by Kody Boye
“Something wrong?” Aerick asked.
“They’re just… so ready to accept it,” I said, running a hand across my face and then down my neck. “It’s just so… unsettling.”
“They’re old, Jason. Ancient. Can you imagine having lived for three-hundred years?”
I couldn’t. That was what was most shocking, as I myself could potentially live for that long or even longer, barring any extenuating circumstances. Which led me to think: how would things proceed next? Would Elliot and Amadeo commit suicide, or would they have their lives be taken from them through a ritual proceeding, one that guaranteed their ascension to whatever plane of existence they believed—or happened to know—existed after this one?
Rather than think on those matters, I rounded the bed and collapsed into it, sighing as the plush mattress parted beneath my weight and offered a semblance of comfort I wasn’t sure had existed up until that very moment.
“We’re gonna be here for a while,” Aerick said, settling down beside me. “We might as well relax while we can.”
“You don’t think they’re going to do it tonight,” I said, “do you?”
“I think there has to be some kind of preparation,” Aerick replied. “Something that will guarantee that everything will go as smoothly as possible.”
“Where do you think the Kelda sleeps?” I asked.
“The basement?” Aerick offered.
“I don’t think there is a basement,” I replied.
“Either way,” the Howler replied, “it doesn’t matter. We’ll knew soon enough.”
That was a truth neither of us could deny.
3
The days passed by slowly—reminiscent of an hourglass whose funnel was clogged and whose sands could not properly filter through the passage. During this time, I began to notice a visible decline in Elliot Winters and his partner Amadeo Castellano. Though their colors did not sour, and though it was obvious that they were still feeding off of warm flesh, their demeanors changed considerably in but a short amount of time. Days seemed like years on men who were ready for everything to end. With my arrival had come their undeniable exit, one that would soon be opened to allow them passage.
Come nightfall on the seventh day, after which plans for the ranch had been detailed and all the financial constraints had been reassigned to me, I realized that things were about to change sooner rather than later.
When a knock came at the door later that evening, after the sun had fallen and Aerick and I had begun to wind down for the evening, Aerick rose and was about to start toward the door before I stopped him. My chest knotted with tension and my mind racing at the sudden intrusion, I began to wonder if this was it—the final act, the grand hurrah, the exit which I had been so hesitant to approach. Aerick, in response, merely turned and looked at me; and I, not wanting to have any of it, merely shook my head. No, I mouthed, to which he replied with a simple nod. It was I who then stepped toward the door and opened it, and I who reveled in the sight before me.
Amadeo Castellano and Elliot Winters were dressed in the same type of ensemble that Guy had been cremated in—and appeared far more at peace than they had in days past. “Jason,” the Spaniard was quick to say.
“Amadeo,” I said, nodding. “Elliot.” I nodded to him as well. “Is it… time?”
“It is,” Elliot replied. “Will you come with us?”
I nodded and looked back at Aerick, who watched me with indifference I felt had no comparison. He seemed lost—like a puppy who’d been abandoned at the corner of Main Street. Eyes somber, lips pursed, he settled down on the bed and watched me and the other Kaldr as we stood, breathing as would any other creature. I was just about to open my mouth and say something when Amadeo cleared his throat. “Aerick,” he said. “You’re welcome to come see us off.”
“But I’m no Kaldr,” he said.
“Things have changed,” Elliot said, “and likely will continue to do so once we’re gone.”
I said nothing. Not wanting to intrude upon the man’s most intimate gesture, I stepped forward and reached down to take hold of Aerick’s hand. When I pulled him to his feet, he merely looked at me, his questioning eyes almost screaming with demand. Why? they seemed to say. Why me? Why now?
I couldn’t answer his question, not without fear of Amadeo or Elliot becoming upset. For that reason, I remained silent, laced our fingers together, then nodded before pulling away and starting out the doorway.
It was with trepidation I never could have imagined having that I followed Elliot and Amadeo through the house and out the back door. Aerick just behind me, both men in front of me, I looked up at the glistening full moon and took in the splendor it offered. Not once did it offer promises of salvation or words of contempt, nor did it cast blame upon me. No. If anything, it seemed to offer a form of reassurance—that regardless of whatever was happening now, that life would go on; and that, through going on, I would be allowed to live.
“Where are we going?” I decided to ask when I felt silence had betrayed us for far too long.
“The field,” Amadeo said.
At first I thought he meant the field in which the crops were grown. Then I realized that there was a congregation of people—all with glowing Svell Kaldr eyes—standing in the pasture directly ahead of us, encircling what appeared to be yet another monument atop which Amadeo and Elliot would lie themselves upon.
Would this be like Guy’s funeral, I wondered? Would they set fire to themselves and allow themselves to be burned asunder? It seemed likely, considering that I’d been told we were born of ice and raised through fire, but this wasn’t the typical funeral.
No.
A typical funeral involved corpses—embalmed or, at the very least, prepared ceremoniously.
This was no typical funeral.
Its attendees were living beings.
I swallowed the lump in my throat and tried not to think about the possibilities set before me as we continued toward the crowd of people, and as we drew near, bridging the distance between that and the uncertain future laid out before us, I saw before my eyes a distinct glow that I could only relate to a being of immense power—who, through Her presence, glowed like an Aurora Borealis in the Northern hemisphere.
Svell Kelda, the Great Mother, the Queen and God of Ice, awaited us at the precipice of what would be our undeniable destinies.
Welcome, I heard her say.
Everyone—including Aerick—reacted. The slight crowd turned, Elliot and Amadeo acknowledged the being with nods. Even Aerick seemed able to hear Her voice, as he reached up and ran a hand along the back of his skull, as if perturbed by an unknown force he could not register.
“Welcome,” the crowd echoed in turn.
They parted—slowly, with deliberation I felt was eerily practiced and not in the least bit welcome—and waited for Amadeo and Elliot to come forward.
To stand before the Svell Kelda at this crucial moment of their lives was an honor that could not be compared to any other. This I understood, as when they bowed their heads and the Kelda drifted around the block of ice to greet the men, they did so with effort I felt was monumental.
Though I could not hear what was happening next, I knew that she was addressing both men—and that, as a Firstborn, Elliot Winters was receiving the notice of his lifetime.
When finally their unspoken dialogue came to an end, the Kelda lifted Her head and said, Jason.
“My queen,” I replied, bowing my head.
I am no queen, just as I am no mortal flesh. To this I say: good riddance. But to you I say: welcome. You are just beginning a journey that will last a long and joyous lifetime—one that is filled with responsibility even you cannot begin to comprehend.
I nodded and swallowed a lump in my throat—not wanting, or more so willing, to comprehend it.
Amadeo and Elliot rose, turned to look at me, then extended their hands and gestured me forward.
When I stepped toward them—when they took me into their
arms and offered an embrace I imagined had been long coming—I trembled.
This was goodbye.
Forever.
“I trust that you will continue my legacy as you see fit,” Elliot said, pushing me back and then drawing away from me in one fluid motion. “That you will lead the Kaldr to salvation and ensure that our species does not die out.”
“I will,” I said.
“As the jǫfurr, this will be your purpose. The Kaldr will look to you for guidance, for protection, and ultimately, for understanding. But you will not be alone. Svell Kelda—our great mother—will forever guide you until you find someone you deem fit to succeed you. Do you understand?”
“I understand.”
“Then through the passage of ísabrot we will go.”
Amadeo and Elliot turned, as one, and climbed atop the block of ice that had been positioned in the middle of the field.
In mere moments they were within each other’s arms.
“I love you,” I heard Amadeo say.
“And I you,” Elliot replied. “Through the passage we go.”
That moment was the last they would ever have—together, as one, bound in body, ensnared in flesh.
The Kelda drifted forward.
After lifting her hands, she summoned—from the depths of her being—a mist of ice.
It covered them nearly instantly—from head to toe, silencing their breaths just as their eyes closed and as their lips touched. A great power could be felt in that moment—when, at that precise second in time, the Kelda’s figure began to glow like an Aurora Borealis, her honeycomb nodules atop her head pulsating with light and shivering with precipitation—and as the ice thickened, weaving itself throughout Elliot and Amadeo’s beings, I thought for one brief moment that this was merely a dream. Then I realized that it wasn’t and felt a tear slip down my face.
The men whom I could’ve rightfully considered my fathers were passing, and in turn leaving me a world of responsibility.
When the Kelda lowered her hands, I thought it was over. But when she drifted forward and carved from the air a dagger of ice, I froze.
She brought it up.
She brought it down.
The ice cracked, then shattered, exploding into a million—no, billion—pieces. It showered everywhere. From the grass, to our hair, to our bodies, lined with sweat.
Soon, there was nothing left of Elliot Winters and Amadeo Castellano.
The words that came from my mouth next were spoken without conscience.
“It is done.”
As one, the Svell Kaldr of the Winters clan turned and began to walk away—leaving not only me and Aerick, but the Kelda in attendance.
This is your time, the Kelda said as she turned to face me. You are the new jǫfurr.
“I am,” I said, and felt empowered in doing so.
I reached down and took hold of Aerick’s hand.
He laced our fingers together.
I squeezed them back.
When we turned and began to walk away, I felt a fleeting presence upon the wind.
I didn’t need to turn to know that Svell Kelda had gone.
4
I woke the following morning colder than I could’ve ever possibly imagined not from lack of feeding, but newfound purpose. As such, I nestled into the blankets and curved myself into a ball just in time to feel a hand at my shoulder.
“Jason,” Aerick said. “Wake up.”
I opened my eyes to near-blinding light that I first thought was part of dream. Then my vision adjusted and I saw Aerick standing at the bedside, dressed in only a pair of jeans and nothing else.
“You were thrashing,” the younger man said. “I didn’t want you to hurt yourself.”
“I wouldn’t have,” I said, shivering. “It’s cold.”
“Rightly so. Have you looked outside?”
No. I hadn’t. But when I did, it explained the bright light instantly.
It was nearly white as a sheet outside, and from the clouds fell snow.
“It’s… snowing?” I asked.
“It is fall,” Aerick offered as he settled down beside me.
“It just… doesn’t seem possible.”
“That so much time has passed?” Aerick asked, to which I responded with a nod. “Yeah. It’s been quite a ride for sure.”
We sat there in silence for several moments—not saying, nor doing, a thing, just watching the snow drift down from the Heavens. At that moment, I wondered if it was a sign—that this ‘cleansing,’ if it could even be called that, was meant to signify my passage into the Kaldr hierarchy, and as a result, remind me of what all was to come.
“I have a lot of work to do,” I said after several moments of consideration. “There’s people to find, things that need to be explained.”
“Are you going to officially address the world as a Kaldr?” Aerick asked.
“I think so,” I said. “But… Aerick.”
“What is it?” the Howler asked.
“I’m afraid.”
“You don’t have anything to be afraid of,” Aerick replied. “You have me.”
I smiled. “I love you,” I said.
He faltered for a moment.
Then he leaned forward and kissed me.
It was at that moment that I realized I was right—that the winds of change, as unfortunate as I’d once thought they’d been, had claimed everything I’d wanted in life.
Security.
Happiness.
Love.
Though I’d lost much along the way, I realized now just how much I’d gained.
Only the future awaited me. And I would face it head-on.
THE END