up. “Of course! The Academy will surely grant me asylum. Let us head there!”
“Just because she marked it doesn’t mean we’re headed there,” Era says. “Fire must have prepared most of this on the ship, because it looks like she added a few notes after pulling into harbor and asking around.”
“When did she have time for that?” Jem gripes.
“She’s Fire, so your guess is as good as mine,” he replies. “Still, deserter or not, she did some research for us. She says here that Luk’s hometown is a place called Stayltin, about fifty miles south and west of here.”
“Luk?”
Ospif asks. “As in, Corpit Luk?”
“That’s the one,” Era replies.
“What business could you possibly have with a scholar of such academic stature?”
Era pauses to find the right words. “We, uh… want to ask him about a rune we found.”
“Oh yes,” he recalls. “That horrid artifact is what allowed you to distract the professors whilst kidnapping me. Just what was so special about that rune?”
“The dean called it a runoid, whatever that is,” Era says.
Ospif’s jaw drops. “You found a runoid fragment? Impossible!”
“It sure wasn’t a fragment when we fought it,” Jem retorts.
“Fought it!?”
Era sighs. “This was the dean’s reaction as well. Why is our story so hard to believe?”
“Because the Runoid War ended roughly two hundred and eighty years ago,” he replies. “The conflict was so devastating it nearly annihilated both nations, and the technology to create runoids was lost with the burning of the Academies. It’s what brought about the century armistice.”
Jem laughs aloud. “Yeah, as if Alleria and Valvoren could stop fighting that long.”
“They had little choice after unleashing these powerful beasts upon one another,” Ospif contends. “Each nation was reduced to rubble. Neither side had the will to fight after that war ended.”
“They didn’t have the will to fight, and yet the hatred lived on?” Jem asks.
“Naturally. The historian texts tell us the fighting resumed with the First Great Elemental War just inside two hundred years ago, no doubt caused by the nations disputing over border resources or something similar. From there we have had repeating cycles of peace, tension, and war.”
“No one will be happy until the other side is annihilated,” Jem says with disdain.
“Well, count me among that number,” Ospif says. “Allerians razed my mother’s hometown! They’re dogs, every last one of them.”
“With one breath you beg me for help, with the next you rip into my heritage.”
“For royalty, your diplomacy is pretty bad,” Era notes in amusement.
“I am content to repay barb for barb,” he counters. “As a rune specialist, you mock me with your story about fighting runoids. Forget for a moment that they have been extinct for hundreds of years. Fighting a runoid would mean certain death. There is simply no way you could have defeated one without an army at your disposal.”