Lance nodded along to the directions. “Is the Iron Chariot a bus?”
“It is much more than a bus,” Talia said. She thought for a moment and added, “But mainly it’s a bus.”
“Okey dokey. You guys have fun.”
“Are you sure you don’t want to help?” Terrance asked. “Important battles are starting, ones that will affect the whole world…and beyond, I guess.”
“Yeah, I’m pretty sure,” Lance said. “This all seems really dumb.” He looked at Karen. “Are you sure you want to be a part of this?”
“Very sure.” Karen still gripped her axe. “I want to fight. I can’t just stand around anymore.”
“All right. See you later.” Lance turned to head down the path, Cloppers keeping his distance and watching him warily.
“One more thing,” Talia called out. “There are nymphs in the jungle. They will lead you to your death. If you see an attractive woman on your journey, ignore her.”
“Ignore attractive women—got it.” Lance headed down the path and disappeared into the woods.
“Well, he’s probably dead now,” Karen said.
“We can’t waste our time worrying about the fate of fools.” Talia walked toward the tree. “Let’s head to the top.”
“This tree fort is pretty neat,” Felicia said.
“Unless you’re afraid of heights,” Donald added.
Karen looked around worriedly as they headed into the tree. “I’m afraid of bugs. Seems like a tree would be filled with bugs.”
“Heights and bugs are not the main things we have to fear now,” Talia said. “Though I do not like spiders.”
Inside, the main part of the tree was hollow, with light coming down from somewhere far above, farther than Terrance could see. The walls were bare except for the scattered windows carved in the trunk. There was a big pile of leaves to one side—which seemed kind of weird to have inside a tree. And little lights floated about. “Are those lightning bugs?”
“Pixies,” Talia answered.
“Do they bite?” Karen asked, keeping a close eye on one floating near her.
“I’m sure they’re capable of it.”
Cloppers had followed them inside, though he stuck to an area near the tree base, away from the group. Talia led everyone to a wooden box made from large branches tied together, big enough for all of them to stand inside. On its top was a large metal ring. “What’s this?” Terrance asked.
“Get inside and you’ll see,” Talia answered.
They all climbed into the box, and Talia closed its door—which was simply more branches loosely tied together—and fastened it closed on a hook with a small bit of rope. She picked up what looked like a flute hanging from the side of the box, and played a few notes.
A sudden loud screech caused Terrance and Karen to crouch to the ground. Silhouetted against the light above, a large bird descended, almost as large as the box they were in. It seized the metal ring with its talons and lifted the box into the air with a flap of its enormous wings. Soon they were rising high above the ground, dangling in the bird’s grip.
Karen slowly lifted herself up to peer out the side. “What does OSHA think of this?”
“We are far beyond the realm of OSHA,” Talia answered.
“It’s okay,” Donald assured Karen. “It seems like the bird has done this thousands of times.”
Terrance slowly straightened up from his crouch. “Birds are technically dinosaurs. I don’t know why I brought that up…it’s just that it’s a really big bird, which made me think of it.”
Karen rolled her eyes. “Thanks, Terry. That was really useful.”
When the ground was no longer in view, the bird set the box down on a wide ledge carved into the inside of the tree. The opening at the top from which the light shone was now much closer, and Terrance could make out blue skies above them until the bird briefly blocked the view as it flew through the opening and disappeared beyond sight.
Talia opened the door of the box. “Vivian will be here in a little bit, and then we’ll figure out our next course of action.”
“Who is Vivian?” Karen asked.
“We might need to explain some things to Karen, since she’s new to this,” Donald said.
Talia nodded. “Yes, why don’t you and Felicia catch her up? We’ll need her axe in the battles to come.”
“Battles to come; oh, yay,” Karen said, chuckling.
“You said you wanted to fight, and you will get the opportunity,” Talia said. “As for me, I was nearly cut in two, fell a great distance, and have been fighting ever since, so I think I’m going to rest a bit and read a book.”
“What about me?” Terrance asked.
Talia’s eyes darkened. “I don’t know, Terrance Denby, what about you? What can you add?”
Terrance thought about it. “I guess nothing.”
“Then get on that.” Talia headed for a door that led out to the exterior of the tree.
“Talia is just a bit upset because of…everything,” Felicia explained. “But we’re glad you’re okay and with us now.”
Terrance sighed. “Yeah, I’m sure I’m a big boon to the whole operation.”
“There’s a room that’s actually got some comfortable furniture.” Donald pointed to a wooden door a little further along the ledge. “We’ll be in there talking to Karen if you want to join us.”
Terrance watched them walk off and contemplated what exactly he was going to do to help. He didn’t have a sword—not that he was ever much use with it anyway—and beyond that, all he ever seemed to do was cause more mess for everyone. The more he thought about it, the more he couldn’t understand what the remainder of the Infinite had to gain from rescuing him. Talia certainly seemed of two minds about it.
He headed for the door she had exited through. It brought him to a balcony on the outside of the tree, where it was a beautiful, bright day with a clear blue sky. Above him were more large branches as, surprisingly, the tree continued up quite a bit further despite how high the bird had taken them.
Terrance mounted some steps on the balcony that led to a large, thick branch jutting far out from the tree. Talia was sitting at the far end of it, and he approached her. The branch was just wide enough for a person to walk easily along it, but there were no railings. Far below, he could see nothing but the green of the treetops, yet despite the height, he was strangely unafraid. He walked up behind Talia and stared for a moment at the view. Beyond the jungle below were mountains and valleys. And past the mountains…
“Is there something you want?” Talia asked.
“Yes.”
“What?”
Terrance tore his eyes away from the view to look at Talia, who sat below him holding a Kindle. “I don’t know. What are you reading?”
“Historical romance fiction.”
“I didn’t know that was a genre.”
“This one takes place during the Russian Revolution.”
Terrance nodded. “Sounds boring.”
“It’s not.” She stared at him with her doe eyes. “I’ll ask once again: is there something you want, Terrance Denby?”
“I…want to say sorry for all the trouble I caused.”
Talia set her Kindle down and stood up to face him, her eyes narrowing. “Are you truly sorry? Early on, I warned you that that pretty little thing was going to try to drag you into the emptiness of this world, though little did I know the exact depths she was trying to pull you down into. I suspect you had an inkling of it but pursued her anyway.”
“Yeah, I made a big mistake trying to lead two lives…but in the end I was just trying to help her.”
Talia laughed. “Oh, well aren’t you the big hero? Were your motives really pure, or were you just hoping to have it both ways: to finally follow your conscience and keep your little toy?”
“Hey! She’s a person…somewhat. And it wasn’t just me; the others thought there was a chance to save her.”
“Out of compassion, they
humored you. And look how we all paid for it.”
“I’d do it again!” Terrance said, his voice rising. “If falling into the Darkness is as horrible as you say, then it was worth a chance to save someone, and I would do it again!”
Talia seethed. “Well, Randolph won’t be there the next time, and perhaps your whore will cut deeper on the second try and properly finish me off. But of course, there will be no second time for the faeries. They are gone, and now the forces of the Darkness have overrun us. All the world is crumbling because of that one foolish attempt. I am sure the Adversary is laughing at the result of your showing compassion to one of his minions.”
“How was I supposed to know this would all happen?!” Terrance yelled, startling some birds from a nearby branch. “I still don’t have the slightest clue what the hell is going on! I don’t know why I was thrust into this or what I’m supposed to do!”
“Well, it’s not whine and feel sorry for yourself,” Talia said in a much angrier but more measured tone. “You are so useless. Where is your sword?”
That deflated him. “I told you. I threw it away. I don’t know where it is or how to get it back.”
“You are pathetic, Terrance Denby. We need to be warriors greater than imaginable, and you are less than a man. Why are you even here? Why don’t you just shuffle back to your pathetic, meaningless existence and live in a little shell of inanity until oblivion comes? You already tossed your sword; why don’t you just give up entirely?”
“Because I can’t!” Terrance bellowed. “I don’t care if I’m useless or if I accomplish nothing; I can’t shut my eyes again! I know what’s wrong, and I know what’s right, and I’m here whether I can do anything about it or not. Maybe in the next battle I’ll get hacked apart by some demon, but I’m going to try anyway because I can’t stand idly by. I know that is not an option. I don’t understand much, but what I do know is that—”
He was cut off by Talia’s lips pressing against his own. He stared in shock, but her eyes were closed. It seemed to last a long time, and then she backed away a step. They looked at each other silently for a few moments, and finally Talia sat down and picked up her book. “I would like to rest. I’m going to read.”
Terrance didn’t say a word. He slowly turned and left, more confused than ever.
Chapter 34
Terrance sat alone on a ledge, contemplating his circumstances as he watched the little lights float around the massive interior of the tree. There was so little he could make sense of. All he knew for certain was that he missed his sword.
“Vivian is arriving,” Talia announced from the doorway to the balcony. She met his eyes briefly but quickly turned away to go inform the others.
Terrance headed back out to the exterior ledge. He could no longer see the treetops below, as some clouds had moved in around the tall tree, blocking the view. The cloud cover extended out quite some distance, and a ship was floating upon it. As it came closer, he could see that it was Swaggerty’s ship, and at the helm was the bear in his red vest. The ship slowed and came to a stop next to a branch. Swaggerty lowered a rope ladder and Vivian climbed down. Swaggerty followed with Vivian’s two small children clinging to his back.
“A cloud ship?” Karen asked from behind Terrance. “That’s a thing?” The others had come out to watch, as well.
Vivian took her children by the hand and walked toward the group, smiling. “Good to see you all.”
She looked genuinely happy to see them, but all Terrance could think of was how he’d been responsible for getting her husband—the children’s father—captured, and he was unable to come up with anything to say.
“Hey, it’s the stupid-question guy,” Swaggerty quipped. “The one who almost got me killed.”
Terrance turned red. “S-sorry.”
“That’s okay.” Swaggerty waved a paw. “So how is the evil blonde girlfriend?”
“We broke up.”
“Well, buck up. There are plenty of soulless monsters in the sea.” Swaggerty turned to Vivian. “I need to get going. It sounds like you people are really getting the hammer dropped on you this time, and I don’t want to be anywhere near when it hits.”
“Understood. Thanks for the ride,” Vivian said.
“Bye, bear!” the children called to Swaggerty in excited voices. He waved at them and sauntered back to his ship.
Vivian approached Karen. “I see we have a new face. I’m Vivian.”
Karen shook her hand. “Karen. I know Terrance from work.”
“Well, it’s good to have you here. We’ll need the extra help if you’re willing.” She looked around at the group. “I’m still waiting to hear word on the others. Krampsky should have some information and will be here soon—he’s part of another group of the Infinite.”
“And then a rescue mission?” Felicia asked.
Vivian smiled. “Well, of course.”
“And these are people Terrance got captured?” Karen asked.
Vivian’s smile faded, and she glanced briefly at Terrance. He felt himself shatter under that short gaze. “Um…things happened,” Vivian said, “and we’ll do our best to rectify them. So anyway, Krampsky will be here soon, and then we’ll make a plan.” She turned to Terrance. “You want to talk briefly?”
He feared nothing more. “Sure.”
“Grace! Daniel! Come on!” she called. They were staring over the edge of one of the branches, but got up and followed their mom. As Terrance walked inside with Vivian, he glanced at Talia, but she didn’t meet his eyes.
Vivian led him inside the tree and to another door, which opened into a large interior chamber furnished with a few benches made from stumps, and what looked like a desk at the front of the room, made from a much larger stump (though certainly quite small compared to the tree it resided in). There were a few windows on one wall, through which sunlight shone, somehow emphasizing the empty, ghostlike quality of the room.
After Vivian closed the door, Terrance wanted to speak first but had trouble thinking of what to say. He watched the children run around the room, then he looked again at Vivian and lost it. Tears streamed down his cheeks. “I’m so sorry. I’m a coward…I’m worse than a coward. I not only got your husband captured, I just ran off and…this elf—”
“It’s okay.” Vivian smiled gently and reached out with one hand to pat him on the shoulder. “It’s not your fault.”
“It is my fault! I got them all involved to help my girlfriend and—”
“And the forces of the Darkness came at you with all their strength because that was so threatening to them. You scared them, Terrance.”
“But they captured your husband and the others and killed Randolph…and they destroyed the crystal palace. And now their evil is everywhere and coming for us, and I had tried to ignore it. To hide! And—”
“And here you are, back and ready to fight. I know this looks bad and you feel guilty, but we’re all struggling through this. We all get scared. We all make mistakes. And certainly none of us understands everything.” She motioned behind him, and Terrance turned to see Grace and Daniel laughing happily as a glowing pixie kept floating near them, then darting away. “Children see this world better than we do. They have no preconceived notions, and they approach everything as if it were a great wonder. That’s because they see everything for what it truly is. As we become older, we become worldlier, and we close our eyes and no longer notice the wondrous things around us. To truly see, we have to be like children. We have to look at things anew. It’s from their perspective that we need to understand the world.”
Terrance watched the children, but all he could think about was how their father was being held prisoner by the followers of the Darkness and how they and their mother were under a greater threat with the enemy now prowling the streets. And he couldn’t even imagine how they could win against that enemy. “You’re not scared? You don’t fear all the creatures out there and what they could do to your family?”
“What do
we fear?” Vivian asked. “We fear losing what we have. You don’t know how often I’ve regretted not taking a picture of certain moments with my children, knowing that once it passes, it’s gone forever. They keep growing, and what I have with them now will one day be gone, with only a few fading memories and a handful of photos to remember it by. But I’ve come to realize the greatest moments are ones that could never be captured with a mere picture, such as the feeling I had cradling them in my arms when they were little babies. Sometimes I’m sad about how that’s already gone, but I don’t think it is. Things like that change you—somewhere deep, somewhere permanent and beyond this world. Pictures and memories fade, but the greatest things we experience in this world are part of who we truly are, and they last forever.
“What I’m saying is that the greatest things we have can never be taken from us. The worst that those who appear so powerful in this world can do is to end our lives here, but that is very little in the scheme of things, because one day the Adversary’s power will fail and we will be reunited with our full selves. So there is little to lose in this fight, and much to gain by defeating the evil that traps so many souls. We have to hold on to what we know is true and continue onward without fear. Do you understand?”
Terrance chuckled ruefully. “I think so, a bit…but at the same time, not at all.”
“Well, what led you to this? Why did you take up a sword?”
“It was the faeries. They gave it to me. I don’t know why they chose me.”
Vivian smiled. “They didn’t choose you. They didn’t just float by one day and chuck a scabbard at you. You found them.”
“Only by accident. There was this squirrel”—Terrance hated that squirrel—“and there was this road I had always driven past, but I decided to check it out one day.”
Sidequest: In Realms Ungoogled Page 27