by B. T. Narro
Against Wade’s instruction, no one ran the opposite way. Desil wasn’t going to leave without him, and he was glad to see the others felt the same way.
“Remove the plant like the Marros want!” Desil yelled to his father. The creatures continued trying to pry it out, but Wade had implanted it too deep before telling the mountain to harden again.
“They’ll kill me as soon—” He screamed as the Lmar bashed him into the mountainside again. “Run! They only want me.”
Desil’s father must’ve realized he’d made a mistake trying to take revenge, and now he was ready to die for it so long as no one else did.
“No!” Desil yelled as he made it to the others. “We have to help him.”
But all were bloody and exhausted, barely able to defend themselves from the barrage of talons.
“Did you get Leida?” Alabell asked desperately as she crouched with her hands over her head. The unfortunate healer clearly had no training in fighting.
“I’m fine!” Leida called out from behind Desil.
“Thank the god!” Basen rushed toward his daughter, swiping his dagger at any Marro coming close. “We’ve been trying to shoot the Lmar down, Desil, but there are too many. We have to run now, or they’ll kill Wade and all of us will die in the explosion.”
“No, there must be a way!” Marros clawed at Desil’s head and neck as he took out his sword and swung wildly. He was overwhelmed instantly. Marros landed on top of him and beat him with their wings. He rolled to dislodge them, but their claws dug into his shoulders and back. He heard his clothes ripping as talons sank into his skin.
By the time he managed to get up, his sword was gone. He tried to go for his dagger, but he couldn’t move his arms through the sea of wings and hovering feet.
“Run, Desil!” Wade yelled. “I can’t contain the explosion much longer.”
A blast of fire made an opening for Desil to escape, but he refused to turn away from his father. Wade looked as if he’d given up trying to break free of the Lmar’s hold.
“No, keep fighting!” Desil yelled to everyone, including his father.
“Run, Desil!” Wade screamed.
“Come on, Desil!” Basen called to him. Desil looked back to see everyone had started to flee. He was the only one left, and all the Marros were between him and his father.
“I’m proud of the man you’ve become!” Wade yelled. “Tell your mother how much I love you both! I’m bringing these bastards to the afterlife with me!”
“Don’t! We can find a way out of this!”
“Desil!” Basen screamed at the top of his lungs. “Come now or you’re dead!”
He knew the headmaster was right, but Desil still couldn’t give up. He needed a moment to think. The Marros tore open old wounds on his arms as he tried to defend himself.
“I can’t hold the explosion back any longer. Get out of here!” Wade hollered. “I love you, Desil!”
Kirnich and Beatrix appeared in front of Desil, the warrior scooping Desil up over his shoulder as the psychic took down a layer of Marros only to reveal another waiting to attack. Kirnich ran off with Desil as he cried out to his father.
“I love you, too!”
Beatrix caught up as Kirnich set Desil down. She and Kirnich sprinted away as Desil was slowed by painful weeps of sadness. Kirnich and Adriya grabbed his hands and pulled him. He looked back, unsure why at this point but unable to help it.
The Marros seemed to realize what was about to happen, as they started to scatter from the mountainside. The eppil plant glowed so brightly that Desil’s father in the Lmar’s grasp was lost to its light. The silhouette of Wade dropped out from below the small sun as the Lmar’s shadow took off above it.
“Behind here!” Basen instructed.
Desil’s feet had finally begun to work properly as he was the last one to round the corner of the mountain.
There was a burst unlike anything Desil had experienced before. It sounded and felt as if the moon had fallen into the earth. A blast of air and fire came around the mountainside, whipping Desil’s back as it tossed him aside like a pebble.
The sound was so powerful that he couldn’t hear anything after he landed. Wondering if he had gone deaf and half blind, he tried to make sense of the blurry terrain. Every part of him burned as he pushed himself upright, the worst being his eyes. The land came into focus slowly, his party flung here and there.
His hearing came back with one prominent sound, a waterfall of boulders as a mountain crumbled into an avalanche of dust. The sky darkened, but bright blocks of bastial steel started to fall through.
One that crashed down beside Desil was large enough to have killed him. The luminescent red, orange, and yellow of the marbled bastial steel glowed as it steamed. A Marro came down and tried to grab it, only to shriek from its temperature. A larger Marro swooped down onto the first creature and bit the back of its head. The smaller one flew off and headed toward a lesser piece while the large Marro snapped at Desil as he rolled away.
He sprinted toward the sound of Basen’s voice as the headmaster called for everyone to join him. Amazed at how far the explosion had thrown everyone, Desil felt lucky to be alive. But his relief was tinged with sadness so overwhelming he was rendered immobile until Kirnich yanked him to his feet and half-dragged him away from the scene of devastation.
With half the group hobbling, and everyone bleeding, they made their way south as quickly as they could. Chunks of bastial steel rained down behind them with the exception of small pieces going as far as Desil could see. The Marros chased after the larger ones, often fighting each other for the prize pieces. Many flew off after grabbing their bastial steel, but some stayed on the ground and began to lick the strangely beautiful metal. It was the only time the creatures had showed no interest in tormenting Desil’s party.
He trudged along with barely enough energy to put one foot in front of the other. His emotions were in too much of a jumble for him to decipher what was going on in his heart. His father was dead, and yet Wade had accomplished what he’d set out to do the moment he and Desil had separated. Anger bubbled up out of Desil’s other confusing emotions, but his rage was toward his father, not the flying creatures. It hadn’t been worth it for Wade to destroy their akorell metal, at least not to Desil. He supposed it would save the lives of many Kanoans as the Marros took years to figure out a new setup for more explosions, but all he wanted in that moment was his father back.
Leida stayed at his side, holding his hand. She seemed to know that words weren’t what he needed in that moment, but Beatrix obviously didn’t.
“Why did your father threaten their mountain with the explosion?” she asked.
Desil couldn’t bring himself to answer aloud. Wade had never handled his anger well, always determined to get revenge. Desil was the opposite. He wanted nothing to do with the Marros anymore. He couldn’t wait to get off this island.
“Just let Desil be,” Leida told Beatrix.
The psychic left them to join Kirnich. Leida turned to Desil and squeezed him in a hug.
“I wish there was something I could do,” she whispered in his ear.
“There’s nothing. You should be with your family now.”
She leaned away to look into his eyes. He couldn’t bring himself to look back as his gaze fell.
Leida gave him a little shake. “I’m alive thanks to you. I want to be there for you when you need me.”
He blinked back more tears. Another second and he’d be balling like a baby, embarrassing himself.
“Right now I just want to be alone,” he told her.
She kissed his forehead, walked over to her waiting parents and hugged them. Soon all three of them were holding each other and weeping. Their happy reunion both warmed and tore at his heart. For him, there would be no reprieve from the pain of loss. He was alone and empty.
Desil thought back to climbing the precipice for Leida and found it hard to believe he’d really done that. In fact, ever
ything he’d accomplished here seemed impossible to repeat. Part of him had died with Wade, along with his pride and zest for adventure. How was he supposed to make sense of all that had happened? What was he to do once he returned home?
During the long walk back to the forest, everyone made their way over to him at some point to say something encouraging. It was clear they wanted to ease his pain as they offered compliments about him and his father, but he couldn’t bring himself to appreciate their efforts, let alone respond.
The Marros continued to fight each other over the bastial steel around them. Eventually Desil stopped bothering to check for signs of an attack. He caught pieces of conversation among his group about how the creatures seemed to be licking the precious steel for nourishment, but Desil didn’t follow more than that.
His thirst and fatigue caught up to him by the time they made it to the forest. It was here they’d planned how to retrieve Leida, with Desil’s father still among their group. Now Leida was back among them, and Wade never would be seen again. Desil didn’t blame the others or himself. He didn’t even blame the Marros. Perhaps that would come later, along with anger, frustration, and guilt, as had happened the first time he’d mourned Wade.
At least he’d had a little more time with his father. He would give anything for more, but rather than be bitter about it, he told himself to be thankful. Wade had gotten himself into that mess with the Marros, but who knows what would’ve happened if he’d remained on the ground with the eppil plant. More people could’ve died. Perhaps even Desil and Beatrix could’ve been pulled off the mountainside without the distraction his father had created. Then Leida would’ve died eventually as well.
Desil would remember his father fondly. Wade had his faults, particularly anger, revenge, and alcohol—always a dangerous combination—but the good far outweighed the bad. His father had opened Desil’s eyes to his three favorite things: swimming, climbing, and Majlan, and his love for his son and wife was boundless.
Desil’s father and mother had shown the world to him, his father even managing to come back from the dead to reunite with him here in Kanoan and guide Desil a little longer. Desil shed tears over his loss, not out of his own sadness but at the thought of having to tell his mother.
They all collapsed as soon as they were underneath the cover of the forest canopy. There wasn’t a single article of clothing that wasn’t ripped somewhere and stained with blood.
“I’m going to need a few hours before I can make a portal,” Basen said. “I have to finish gathering energy while I let my bracelets charge.” He groaned as he got up.
Kirnich asked, “How does it work?”
Basen looked pained at having to explain it, but he began after a breath. “The simple answer is that gathering heavy amounts of bastial energy in one spot over enough time will break down the invisible walls in our world. Once the walls are weakened enough, I can open a small portal, which is a gateway to another place that has been prepared in the same way. It requires immense bastial energy to open and even more to keep it from collapsing, hence the stored energy from an akorell bracelet.” He lifted his wrist. “Normally I only need one, but I feel as if I might pass out at any moment, so two might be necessary.”
“Rest,” Adriya said as she got up, “and let me gather the energy.”
Desil glanced out from the trees at the few Marros he could see scattered around the open ground, licking their bastial steel. All were a good distance away, but that hadn’t mattered in the past.
“Shouldn’t we choose a place farther into the forest to make the portal?” Desil suggested.
“We should’ve done so earlier,” Basen said. “But we’ve already spent half a day gathering energy here because we didn’t think the Marros would try to pull us out from the trees. If we move to another spot, it could take an entire day to ready the portal. We don’t have enough water left for that.”
Desil, Basen, and Adriya had run out on the way to rescue Leida from the Marros, and everyone else had shared their last drops on the way back. Desil’s head ached; his whole body stung. He needed to get home and be done with this place for good.
“We’ll hunt,” Beatrix offered. “Desil, would you like to come?”
“I’m fine here.”
“Come,” Kirnich demanded.
Desil suddenly became aware of the situation. The two of them didn’t want to separate from Basen out of fear he might leave without them.
After everything they’d gone through, was it still so important to bring the headmaster to the king? Desil couldn’t help but take it as an insult to his father. Wade’s death had changed everything for Desil, yet it seemed to do nothing for Beatrix and Kirnich.
“I’m staying here.”
“Then we need someone else,” Beatrix said. “Alabell.”
“I’m a little busy.” She was treating Leida’s wounds.
“We won’t disappear,” Basen assured them.
“What about after you take us back to Kyrro?” Beatrix asked.
“What would you have me do?”
“Speak to my father.”
“I highly doubt we would just speak.”
“Your students and instructors have begun fighting,” Beatrix said. “Don’t you want to keep them alive?”
“I do, by ending this pointless war. Now I know how the explosions are made, as do you. Let’s stop pretending what’s going to happen when we get back. Rhy, I need you.”
The Elf seemed half asleep as he lifted his head.
“Tell me if she lies, Rhy,” Basen said. “Beatrix, the first thing you’ll do is tell your father what happened here, and he’ll send men across Ovira to retrieve all of the akorell metal and eppil plants they can find. He’ll figure out some way to make these explosions and use them to take Tenred’s land for himself, while I plan to use the threat of them to end all war. There’s no one better than the Wind Knights to retain control over whatever device or method I invent. Tell me if any of this is wrong.”
“I can’t tell you what my father will do.”
“Take a guess.”
Silence came over them as Adriya stopped gathering energy to wait for Beatrix’s answer.
“You’re an officer, Kirnich,” Beatrix said. “You know better than I do what we’ll be doing now that war has begun.”
“I will fight and lead my own group of men. Your father will probably keep you back at the castle after the dangers you’ve already faced. He’ll send others for akorell metal and that black plant.”
“And what will he want to do with my father?” Leida asked.
“Basen’s capture will mean more to him than it did before, because there’s going to be a race to obtain the resources needed to create explosions.”
“Exactly,” Basen agreed. “So why should we give you a portal back to Kyrro?”
Both Beatrix and Kirnich let out a sound of shock.
“You would leave us in this horrible place after everything we’ve done?” Beatrix showed her sliced up hands. “I nearly died climbing that mountain for your daughter.”
Kirnich looked ready to fight as he grabbed the hilt of his blade.
“Father…” Leida scolded.
Basen put up his palms. “All right. I take my words back.”
Desil forced himself to stand. “There are tracks going this way. I’ve decided to hunt after all.”
*****
He felt some semblance of his old self after they’d eaten another strange hoofed creature of the forest. They’d come across a small lake, rather dirty, but Desil had drunk from it knowing he wouldn’t be able to stay on his feet any longer without water. The three of them had filled their pouches and offered to share with the group back at camp. No one seemed to care about the contents of the water, their thirst too severe.
Desil remembered his promise to himself that he would do nothing but eat and sleep when he returned home, but that was before his father had come back into his life, just to leave him again. Now he drea
ded the inevitable conversation with his mother more than he looked forward to her cooking.
“The portal’s almost ready,” Basen said eventually. “Or would all of you like to stay here a while longer?”
No one laughed at his jest.
Desil had been watching the Marros through a spyglass in the preceding hours. Many had taken their piece of bastial steel and flown off with it, but there were still a few Marros scattered around on the ground, licking feverishly.
There’d been quite a bit of movement in the sky recently, groups of them searching together for more bastial steel. Desil didn’t understand it, as they seemed to fight over the precious metal whenever more than one came to the same piece, but he’d let it out of his mind. It would be a blessing to never worry about Marros again.
Recently, however, there were more teams of Marros flying around, and an Lmar had joined the largest. Desil had been feeling a growing worry this meant danger for his group, but it wasn’t until right then that he realized why.
“Better hurry,” he told Basen. “I think they’re searching for us.”
“How many?”
“A lot now that most have carried off their bastial steel and probably stored it somewhere.”
Rhy complained, “I told you we needed to make energy deeper in the forest!”
“And I told you it was important to have the portal at the edge in case we needed to run back with hundreds of Marros chasing us.”
“Please focus,” Alabell told her husband.
“Right.”
Leida and Adriya had been helping him gather energy in the same place, each of them taking turns pulling in the energy and pressing it in on itself until a cluster of white the size of Desil’s fist glowed too bright to look at. He would’ve offered to help, but the three of them didn’t seem to need it, and he wasn’t as skilled at controlling the energy as they were.
“Have any Marros come this way yet?” Alabell asked.
“Only recently. They’re more concerned about their home in the center, it seems.”