by B. T. Narro
She and the Marro fell faster than she’d anticipated, the air pulling up her hair as the bird squawked in obvious shock. It tried to pull its legs out of her hold, but her grip was too strong.
Leida looked up in hopes of finding the creature starting to flap its wings, but her whipping red hair made it impossible to see. She tried to listen for the sound of beating wings, but the screech of wind was all she could hear. They picked up speed.
“Fly, you idiot!” she yelled.
Had she been wrong to assume the Marro could slow their descent enough for her to land without cracking open her skull? Fear forced out screams.
“Fly! Fly!”
The creature seemed to be just as afraid as it yelled out, no doubt for help. The ground was coming fast as the Marro still tried to pull its leg out of her hold.
She could barely breathe from the gushing wind. This couldn’t be the end. She wasn’t ready. She looked out at the mountains, Marros flying toward her from every direction. She felt a strange compulsion to find the sun one last time, knowing it was up somewhere. She cursed as she realized it was hidden behind the mountains.
She checked the ground again. There was still time, but not long. Perhaps if she climbed up the Marro, she could land on it and might not break every bone…no, it wasn’t worth the agony.
She screamed one last time. “Fly you bastard!”
The air current shifted to the side as the creature’s legs swung out behind it with her still on top of them. Her stomach felt light as they began to glide.
She swung violently from side to side, the creature manic as it screeched and wobbled. She was nearly flung off but managed to hold on. Soon they were gliding nearly parallel to the ground as it came closer and closer.
She was in too much disbelief of her plan working to jump off right away. It was only when the Marro started to veer upward that she realized this would be her only chance. She released her hold.
Her arms and legs flailed without control as terror got the better of her. It was a lot higher than she’d realized! She tried to straighten herself out, but something struck her back and sent her soaring the other way.
Expecting to fall, she was shocked when she went higher into the air the opposite way. Another Marro had grabbed her! Leida thrashed, but it squeezed her too tightly for her to break free. Then she recognized the enormous Lmar claws as they shifted to get a better hold around her shoulders and hips, her arms trapped within.
She struggled with all her strength, but soon it was too late, the ground too far away. At least she’d faced her fear and tried. She could be proud of herself before they killed her, yet she still wouldn’t go without a fight.
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
Desil, Adriya, and Basen had run through the night to get to the center of the island before morning. Desil hadn’t known the headmaster could cycle his energy like Desil and Adriya could, but Basen told them it had been a while since he’d trained.
“If I fall behind, go on without me,” he’d added. “Scout the land and be ready to report to the rest of us when we catch up.”
But Basen had stayed with them the entire time. Only now that they’d arrived did he lack the energy to do much besides gasp for breath.
“Basen,” Adriya whispered, “you must keep quiet. We don’t know where the Marros are sleeping.”
“I’m trying.”
They’d followed the river north through the large gap between the mountains with nothing to hide beneath if they saw a Marro in the sky. Eventually the river had come to an end as well as the eastern mountains, while a row of them continued on Desil’s left. Without light, the center of the island was difficult to make out, but there seemed to be a short break in the line of mountains before they continued north into a horizontal line of others that swung around to create a half circle. The sun would be coming up to the west behind the mountains, leaving this place in shadow until nearly midday. It might be the very cover they needed, but a sanctuary where they could hide would still be nice.
“There.” Desil pointed to a spot along the mountains where an awning of rock would at least keep them from being seen by anything flying above them.
No one saw a better place, so they quickly made their way over. Once they were there, however, Desil noticed chars along the wall.
“The gap here must’ve been made from previous explosions,” Basen said.
They looked around and tried to determine the exact origin of the blasts. With a little light from bastial energy, it would’ve been easy. Desil strained his eyes to look along the mountain wall that ran out in front of him. There seemed to be sand instead of grass in the small gap between the running walls of mountains, their bases cracked and blackened.
“I think it’s there,” he said as he pointed.
“I agree,” Basen said.
“Same,” Adriya concluded.
Desil could hear the murmurs of Marros in the mountains around him when he listened closely. Leida was probably somewhere nearby, but he needed to know her exact spot.
The three of them searched the mountains for anywhere that would be an obvious place for a human. Desil kept expecting to find a cave, but he couldn’t make out anything on the surface farther than twenty feet from him.
Eventually they decided there was nothing they could determine about Leida’s location. A better use of their time would be finding a place where their group could hide until they could look for Leida again in the light. Their current spot was too close to the very middle, precluding a good view and possibly putting them right in the blast area.
They had already discussed the possibility that they might have to wait for the explosion before having a chance to rescue Leida. According to Desil’s father, the Marros would be occupied after the explosion because they’d be chasing after the fragments of bastial steel scattered for miles around the island. But Basen and Alabell forced everyone to promise that they wouldn’t wait for the explosion, as the Marros were much more likely to kill Leida once they were done with her.
It had taken some convincing to get the Elf to agree to go, but one of Basen’s comments had eventually won him over.
“If you don’t see firsthand how the explosion occurs, I will refuse to tell you, and you will go back to your leader with nothing.”
“Fine, but I do not fight more Marros,” Rhy had replied.
“That’s up to you, but if you let me die, you won’t be taking a portal out of here.”
Rhy still hadn’t given an answer about whether he would help.
Beatrix and Kirnich told Basen they would help only if he promised to cooperate with them once everyone returned to Kyrro, but it was a lie. Rhy questioned them and eventually came to the conclusion they were going to help no matter what. Desil hoped the Elf wanted more people fighting because he was going to as well, otherwise he would’ve had no reason to intervene. He didn’t seem to care about anyone in the group particularly, except himself, as he’d waited for everyone else to come up with a plan.
Desil had asked Kirnich later why they were going to help even if Basen didn’t agree to their demands. Kirnich wouldn’t answer, just grumbled about speaking to Beatrix instead. It took a lot to get it out of her, but eventually she admitted that neither of them would let Leida die if there was anything they could do about it.
Desil had told this to Basen as soon as the two of them and Adriya had started their run toward the center. Desil’s father could’ve joined them without falling behind, but three was enough, and the other group needed protection just as much as Desil’s.
“Why share this with me?” Basen had asked Desil.
“I don’t want more fighting if we can avoid it. I’ve had enough of it for a lifetime. You should know Beatrix and Kirnich care about Leida now. I doubt they would allow her father to be executed.”
“We don’t live in a world where Beatrix and Kirnich can do anything to prevent a king from executing someone, no matter how much they might like that person.”
But then Desil had considered just how much the headmaster and his wife had sacrificed to get here. They’d given up their lives, and now their daughter was in serious peril. It felt like there was something Desil must not know, a missing piece to this situation that would help it make more sense. Most people wouldn’t do what Basen and Alabell had done unless they were forced.
Most people wouldn’t sail off to Kanoan with people they hardly know, either. Yet Desil had accepted the mark of a traitor to support Basen, a person he knew even less than Leida and Adriya.
Desil was starting to doubt his own judgment when Basen spoke again and cleared everything up.
“I want to thank you both now, in case we don’t have another chance. Too many people think it’s enough to be compassionate for others, but compassion is never enough. To act is the only way to make a difference. The people who truly want to change the world will find a way to do so. Others will just wish it.”
He was right. It was immensely comforting to have someone understand without question Desil’s reason for going through so much. He’d started to become convinced either he was a fool or there was something wrong with him, but not anymore. He was proud to be here helping. He could think of no better way to die, if it came to that.
The rest of the trip to the center had passed in silence. Now they scampered back to the entrance of this nearly enclosed area of mountains and searched for somewhere better to hide. As they looked around, they noticed something they hadn’t earlier about the narrow opening between the two walls of mountains that nearly met at the center. Something glowed along the top half of both edges. Desil could only think of one thing he’d seen like it.
“Is that akorell metal?”
“It must be.” Basen pointed at one of his rock bracelets. “But much more than I have trapped in here.”
“Shouldn’t yours be glowing if akorell metal is within the rock?”
“I’ve been pulling out the energy it gathers to keep us from being seen.” He stared up at the glowing mountainsides in silence for a while. “If one of my small bracelets gives me enough power for a portal, I can’t imagine how much power is contained in all that bastial energy before us. I’ve never seen so much akorell metal in one place. It must be the source of the explosions, with at least one other ingredient.”
By the time the rest of their group arrived, the first light of day was showing. Desil brought them from the open land, where they were sure to be seen, up onto the boot of a mountain and then higher up onto a leg of rock, until they could climb into a tiny cave.
Basen and Adriya were waiting within, watching the static land through the small opening on the other side. The only way they could be seen was if a Marro peered closely into the cave from a short distance away, but even with such slim chances, it didn’t ease Desil’s nerves.
They’d gone yet another night without sleep or food, and he felt as if he would’ve passed out by now if adrenaline wasn’t coursing through his veins.
Suddenly a Marro’s shriek pierced the quiet somewhere in front of them. Many of the creatures flew off from the mountains as if to help.
“Bastial hell, that’s Leida!” Adriya exclaimed.
Desil pushed through for a look. There was only enough room for him, Basen, and Adriya to see, but that didn’t stop the others from pushing. Desil held his ground to watch Leida, as she had her body wrapped around a Marro’s legs while both of them fell from the sky as fast as a pair of rocks.
“What is happening?” Alabell asked.
“She’s trying to escape,” Desil realized.
It fell silent as they watched the Marro finally spread its wings near the ground and start to glide.
“She’s going to drop!” Basen said. “We have to get out there now.”
“Wait,” Desil said as he saw the scene about to unfold.
Leida let go in hopes of dropping to the ground, but an Lmar swooped in from the other direction and snatched her out of the air. They were too far for anyone to shoot the Lmar down or pain it with psyche.
Adriya cursed. “We should’ve been out there already!”
“If we’d known the future, yes,” Desil said. “But now at least we’ll see where they put her.”
The Lmar flew straight up for what might’ve been a hundred feet, then veered toward an opening in the mountainside. It went inside with Leida.
Desil swore under his breath, Basen a little louder.
“What?” Alabell asked with desperation.
“They have her…very high,” Basen explained as he took out his spyglass. He had a quick look. “And the bastards smoothed the mountain around the cave! There’s no way to climb to her.”
Desil cleared his throat. “There is, but I’m going to need protection.”
CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
The Lmar still hadn’t returned from putting Leida in the high cave. Desil feared she’d already done whatever they needed a human to do for the explosion, and now she was up there fighting for her life.
“I need a psychic to climb with me,” Desil said as he set his gaze on Beatrix.
She gaped. “I can’t.”
“You can, and we don’t have time to argue.”
“Rhy will go,” she said.
“I will not.”
“I will not, either.” Beatrix backed to the other end of their tiny enclosure.
“One of you has to,” Desil said. “I won’t be able to fight the Marros while climbing.”
The two psychics looked at each other. “He makes the mountain soft,” Beatrix told Rhy. “It will be easy for you to climb. You’re stronger.”
“I don’t care. I will not go no matter what you say. You can verify with psyche.”
She leaned forward to study his energy. “Damn! You coward.”
“There are Marros everywhere,” Desil’s father said as he looked through the opening. “We need something to distract them.”
“The explosion,” Kirnich said.
“I told you we can’t wait for that.” Basen squeezed in beside Wade. “They might kill her before or immediately after.”
“Wait,” Wade said. “Do you see that?”
Desil pushed in for a glimpse next to his father, needing to see what it was for himself so he could offer a plan. The Lmar stood at the end of Leida’s cave with something as large as a torso in its claws. The object was the blackest of black, like a deep hole to nowhere; it didn’t seem natural.
The Lmar shouted something. “Corrriiiinyagaaa kallooowiiiaaa!”
All the Marros joined in with shouts of their own as they flew up too high for Desil to see anymore. He listened to their fading sounds until they seemed to be far away. The others in his group were asking what was happening, but he waited to answer until he could be sure. The Lmar flew toward the narrow gap between the edges of the mountains. It beat its wings to gain height until it was too high to see.
“I think it’s starting,” Desil said.
“Alabell,” Basen said, “what is utterly black and would have a reaction with bastial energy?”
She gasped, as did Wade, to Desil’s surprise.
“The eppil plant,” they said at the same time. “Of course! I should’ve known,” Wade added as he started to push his way out of the enclosure. “I can control it! But I have to get close before it drops.”
Desil got out behind his father. Soon they were running onto the open field of dirt, Desil checking above for Marros as fear filled him head to toe. The only one in the sky was the Lmar facing the other way as he flew to the very top of the mountains. Desil looked over his shoulder to see Basen and Alabell emerging from their tiny enclosure next. In his urgency,
he almost shouted for Beatrix to hurry but caught himself and spoke her name angrily instead.
“Beatrix, hurry up!”
The Marros had all taken cover. Desil’s group wouldn’t have a better chance than now, so long as his father really could control this “eppil plant” as he claimed.
Desil was surprised when he saw an expression on his father’s face that Desil hadn’t been able to forget. It was same look of rage as when he and his mother had told Wade to leave their tavern and not return until he was sober…the same day Wade had destroyed another tavern, which had led to his supposed death.
“How long can you keep it from exploding?” Desil asked his father.
“As long as it takes,” Wade seethed. “I know just how to get revenge for all the people, especially the children, these Marros have taken.”
“You don’t need to—”
“I do. It will be easy.”
“Father, please just stay alive and keep that thing from exploding. Don’t try anything else.”
Wade looked away and didn’t answer.
The Lmar dropped the black vines in the narrow gap and flapped its wings hard to gain as much distance from the imminent explosion as it could. The eppil plant sucked out the bastial energy from the shimmering akorell metal on either side as it fell, glowing brighter and brighter. By the time it was halfway down, it was a small sun bright enough to singe Desil’s pupils if he kept staring at it.
Desil felt something in the air besides heat, a foreign energy that called out to be grabbed.
“I got it!” his father yelled.
Desil looked again. The brightness of the eppil plant was tolerable to his eyes, quickly fading to a dim glow. By the time it struck the sand, it was back to a black mass. It fell through the ground, pulling the sand down with it. A large hole formed where it had been, making Desil realize the Marros must’ve dug one in preparation for the eppil plant to explode beneath the ground.