Strength

by Angela B. Macala-Guajardo

  And then the conversation wandered in a direction Roxie hadn’t expected. She almost turned over so as to listen better.

  “Alright, Aerigo,” Maharaja said. “Now you can tell me what is truly bothering you. I know your heart is troubled by your past.”

  Aerigo was silent. Roxie had to concentrate real hard not to fidget. She had to know what was making him so distant ever since they’d arrived in Drio.

  “She’s been asleep for some time, now,” the Malkin said reassuringly. “I know she intuits your distress, but you’ve been trying very hard to bury the truth. Let it out.”

  Roxie saw Aerigo in her mind vision, sitting with his elbows resting on his knees, one hand clasping the other wrist. Aerigo took a long, studious glance at Roxie before looking at his feet. He sighed and bowed his head, but didn’t speak. Maharaja waited. The three of them listened to the bonfire crackle until Aerigo’s said in a pained voice, “It’s about Sandra. And about Rox.”

  Roxie eyes went wide and she lost her concentration on Aerigo’s white outline. She felt one of Maharaja’s hands touch her shoulder, a signal to keep still and relaxed.

  “Go on,” the King said softly.

  “Do you remember her?”

  “A little. She and Rox look the same, and you and Sandra were very much in love several hundred years ago, yet your pain is fresh as ever.”

  “She was the most beautiful woman ever. She knew how to handle me. I felt the happiest I’d ever been when we were together. We always knew what the other was thinking, and she could always make me laugh, and get my mind off the Balvadiers on a bad day. She treated me so well... I don’t have it in me to start that kind of relationship all over again.”

  “You are still young, Aerigo.”

  “I knew she wouldn’t live nearly as long as I can, but I was willing to live with that. She was worth any sacrifice. But when the Balvadiers raided Drio—it was just so sudden and unexpected.” He shook his head. “It’s all my fault. I failed to save her. I failed to save so many people that night. I killed more Balvadiers than I saved Durians. And I killed innocent people in the process. The Durians think I’m a hero, but I’m not. I never was. I turned into a monster.”

  “I remember the attack, but neither hers nor the other Durians’ deaths were your fault.”

  “I lost control!” he choked out angrily. “I killed thousands of people before I could stop myself! Thousands! And none of their deaths made that horrible emptiness go away.”

  “We all have regrets, and we all have darker sides. You are a good person, Aerigo, despite your mistakes.”

  “I know I’m not evil, like the then-king of Balvar, but I can’t bring myself to believe I’m any better than him.”

  “You will in time. Losing someone you love is hard, but you cannot let it ruin your life. You have to keep moving forward.”

  “I know,” Aerigo snapped, then looked away and sighed. “I know,” he repeated softly. “But my best memories are with Sandra. I’ve tried so hard to let go of her. Baku brought me to Kismet to recover. I stayed there for fifty years, but that one night corrupts everything in my mind. Now that I’ve met Rox, who looks and sometimes acts just like Sandra, I keep reliving that nightmare every night. I wish there was a magic that could remove unwanted memories.”

  “It’s over and done with, Aerigo. You cannot change the past, and you should never forget it. You must realize that no one holds it against you—not even the Balvadiers, though they fear you and dare not speak your name. Besides, do you really think Sandra would hate you for it?”

  Aerigo thought a moment. “She said I was perfect for her, flaws and all.”

  “And she would want you to keep your good memories and move on. Now, what of Rox? Their physical similarity strikes me as something important for you, and not just as a reminder of your past.”

  “I realized that only today,” Aerigo said. “Baku must have a reason for it, which leads me to a conclusion I don’t like.”

  “More power.”

  Aerigo nodded glumly. “I’ve been having the same vision since knowing of her existence. At first I thought Baku was giving me the visions, trying to help me, but the message is too vague for even him.”

  “What did you see?”

  “A phoenix and a flaming tree in a dead land. The phoenix has Rox’s eyes.”

  “There can be many interpretations to such objects. What’s your task?”

  “I’m trying to stop a war before it starts.”

  “Herinas!” Maharaja exclaimed. “How?”

  “More power, like you said. But I have no idea how to unlock the other half of an Aigis’s power. What you saw six hundred years ago was an accident.”

  “What you did almost killed you.”

  Aerigo touched the left side of his ribcage. “There’s no one to teach us, time’s running out and, on top of that, I’ve been hearing voices in my head.”

  Maharaja chuckled. “It’s never just one or two things with you. Whom do these voices belong to?”

  “I don’t know. They speak in riddles, and in desperate whispers—like they’re begging me to do something.”

  “What do they say?”

  “They’ve said ‘disobey, save our last, you cannot,’ then ‘save our last, you must try.’ And last time they said ‘to the strong ones.’ That was the only phrase easy to decipher.”

  “It seems like these voices have changed their opinion of you over time. First they tell you to run away, then they tell you to try. Now they’re telling you where you should go next.”

  “Do you have any idea who they are?”

  “I think you’ve already guessed.”

  “Other Aigis! Are you sure?” Aerigo put his hands on the ground and looked ready to push to his feet. “I should find them! They could help us.”

  “I thought such powers were lost to your kind.”

  “That’s a myth. The gods made the assumption because no Aigis has unlocked the same power the first generation did. I know I can figure it out with help from Rox.”

  Roxie’s heart began to race. She felt a gentle, clawed hand on her shoulder a second time. Realizing she’d been holding her breath, she slowly and silently exhaled, and Maharaja removed his hand.

  “Or maybe she needs yours,” the King said. “What are your feelings for her?”

  Roxie swallowed. She had to know.

  The emotion in Aerigo’s voice changed. It sounded tender. “Ever since I first saw Rox I’ve begun to feel the same way I did for Sandra. At first, I wanted to run. The memories were too painful, but Nexus’s agenda forced me to...” He held up a hand and shook his head. “She needs my protection and training, and I need her to keep making progress.” He exhaled a drawn out sigh. “Anyway, I’ve been trying to fight it, given our task, but it seems like the harder I fight it, the more I want to take her in my arms and never let go. Rox is so much like her—it’s like having Sandra back. Almost.” His voice trailed into a whisper. “She’s beautiful, inside and out. Sure, she’s young acts immature from time to time, but that pales compared to her courage and strong will. She’s compassionate and never complains about all the training I put her through. She rises to every challenge I throw at her and has stayed near my side from the day we met. I don’t deserve such kindness.

  “Despite our task, I don’t want to give in to how I feel because I’m so scared of losing her too. I can’t go through that again. Part of me wants to leave Rox behind, somewhere safe, but the other half of me can’t bear to let her out of my sight.” He sighed. “I don’t know what to do.”

  “Take my counsel, Aerigo.”

  The bonfire crackled away, the sweet sharp scent of burning wood filling the night air.

  “You both feel the same about one another, and have been fighting it in vain. I don’t need any special powers to see that. Baku was trying to help you when he decided on Roxie’s appearance. Now it’s your responsibility to figure out the rest.” The King’s voice changed into a mystical
tone. “Starting tomorrow, you have some very important decisions to make. These decisions will lead you down the path to the power you both seek and fear. Every path has two or more choices, but they all lead to the true power hidden within every Aigis. Follow your heart, Aerigo. It will protect you from becoming the even greater monster you fear this power could make you.”

  Maharaja shook Roxie’s shoulder. She blinked away the white outline of Aerigo and propped herself up on an elbow. A single tear rolled down his cheek.

  “You are worthy of love, Aerigo,” the King said. “It’s time for you to rest now. I promise you’ll feel better in the morning.” Maharaja locked eyes with Aerigo, and the Aigis’s gaze fell unfocused as if he were having another vision, but his face was relaxed, instead of frozen. His gaze wandered over to the uneaten bags of food. “Rox, you may go to him now.” The King rose.

  Roxie sat up. Aerigo’s tear track glistened on his cheek, and the fire’s light reflected in his vacant eyes. “What did you do to him?”

  “I hypnotized him, so to speak,” The King straightened out the cloth around his legs. “He’s not aware of his surroundings. Right now his mind thinks he’s asleep.”

  “I feel so sad for him, but I’m not Sandra. I don’t want to be, either.”

  “You don’t need to. I have faith that Aerigo can let go of his past.”

  “Why hasn’t he already?” she asked. “This thing happened hundreds of years ago.”

  “There is much guilt in his heart. He fears that you will reject him for what he did the night Sandra died.”

  Roxie felt taken aback. Rejecting Aerigo had never crossed her mind. She’d been more worried about him rejecting her since she’d assumed there was no room for a relationship. All this time Baku had been hoping for them to bond. For the fist time, Aerigo looked as hurt, helpless and frail as Roxie must have after Daio had tried to kill her on the cruise ship. Unable to stifle how much she cared any longer, Roxie got up and sat behind Aerigo with her back against the tree.

  “Lie down and go to sleep, Aerigo,” the King said. Roxie opened her arms to receive him as Aerigo lay back. She let his head rest on her chest as she hugged him gently. It felt so right to let how much she cared about him show. His weight settled against her and her chest fluttered. She wanted to kiss him over and over, but she decided this contact was enough for now. If she was going to kiss him, she wanted him to be aware of it.

  Maharaja looked at the sky and sniffed. “There’s going to be rain tonight, but don’t worry. You’ll stay dry where you are.” Standing near the bonfire, he reached into a hip pouch and threw some sort of dust into the flames, which roared higher and turned a golden hue. The flames calmed and flickered into its normal reds, oranges and yellows. The King crossed to the tree Roxie was leaning against and picked up a staff as tall as him. It had two orange-sized coconuts tied to the top, along with several feathers and strings of multicolored beads. Maharaja stood before the fire, twirled his staff overhead, then held it between him and the fire with both hands, holding this pose for several seconds. He relaxed and turned back to Roxie. “Good night.”

  “Where are you going?”

  “To spy on the Balvadiers. I won’t be back until well after sunrise. Don’t wake Aerigo in the morning. Let him sleep as long as he needs. My son, Vallian, will be here to make sure all your needs are met. Good luck and be strong. And Rox, wherever Aerigo goes, stay by his side.” The King left.

  Dozens upon dozens of fireflies converged on the fringes of the clearing, like some sort of protective aura. They kept their distance from the flames and its light. Roxie settled herself against the tree and under Aerigo’s weight, and shut her eyes.

  ***

  The next morning, Roxie lay there, letting herself wake up gradually until she resigned from her post as human pillow. She helped herself to some of the nuts and berries Maharaja had left for them, and washed it down with some water from another goatskin. Somehow the water stayed icy cold after having sat by the blanket all night.

  Roxie stared into the canopy until she heard Aerigo let out a big yawn. “Good afternoon, Aerigo. Sleep well?”

  “Afternoon?” Aerigo’s eyes widened as he sat upright. “Why didn’t you wake me?”

  “The King told me not to.”

  Aerigo dragged the sacks of nuts and berries to him. “I guess I needed it, then.”

  Roxie sat down beside him, saying nothing, and neither did he. In fact, he acted as if he didn’t remember anything from last night, and she wondered if he did at all. Aerigo’s mood seemed much less weighed down, more relaxed. That was some consolation.

  Chapter 22

  “What training am I doing on Druconica? You’re not gonna make me wrestle Horgrim, are you?”

  “You got your training in the Black Canyon,” Aerigo said. He took a swig from his goat skin. “We need to move on to the next stage of your training—the final stage.”

  “And that would involve…?” Even though she already knew about the power thing, she didn’t want to reveal she’d heard all of his conversation with Maharaja.

  “I’ll show you what I mean when we go to Baku’s realm,” he said, sounding uneasy. “I thought of taking us to Gaia, a deserted world, but it’s closed to just about every god, which is unusual.”

  “Closed?”

  “A god can’t enter a closed world with mind or body, which means they can’t find its location either. Closed worlds don’t exist to any god but the one who created it, but that doesn’t mean mortals can’t follow our world-hop trail. We’ll be safer on Baku’s realm because no one but a god could follow us there.”

  “Why can’t we just stay on Druconica? Or go back to Sconda or Phaedra? Or even Earth?”

  “For safety and secrecy reasons.”

  ***

  Dakar, the Elf sent to replace Chionas and Frawst, pulled back his spying spell. Aerigo’s and Roxie’s spot on the blanket disappeared behind the trees, his vision sliding backwards among the leaves and branches. Seconds later, he heard the river bubbling and splashing around and over the water mill, then saw the river. It, too, shrank away from him as his sight receded past homes and people, and back into the Fire Mountains. Dakar’s head jerked back as his mind reconnected with his body, which was encased inside a spell to keep the enhanced gravity from immobilizing him. The Elf opened his eyes and surged to his feet. “Kabiroas! Aerigo and the girl are getting ready to move on.”

  “Where to?” Kabiroas asked intently.

  “Baku’s realm for the last part of their training, whatever that is.”

  Kabiroas went wide-eyed. “Report to Nexus immediately! Warn him of Aerigo’s plan.” He turned to their human accomplice. “Sodo! Take over spying on Aerigo.”

  “Yes, sir,” both man and Elf said in unison.

  Dakar reached out into the air in front of him with one hand and world-hopped to Nexus’s realm. After the jolt of his instantaneous journey wore off, his vision focused on stone steps bathed in red light. Nexus surged to his feet. Fearing for his life, Dakar dropped into prostrate position, his forehead to the floor.

  “Get up!” Nexus said excitedly. “Tell me what you’ve learned.”

  The Elf obeyed. “Nexus, Aerigo and the girl are getting ready to go to Baku’s realm for a final bit of training.”

  Nexus took a sharp intake of breath. “They mustn’t go there!” He look past Kabiroas and the Elf turned around. Two black dragons were lying on their sides by the giant doors, heads in the air and staring intently with their fiery eyes. Two Elves stopped fencing and sheathed their scimitars. Two trolls stopped mid-struggle in their wrestling match and turned, and the third looked up as everyone fell silent.

  “We go to Phailon!”

  ***

  Nexus hovered above the mountain nearest Phailon, staring at the city in contempt. He hated its beauty and serenity. There was something he hated even more, but that person would be dead before long. Aerigo was the one being who jeopardized his prophecy, but the A
igis would be dead by the time Phaedra’s day wore out. Nexus’s private army of Elves and monsters would prove to be too much for a single Aigis.

  The girl didn’t concern him. She was young and weak with no blood on her hands.

  A strong wind harassed him as he floated in place. It whipped his dark hair everywhere and bit at skin, though there was no place so hot or cold that a god couldn’t survive in. Nexus felt no pity for those who suffered in uncomfortable climates. He narrowed his eyes and reached out with his mind. ‘Brago! Greigo! Hide beyond the side opposite the main entrance.’

  “Yes, Nexus,” the two dragons said.

  Turning his thoughts to his beastly trolls, ‘Durgil! Grauss! Harat! Hide between the two waterfalls. Stay just the other side of the wall for now.’

  “We shall, Nexus,” Durgil, the lead troll, answered.

  ‘Gilonas! Dakar! You two hide opposite the trolls and prepare a warm welcome for Aerigo. Kabiroas and Sodo should be joining you shortly.’

  ‘We will shroud Phailon in darkness, Nexus,’ answered Dakar. ‘And then we shall cast it—cliff, enemy and all, into the ocean.’

  Two black winged shapes flew over one part of Phailon’s outermost wall. Three trolls climbed over the Twin Falls wall and ended up having to kill a few humans to keep their presence secret. The Elves summoned a thick grey fog, which mixed with the colors of sunset. It engulfed the bustling streets, one block at a time.

  ***

  Leviathan stopped flying among the stars. Baku and Din pulled up beside him and the dragon’s body shivered involuntarily.

  “What is it, Leviathan?” Din asked. “Why are we stopping?”

  The dragon growled deep in his throat. Din and Baku exchanged worried glances. “Give me a moment.”

  ***

  Aerigo and Roxie flinched at the power of Leviathan’s voice in their minds. ‘Aerigo, Roxie. It’s Leviathan. I apologize for interrupting your training, but I have something important to ask of you.’