by Marc Mulero
Eres broke out of his disbelief and started unravelling the serpent string. His heart was pounding in his chest, not from fear, but excitement. He’d dreamed of this since he was a child in his ooma’s shack, and now he had a chance to live it with a person that he cared for, and in the memory of his father. He could not falter.
Ohndee stared at the Dawn that she was falling for, both literally and figuratively, and erased the doubt she had from his previous stubbornness and replaced it with his Swul-like courage. She watched as he held the string up between their eyes.
“You see this?” he asked, voice warped from the obol. “It won’t let go. See?” He tugged at the end of the string that latched around his wrist. “This is how we will stay connected and alive. Okay?”
“I don’t trust it, Eres!” Dee barely recognized her own voice in the bubble.
“That’s the point!” he said cryptically. “I’m going first. Once I’m safe in the next obol, then you go!”
Before Dee could protest, Eres was swimming excitedly to the end of the floating sphere. He rolled his fingers like a spider weaving a web to break free of the plane, and when the goo popped open, he fell out of the soppy protection and back into open air. The feeling of a rollercoaster’s drop lurched his stomach, making him waver in his dive at a critical moment.
“Oish!” he cursed in Umboro, twisted in mid-air, and desperately tried to make up for lost time.
Dee clapped both hands to her mouth. “He’s not going to make it.”
She then swam frantically to exit the bubble, cursing in all the languages she knew. Eyes darted to find a solution, another obol. She needed to give Eres more slack, something, anything. She had no idea what would happen if he missed his mark. Would his string fall loose? Would he plummet to his death?
And as Eres skated alongside the next bubble, it caved inward in an unwelcoming manner, making him grasp at nothing but air as he whiffed by it. Dee broke free of her confinement just in time, before the serpent string would’ve pulled tightly.
Now they were both plummeting. But she was on a sure path to the next obol, keenly noticing that he was wrapping the string tightly around his arm, bracing for what was to come next. After the gooey substance stopped Dee’s fall, she immediately did the same, purposely tangling her arms in the string to ensure their connection, squeezing her eyes shut, and bracing both heels to keep her footing.
It tightened, and Eres was ready. He swung mid-air like a monkey holding a vine. Dee didn’t want to look, but she forced one eye open to peek, releasing her pressure only when she saw him crash into an obol face-first, getting a mouthful of grainy liquid.
“Serves you right, jerk!” she screamed.
Eres wiped his eyes and looked up at Dee. They were about fifty feet away from one another in adjacent pods, both of them winded. Then, upon realizing his limbs were still intact, he relaxed into a laugh, one of disbelief.
“Bastard!” She couldn’t help but share the feeling, shaking her head back at him.
Once panic subsided to a manageable level, they both took a moment to gaze far below them to the jungle of deep green and daunting black. It was just a mess of color from this height, but it looked to be moving – alive even.
For a reason unbeknownst to Dee, Eres blinked free of his daze and sprung up within the bubble. She could tell he had some sort of idea because she’d been with him long enough to know… but what? They were separated now, miles high in the sky, with nothing but ridiculous bubbles keeping them from splattering.
He waved his hands to get her attention, and once he had it, signaled for her to make way to the next closest obol. It took a minute to follow his poor miming skills, but she eventually got the hint.
After exaggeratingly shaking her head at him, off she went, diving to the next bubble in her fearless Swul manner.
Together, one at a time, they plummeted to the next gelatin orb, staggering themselves to keep within range of the long string tied to their wrists so as not to thrust one another off course. It looked like a trapeze act of alien origin: strings and bubbles, and eventually, when they got more comfortable with their show, flips. By the end of it they were both laughing, cheering one another on as they went. But then came the last row of obols, where the atmospheric pressure shifted again to the muggy jungle of Dundo-Ba.
Eres, who was one obol lower, put his hands up to signal for Dee to stay put. He carefully tiptoed his way out of the bubble into the open air, so he was gently swinging below her. Feeling the wind scratching at his face, dragging with it the odd aroma of the orbs parallel to him - like bakery dough mixed with cranberries - he lingered, feeling empowered by his boldness. Finally. After a thousand duels and plenty of trauma, he had found clarity amidst adrenaline, something that didn’t come so naturally in the battle for Kor Vinsánce… but now wasn’t the time to delve too deep. Instead, once satisfied that he was in position, Eres reached into his messenger bag and took out his most precious item: his impeller. It was in this moment that he realized he likely would have died had he not used the way of his forerunners – that crazy woman who dismounted from her creature decades or even centuries prior. She had given him a path to travel, something he desperately needed in these times.
After looking down to the manageable three-hundred-foot plummet that awaited them, he peered back at Dee, ensuring she was ready before motioning for her to step out of the final obol. Now unswaying directly below her, he was confident that he could soften their fall, and even if he couldn’t, those giant leafy pads would do something to help them. Another glance down made him shudder, though. Plants swayed in place without wind. They didn’t wither and rebloom like he was used to in Dolseir. This place had its own laws of nature, and even if he experienced it briefly within his esper, it was at this moment that it scared him.
Dee wriggled out of their last lifeline, which made a sound like someone was slurping soup as she slid free. Then there it was, that sheer suddenness of freefall making her yelp. Every cell in her body quivered from the experience, until, thankfully, a gust of wind lessened her speed. Two pulses – one for her, then immediately after, one for him. Then again, and again, and one more time until they landed harshly but at least not with broken legs.
She gasped a sigh of relief and hugged him tightly, and he embraced her back.
“That was fun,” she admitted. “I felt like I was back at Sido camp. It feels good again… to not be surrounded by lethargic Dawns. I’m so happy I came.”
“Ohndee, we’re just getting started.” Eres broke the hug and held onto her shoulders. “It’s not all going to be fun and games, though.”
“I don’t care – I was born to live, not be stuck in Elesion. My parents would be proud… I know it.”
Eres smiled as he shook his arm free of the string. Once he got to the end of it, he noticed his arm was red from its intense grip, but then was able to gently pull it off. Dee, however, wasn’t so lucky. She tried to do the same, but when the string wouldn’t budge for her, she began to freak out.
“Uhh, get this off of me, Eres, now!” She shook her hand like she’d touched something hot, but the flimsy line only pulsed and stuck harder, making Eres burst out in laughter.
“Eres!”
“The string is alive,” he explained.
“What the hell are you talking about? I don’t like it! Off!”
“Relax… that is the only way. Why do you think I wanted you freaking out up there, in the obols,” he pointed to the sky, “so the serpent string would stay tightly strapped around you.”
“So it reacts to our feelings?”
“And it knows if you’re faking.” He smiled. “My father played nasty tricks on me when I was a child. He watched it hug me harder the more I ran all about my shack.”
The idea of it wrapping around her freaked Dee out even more, but she breathed deeply to keep it at bay. “Then how did he stop it?”
“Like this.” He clasped a gentle hand around hers, calmly, slowly, and
then ran the fingers on his free hand up the string until it loosened from his touch.
“Phew. Thank you, Mustae.”
Eres laughed as he scooped up the string. “This is the vein of an Aegod. It was stripped from its corpse along with many others long ago. They can live a century without its original body, longer than us… or so I’m told. Regardless, I think this was left for us not out of coincidence, but because we have to present it to Masarian as a gift. One of respect so that he will judge me swiftly. That’s what the woman in my esper did, anyway.
“Did he like it?” Dee asked, trying to absorb the absurdity that she was just holding onto the guts of a dead Aegod.
“I don’t know. I jumped back to the present once I saw that he didn’t kill her for it.”
“Comforting.”
Eres spun abruptly, thinking he glimpsed a set of glowing eyes in some shadow within the jungle.
“What is it?” Dee latched onto his arm.
He relaxed when he saw nothing was there, but remained tentative while analyzing his surroundings. The air was warm and stuffy. Leaves the size of his body cascaded upward all around him, swaying rhythmically like they were trying to rock the two trespassers to sleep.
“It’s nothing.”
“Okay… then what now Mr. I-Know-What-To-Do?”
“Well, Ilfrid dropped us at specific coordinates, and made sure I had my fliser with me… so I suspect Masarian is somewhere nearby, but likely won’t be revealing himself anytime soon. It’s probably a test of some sort.”
“Great. Fine, then let’s go exploring and see if we can find some food.”
“You would know what to eat, here, in a jungle so far outside of Swul comfort?”
“Please.” Dee scoffed. “We’re taught to be uncomfortable. I can survive in any situation if I have to. Come on, I’ll show you.”
“Even tangled in serpent string?” Eres mumbled.
“What was that?” She turned.
“Nothing.” He smirked and motioned for her to lead the way.
“Hmpf, I thought so.”
They waded through the unusual grass that fell flat as they walked through; considering the oddness of the jungle, Dee really didn’t think much of this odd phenomenon until about a half hour or so of traveling, when she noticed something.
She stopped abruptly and swung her hand behind her for Eres to halt.
“Wha-”
“Shh!”
Carefully, she lifted her foot as if she were about to take a step, and then pulled it back, realizing that the grass flattened before she touched the ground, not after.
“It’s leading us, not the other way around,” Dee affirmed. “A trick… the jungle is playing with us, or someone who can control the jungle is.”
“Wait, what are you sugges-, oh… the grass? Hmm. Bo is said to have legendary Reach, similar to what my father had, to what Proctor Wudon still has. You think he’s leading us astray?”
“Aren’t Skrols supposed to walk the opposite path than the prescribed?” Ohndee challenged.
“Of course! You’re a genius, Dee!”
“I have my moments.”
Dee grabbed Eres’ hand and led him back the way they came, rewinding the grass to its rightful standing position along the way.
“Did you follow the woman’s path in your esper? How did she get to this Bo?”
“Naw, I was worried I was taking too much time in there, so I fast forwarded past the obols until she found him.”
“You can do that?”
Eres nodded. “I can also feel everything that the memory owner once did, their emotions and all.”
Dee thought deeply about this. Sindah - the art of tapping into Gushda to obtain effects in Rudo - was not her focused practice as a Swul, but her mind did process things differently than Eres’. “Perhaps it is real time in Gushda… don’t look at me like that. Think about it. What is time in an Eternal world? Maybe there is no past or present. Maybe it’s all one.”
Eres stopped walking for a second, shocked. “You believe in all that? I thought Swuls take a different approach… that if god, whether it be the All-Mother or any of the others, put us on these spheres, it was to act in accordance with our nature here, in Rudo. I thought Gushda was hardly of consequence. Your people don’t put weight on looking inward like mine do. Never look back or worry if you’re displeasing them, isn’t that the Swul way? So long as pride and honor are kept, then it’s permissible to pay homage to them by being the best warriors and conquerors that destiny permits.”
Dee blinked quickly in succession, likely bewildered, not for the first time, at how well-read Eres was. “Truth. That is the Swul way. However, we’re not as dense as you obviously think.”
“I didn’t mean to come off th- I’m just thinking back to the others I’ve met in Kor Vinsánce.” They started to walk again, side-by-side. “Those two were nothing like you, Nuganzia and Teros.”
“How so?”
“They were… stubborn, I think.”
“Oh! Like you!”
“Shut up!” Eres laughed. “No, actually. Different, like they were following some code that gave them unlimited confidence, in and out of battle.” Eres whistled, recalling duels and the fight for Vinsánce. “I don’t think I’ve ever met someone so intimidating at our age.”
“That would be the Swul code. Backed by the gods, our generals, and the Swul Imperion: Sore Yon Roke.”
They began to veer off-course without even realizing it, climbing over tremendous logs with soft and swaying bark like that of fur on a rug, then past sparks of green light that sprung periodically from leaves like tiny firecrackers.
“Well, it made for a frightening dueling partner.”
“Ehem,” Dee cleared her throat, offended.
“Oh c’mon. Don’t take this the wrong way, Ohndee, but she was nothing like you.”
“Pshh. Highbornes are trained differently than pure military families. She may have been the daughter of a general, or a grunt, but based on what you’re saying, probably somewhere in between.”
“And you?”
“You didn’t defeat me in a duel. You don’t get to ask that question.” She winked.
He was tempted to push her over right then and there and declare victory, but instead just gave her a look. “I think we’re past coping with Elesion’s boredom, wouldn’t you say?” Eres extended his arms to showcase the situation they’d fallen into.
“Definitely,” she agreed. “Fine. Highbornes spend time learning of other fighting styles and habits, of our allies, enemies, anyone who is a potential threat to our way of life. We study it for strategic dominance, to know everyone’s strengths and weaknesses, which is why, as a dueler, I suspect that I’m more versatile than the Swul’s you’ve met, but less aggressive.”
“That’s for sure,” Eres said a little too quickly.
“Some of us have to lead the Swul territories at a high-level.”
“Mmm. And some of you have to actually win your battles.”
Ohndee gasped and smacked Eres hard in the shoulder.
He refrained from laughing in response. “I think you would be the one getting smacked if your parents heard you using your warriors as collateral to prop yourself up.”
Her mouth remained open in shock.
“Such a pompous thing,” he continued. “I see why they kicked you out.”
Dee shoved him with both hands. “I should’ve let you keep walking the grass path for months, asshole.”
They were both trying hard to keep their amusement at bay, but again, a glowing set of eyes appeared in the darkness in Eres’ peripheral, sucking the fun out of their venture.
Dee’s expression fell to mimic his. “What is it?”
“Eyes… or at least that’s what I think it was. I think we’re being watched. Whatever those things are,” Eres pointed, “I don’t think they’re friendly.”
There was a depth to the jungle that made it feel endless. Fat leaves infinitely cur
ved around stems to form flimsy caves, and appeared to extend for miles - tall, wide, and completely shadowed, giving the impression of nature-made gateways into a dark dimension. All the two venturers could do was steer clear of any shade at all costs, considering they would have plenty of it when the suns fell.
“Besides this precious judge that we’re seeking, I doubt we’re going to find anything friendly in this place. I say we remain opposite the path and try to find some food before nightfall,” Dee suggested.
“Are we even on a trail anymore?”
It was a good point. Dee spun around, squinted, and bobbed her head to see if she could make out flat grass beyond the obstructions, somewhere in the distance. “We’re still directly opposite the trail we started. We made no turns. Quick, give me the live map.”
Eres rustled within his bag, grabbed it and pulled open the two bars to extend its display. He saw a blinking dot as Ilfrid promised he would. Alga Menace was miles west of their location, but it did give some comfort that Dundo-Ba’s jungle wasn’t infinitely long.
“Um hello?” Dee twitched her fingers, still waiting for the map.
Eres stuffed it into her hand. She then curled up and began examining their location, marking “Xs” off so they weren’t flying blind.
“Okay, I have our prints marked so at least this way we’re not running around in circles.”
“Good.” Eres took the map back and knelt down next to her. He scrutinized what lay beyond in their intended direction, and then zoomed into an undulating landmark that appeared different than the rest. “Look, here. The plants are swaying in the opposite direction, pushing outward, like some force is at the center of this circle.”
Dee nudged her face in the way to get a better look. “But the area surrounding is shadowed. Doesn’t look too inviting.”
Eres locked eyes with her, now uncomfortably close. “If you were the person to judge whether a newcomer was worthy of guarding an ancient secret, would you want to be easily found?”