Strength

by Angela B. Macala-Guajardo

  Aerigo woke with a start, bolting to a sitting position. He took in his surroundings, then noticed Rox. “How long have I been out?”

  “Not even a minute,” she replied. “You—”

  He seized Roxie’s hand and pulled them both to their feet, then led them at a run back toward the waterfall.

  “Whoa! Hold on!”

  “Just wrap your arms around my neck and hold on tight,” Aerigo said, slowing to a stop at the edge of the broken platform.

  “What are we doing?” Roxie asked as she did as she was told.

  “Saving Phailon.” Aerigo hoisted Roxie so he was carrying her piggyback. He took a deep breath, exhaled heavily, then backed up several steps. He squared them up with the lip of the waterfall. “Try not to scream in my ear this time.” Aerigo took another deep breath, rocked their weight onto his back leg, then surged forward.

  Roxie felt the color drain from her face and she bit back her scream. After watching Aerigo pass out, this was the last thing she wanted to do. She eyed the waterfall with mounting dread.

  Aerigo leapt off the cliff and spread his arms like wings. Air whipped past their bodies. Roxie clamped to him as hard as she dared and fought down the urge to scream at so much space between her feet and the ocean below. The waterfall appeared below them and they dropped into the water thundering over the edge.

  Aerigo tucked into a crouch, bracing his hands by his feet as if he were balancing on a surf board. The spray soaked both Aigis, and the rumbling water drowned out any chance of communication.

  They began to fall, but it was a controlled fall. It felt like they were balancing on a net with Jacuzzi water jets pumping underneath. Once Aerigo’s balance smoothed out, he led them into a dip that felt like the first drop of the universe’s largest roller coaster. They gained an alarming amount of momentum in a matter of seconds. Roxie’s stomach filled with butterflies as the ocean rushed up to meet them, and she squinted her eyes against the wind. Aerigo tilted to the right and leveled out their fall. They arced toward the cliff face, its top now a good thousand feet above them. The platform looked no bigger than half a chipped dinner plate.

  They arrived where jutting rock met with vertical. The horizontally flowing rock looked like giant slabs had been piled on top of another, each successive layer sticking out a little more like upside down stairs. Many cracks and fractures were waiting to get big enough to dislodge the cliff.

  Aerigo slowed their flow to the speed of a moving sidewalk. “Rox, get on my shoulders!” he yelled over the wind and water. Even though they were far from the waterfall, the water he’d taken under his control bubbled and roiled beneath his feet.

  Roxie raised herself as if she were about to leapfrog, then swung one leg at a time over his shoulders. She tucked her toes behind his ribcage, then flung her arms out in front of her as they both teetered forward. “Whoa!”

  Aerigo swung his feet toward the cliff and flung out his own arms. He held them there for several seconds before straightening out his legs. He drew them within arms reach of the cliff and held them as steady as the water would allow.

  “Got everything under control?” Roxie asked as she reached out for the granite.

  “Work as quickly as you can, but don’t sacrifice quality.”

  So close to the source of the stone’s pain, Roxie could feel it vibrate her blood all the way up to her elbows. She closed her eyes and felt out all the twists and turns, and the length and width of the fractures. She could stick a flattened hand through most of the crack, and in some places, the thickness of her arm. The fracture ran all the way from her to the surface with hundreds of sister cracks branching off. Thousands of feet of rock needed repairing.

  “Don’t get intimidated, Rox,” Aerigo said. “I know you can do it.”

  Roxie nodded, then peeled her hands from the aching stone, held her arms wide like she was about to give someone a hug, and began focusing on the breaks in the rock. As she forced her hands closer, she willed the granite to get better, to fuse back together into its whole, natural formation. She felt her will fill up the crack, as if her blood was leaving through her hands and pouring into the crack. The vein of fracturing began to heat up. The heated rock turned to liquid and filled up the cracks. This process felt relieving to the granite, like lotion being rubbed onto cracked and dried skin.

  Roxie brought her arms closer, as if she were hugging some invisible person. This motion willed the rock to cool and harden. Pain receded from her body, leaving her winded and sweating. The cliff felt stronger, no longer fearing crumbling under its own weight, and that of Phailon and its inhabitants. Yet pain still plagued Roxie’s body. Two more fractures lay off to the left. They were just as enormous.

  Aerigo twisted away from the cliff and led them toward the next major fracture point a couple hundred yards down. Ahead of them more chunks of Phailon’s jutting platform fell to their watery doom. Their silent descent stung Roxie’s eyes with tears. Pieces of such a beautiful city were now lost to the ocean. And what for? Selfishness? As that man in black had hinted at...

  “Focus, Rox,” Aerigo said softly.

  “You just saw the falling rocks too, right?”

  “It hurts to see it. I’ve been to Phailon so many times... seen so much of its beauty. But we can’t let it distract us, or even more of the city will fall. In situations like this, you have to distance yourself from your emotions so you can make good tactical choices, and keep yourself alive.”

  “But this is all so wrong,” she said, meaning the attack on the city.

  “Attacking Phailon like this can never be justified. All of today’s victims are innocent. It takes a good bit of training to turn off your emotions, which I know you haven’t learned to do. Here we are.”

  Aerigo positioned them within Roxie’s reach, who took a magical feel of the fracture before them. The stone wracked her body with pain, warning her that it wouldn’t hold up much longer. The granite’s distress pounded in her eye sockets as she spread her arm. She sent her will up the entire length of the fracture, along with its sister cracks, and willed the stone to heal. Again, the stone heated and melted. And again, the pain left her body once the process was over. Roxie wiped the sweat from her brow, then grasped her knees and bowed her head as she caught her breath.

  “One more,” Aerigo said, gritting his teeth. He began drifting further east.

  “You gonna make it?” Roxie asked, just waiting to feel them start falling.

  “We have to... There’s no time... for a break. But at least we’re... getting closer... th’ other waterfall... Just lemme... concentrate.”

  “Don’t talk, Aerigo. Just keep us up.” Aerigo was trembling under the stress of directing so much water against gravity’s pull. Roxie glanced over her shoulder and her eyes widened. The waterfall behind them was wafer thin. Not only that, the water under Aerigo’s control connected all the way from his feet to the fall itself, like some thousand-foot-long liquid rope. Ahead of them the second waterfall loomed into view, but it was hardly any closer.

  The two Aigis arrived at the third major fracture in the cliff and Roxie set to work. By the time she was done she felt ready to lie in front of an air conditioner and fall asleep. Even though the sun was barely up, Phaedra’s air still felt hot and sticky. But at least now the granite no longer wracked her body with any pain; it was fully healed. It felt prepared to hold itself up for eons to come, bearing Phailon astride it. Roxie held her hands to the cold rock, bowed her head, and shared in its relief.

  Aerigo let out a strained grunt. They began to fall. But then Roxie heard something like a dry sigh and their fall got interrupted by something solid. Aerigo dropped to his hands and knees and Roxie toppled forward off her perch. She tried to stay on her feet, but they slipped right out from under her, causing her to roll into a headlong dive. Roxie tucked into a roll. The seat of her pants hit the cliff first. Her body slid towards the water, but Aerigo grabbed hold of her arms. “Cold!” Roxie cried in alarm, regist
ering the coldness beneath her. She twisted to her stomach and realized that it was ice beneath her palms. “Cold!” She pressed her burning face to the ice.

  “Now don’t go melting the very thing holding us up,” Aerigo said, his voice relaxed.

  “But it feels so good!” Roxie reluctantly sat up and scooted away from the edge. The two of them had only several square feet in the shape of a shark fin to stand on. Aerigo crouched next to her. “So how do we get back up?”

  “Get on my back again.” Aerigo faced away from her and dropped to one knee. Roxie wrapped her arms around his neck for hopefully the last time today. She was tired of being a human backpack, and ready to have solid, stable ground beneath their feet again. “Hold on tight,” Aerigo warned. “This is going to be really... chaotic.”

  Oh, boy.

  Aerigo pressed against the granite cliff, then leapt off it like a frog. The frozen water liquified and caught his booted feet in its reach. Aerigo sped them parallel to the cliff, then back against it, the water freezing beneath them again. He leapt again, unfroze the water, then landed upon a newly erected frozen outcrop closer to the waterfall. Aerigo continued this water-ice slinky movement at a steady pace, pausing every time they landed before launching off to cover another twenty yards. Roxie admired Aerigo’s creativity.

  Her admiration was cut short after Aerigo froze the water, then tried to launch off for the millionth time. Instead of going airborne, they fell. Aerigo cursed. Roxie had her hands clamped around her companion’s biceps, and Aerigo’s hands around her biceps. Her body swayed like a pendulum in the salty breeze. “What the—?” she said once she realized they’d stopped falling. Aerigo had his right leg stuck in ice up to his knee.

  “Sorry. Forgot to melt the ice first.”

  “You scared the crap out of me!” Roxie snapped, her heart pounding.

  “This isn’t easy to do.”

  “Oh, trust me: you never gave me the illusion that it was.” Aerigo’s face went red as blood gathered in his head.

  Aerigo started swinging Roxie back and forth, building momentum. He tossed Roxie several swings later, and she landed safely on her feet, then gripped the cliff with one hand and held out her other. Aerigo did a sit-up and held onto Roxie’s hand. “Get ready to hold on tight again.”

  She nodded.

  Aerigo melted the ice around his captured leg, then pulled Roxie onto his back and pushed off. About a dozen “hops” later, he made one final leap for the waterfall. Once the tail end of the water under his control could no longer connect with the cliff, it ceased supporting both Aigis’ weight and fell like rain. Aerigo reached for the water cascading before them. They fell a little before enough water gathered beneath his feet. The two remained inert a moment, getting drenched by the misting water, until Aerigo stretched and arm ahead of him, which deflected the mist over and around them, encasing them in a shell of water. Roxie held on tighter when it felt like she was in a plane accelerating for takeoff.

  The sensation lasted until they crested the lip of the waterfall. Aerigo rode the water over the fifty-foot wall. His stamina gave out once they cleared the greying rock. He landed off-balance and released his control on the water. Roxie let go and fell separately as they both rolled to a wet stop. Aerigo flopped to his back, arms spread and eyes open.

  Roxie sat up and watched Aerigo’s chest heave rapidly. She smelled burning drifting in the wind. Many plumes of smoke marred the city view. She was reluctant to cut his rest short, yet unable to ignore Phailon’s plight for one man’s sake. “Aerigo,” she said softly, “I’m sorry to bother you, but Phailon’s still under attack.”

  Aerigo took one more deep breath, then rose to his feet, seemingly recovered. “Rox, go to Rooke’s place and get both yourselves to safety. Rooke’ll know where to lead you.”

  “But what about what Maharaja said?”

  “Don’t argue with me right now. Just use your mind’s eye to find Rooke, and stay in hiding until I come to get you.”

  “What about the Elves?”

  “You can outrun them. Now go! I have to get back to Leviathan’s icon.” Aerigo sped off at superhuman speed.

  Roxie held back the tears welling in her eyes. She felt so vulnerable and frightened without Aerigo to protect her. But the smoke rising behind the fortress wall pointed out to her that now was a bad time for a pity party. She took off at a superhuman run as well and let her mind lead her toward Rooke.

  The part of Phailon north of the pillar looked like it had been through a terrible earthquake. So much of the ground had broken, some parts sunk underground, while others had jutted into the air. Many buildings had fallen since she last passed through, but many looked like they had exploded by some force not caused by an earthquake.

  The dragon...

  She pressed on until she reached the pillar, which remained unharmed for the moment. Roxie relocated their packs and canteens, and took the liberty collect them, figuring their belongings might as well hide with her. She mentally searched for Aerigo’s presence, but for some odd reason, he was absent. Roxie pressed on, more concerned about not getting cornered.

  Chapter 25

  Aerigo sped along a circuitous path with every surviving Elf hunting him from the shadows. He counted ten of them, all working to envelop him in their next trap. But he didn’t care. They were leaving Roxie alone, and that’s what mattered most right now. He’d resume guarding Leviathan’s icon as soon as he could safely work his way back there, without leading any enemies right to it.

  Aerigo slowed to a fast jog as he neared the next four-way intersection, then skidded to a stop and shielded his head his with forearms, throwing up a magical shield to catch three crossbow bolts aimed for his heart. The bolts sunk halfway, causing the thin blue barrier to ripple, then the bolts dropped to the ground with a clatter as he dispelled his shield. Three Elves materialized before him.

  Aerigo spun around when he heard a fourth Elf shout. He erected a round magical barrier as a flaming gargoyle sped toward him. Instead of exploding, the gargoyle rammed headfirst into it and unceremoniously fell in a heap. The gargoyle shook its fiery head and hissed at Aerigo as it maneuvered its four gangly limbs underneath it. The Aigis held out a hand toward the ruined building nearest one side, punched toward it with his other first, then arced both arms over his head and to his other hip, bringing down a large granite slab on the creature with a boom. The ground shook and a few traces of smoke puffed out from underneath the stone.

  The Elf who shot the flaming demon charged with both scimitars drawn. Aerigo leapt onto the slab and charged, knowing the other three wouldn’t shoot with an ally in the line of fire. Sucking in his gut, Aerigo threw up his arms and hopped backward as the first scimitar slashed at his stomach, then ducked and rolled off the slab as the second sliced where head and arms had just been. Putting all his weight on his hands, he kicked the Elf’s elbow, shattering the joint. Aerigo planted his first foot and swung out with the other, but connected with nothing. He pushed himself to his feet and posed in a fighting stance. The Elf stood with his injured arm dangling in front of him. Aerigo seized the Elf’s good arm and started growing. The Elf let out a long, agonizing scream as the Aigis grew. It wasn’t until he reached a good four times the Elf’s height that his opponent finally began to wither, and then died.

  The three other Elves fired their crossbows at the giant, however their bolts bounced off the Aigis’ tough skin. Aerigo threw the corpse at them, taking out the Elf in the middle. Both Elves tumbled and rolled a good ten feet down the road.

  Aerigo charged the other Elves, who took off in opposite directions. He stopped and aimed at the Elf to his left, and punched the air. A fireball as big as the Elf erupted from his knuckles and obliterated the Elf. The corpse flopped onto the cobblestone street as it burned.

  Aerigo ran after the other fleeing Elf. Without breaking stride, he picked up a boulder big enough to fill his giant palm, then rounded the street corner, took aim, and threw. The rock hit the
Elf between the shoulders, sending him face-first into the ground. The rock skipped along the street with a blood smear in one spot. The Elf lay in a pulpy heap, unmoving.

  Aerigo closed his eyes and shrunk to his normal height, not wanting to waste any more energy sustaining his giant form. He picked up his dagger lying next to the stone slab, put his back to a building, and waited for the rest of the Elves.

  The building guarding his back start to crack, slowly at first, and then faster and faster, the cracks appearing so close together that the stone began to resemble leather. Aerigo backed away from the five-story building, checking behind him ever few steps.

  A series of cracks ran up the building facing him, then all five floors crumbled, the chunks falling in his direction. Aerigo strafed the first pieces, all of which were larger than him. More fell towards him, as if someone were willing the debris to crush him. Aerigo darted out of their trajectory, and the granite splattered onto the street. Debris pelted him, yet caused nothing more than minor bruises all over.

  Now an open space where the building just was, Aerigo found himself inside a minefield of granite higher than he could see.

  Two Elves appeared overhead with their crossbows honed on him. Aerigo jumped back, then fell into a backward roll as round after round bounced off the rocks. He surged to his feet and did a superhuman leap onto a t-shaped piece of granite. He caught a glimpse of the two Elves keeping pace with him right before he took cover behind was used to be a floor.

  Two Elves appeared within arm’s reach of Aerigo’s face and fired their crossbows. Aerigo cartwheeled away from the first one and caught the other while upside down. He reversed the bolt in his grip and threw it like a dart. It buried itself in one Elf’s neck, who reached for it just before he collapsed and died.