by Milo Woods
Kazuma reluctantly obeyed, and soon a small flame of red existed where his missing index finger was. Seeko placed a hand over Kazuma’s.
“Are you sure this will work, Lorissa?”
“Maybe,” Lorissa responded. “No harm trying, right?”
“I don’t want to kill Kazuma if this goes badly.”
“You won’t.”
Seeko reached into his split spark and pulled out dark energy. He manipulated the magic and sent it into Kazuma.
Kazuma jerked erratically, fighting the assault. “Are you trying to kill me? Finish the job?” He continued to resist.
“Stop fighting me! I’m trying to heal you!”
He paused before struggling again. “Heal me? With dark magic?”
“Yes! Just stop fighting!” Seeko sent more magic into Kazuma. Kazuma stopped moving, becoming rigid. Seeko sent the magic into the finger of flame, attempting to shapeshift it into a real finger. Become a real finger become a real finger become a real finger, he thought.
Kazuma screamed as the red fire turned black, opaque at first, then translucent. Blood flowed into the darkness. Skin weaved over the dark silhouette of the finger. Kazuma fell to his knees, still screaming, and Seeko lost his grip on him. Kazuma pulled his hand to his chest, cradling it. He glared at Seeko with malice in his eyes, shaking in pain.
“Look at your hand, Kazuma,” Seeko said a bit too calmly.
Kazuma’s gaze fell to his hand. He looked at it and saw a fully formed index finger. He tried to move the digit and it responded somewhat. He looked back to Seeko, tears in his eyes.
“I don’t know whether to thank ya or kill ya. Ya give, and ya take away. I don’t …” He glanced back to his finger, still near his chest. “I don’t know what to say.”
“Sorry it was painful. I thought I would feel the pain, not you.”
He looked to Kazuma’s eyes. There were flecks of gold within the natural green. Seeko had never noticed that before. Kazuma had been through a lot, with no help from him. He wished he had never ruined his life.
He turned away from Kazuma. “I’m sorry.” Then he walked away before Kazuma could respond.
/ / / / /
The company reached Port Arenthi about a week after Fort Zan. There, Mori flashed some money around, and before the day was out, they were on a small merchant vessel setting sail for Port Paltri. Seeko was there with Mori when she made the transaction.
“I’m Captain Aykshi,” said a scruffy old man wearing dark blues. “This here is the Night Envoy. Fastest vessel making the North Vorryl run!” He pointed to a small ship docked in Arenthi’s harbor. It was short and stubby, but had large, billowing sails. “We usually trade fish from Paltri, and meat from Arenthi.” He took a deep breath of the salty sea air and squinted at the late-afternoon sun. “We should get going if we want to get to Paltri by morning.”
The captain moved ahead of them and led them to the boat. Seeko pulled Mori behind, asking, “Do you trust him?”
“Yes. He does business with my father. Aykshi is a good trader and a good sailor.”
Seeko nodded, examining the Night Envoy in detail as he approached. The Night Envoy had maybe twenty men on board, each either cleaning the boat or packing large barrels into it. There was a large room on the stern of the ship that Seeko assumed was the captain’s cabin. Atop the cabin was the steering wheel and there were stairs that headed into the boat underneath the captain’s cabin. Aykshi barked orders at his sailors as they drew near, and before long, the company was on the Night Envoy.
“… and these three sailors are why the Night Envoy is so fast!” Aykshi was saying. He gestured to three unremarkable men. The men saluted him and continued cleaning the deck. “They can manipulate the wind. So they blow it into our sails, and we easily sail the eighty miles to Paltri!” He pointed to the stairs. “There are cots down there. Just pick one when you’re tired. Any questions, my friends?”
The company stood silent.
“So, then,” Keith asked after a moment, “do we have to do any work aboard the Night Envoy?”
Captain Aykshi laughed. “No, my good fellows! As long as you are here with Lord Luxant’s daughter, there is no need!”
The company released a held breath.
“I mean, if you want to, I’m sure I could find something for you.”
They shook their heads, with the exception of Keith. “I can use wind magic. I can help.”
Captain Aykshi’s eyebrows rose. “If you want to help, lad, then you can. Go with the other air magicians and help them prep the ship.”
Keith obeyed.
“And as for you four?”
Again they shook their heads.
“Alright then! Just enjoy the journey!” He moved to the wheel and prepared the crew some more. Seeko and company dispersed around the boat, and presently the vessel was away.
Night fell on the Vorryl Gulf, and soon the wide ring of Kismetia brightened the night sky, a brilliant band pointing the way to Port Paltri and the next portal. Seeko stood on the bow of the ship, leaning on the railing. He focused on Avaroda, examining the amazing, impossible sight. He did miss the moon, though. The ring blinded out almost all the stars. Seeko turned away from the ring, facing the stars opposite it. He didn’t recognize any of these constellations. It made him homesick again.
He started connecting stars into recognizable shapes. He was so absorbed in his silly task that he didn’t notice Mori approach. She seemingly materialized in front of him, grabbed him with both arms, and planted a kiss on him. Seeko pulled away with a frown.
“What?” he asked.
Mori moved to his side and locked arms. “What?” she said, copying him mockingly.
“Wrong answer,” Kerodesis thought. “Sever her vocal cor—”
Seeko ignored him. Still, he had a point. She was being annoying. “Cut it out!”
She looked as if he had just skewered her with his sword. “Fine! You couldn’t take a little teasing?” She stormed off and moved into the stern. Seeko scratched his head, thinking hard about what he had said.
Seeko turned his gaze back to the ring, fuming. For a while, he listened to the Kikoeru, letting it feed his anger. He shifted focus back to the rushing waves, the cool night breeze, realizing how stupid it was to be angry. He headed to Mori to apologize (for what he didn’t know exactly). She saw him coming and left in the opposite direction, which made Seeko curl a fist and growl. It wasn’t even a big deal. Why was she making it one? He took a deep breath to calm down.
He decided to ask Lorissa for advice in person. He hunted for the girl, eventually finding her and Kazuma on the raised stern, also looking into the sky. Seeko decided to wait until they were done talking, so he sat on the stairs that led to the stern.
He tried not to listen, but curiosity overtook him.
“I think there is someone up there, watching us,” Lorissa was saying.
“If there is, they’re laughing at this experiment called Kazuma.”
“It’s not all bad.”
Kazuma summoned a weak fireball and flung it into the ocean. “I have nothing in me but anger and hatred. There’s no room for anything else.”
“Surely you have hope. You travel with Seeko, right? Hoping that he will save us?”
Kazuma idly rubbed his new finger. “I hope he gets me to Yoshino.”
She scooted just a little bit closer and looked to him. “Isn’t it nice tonight?”
Kazuma sighed. “It’s windy. There are a few clouds in the sky.”
She frowned. “Can’t you just be happy? Or at least not grumpy?”
“Every day, I see the faces of those who I will never see again. I feel their blood splash upon me. I breathe in their ashes as they burn. I died a long time ago, with them. I am despair incarnate, fueled by a single drive for hopeless revenge. How is that for happy?”
Lorissa started to cry. “You think you’re the only one who’s had it hard? I have felt Nyeri’s frozen embrace! And when Ara
ni granted me a terrible return to this cruel world, all I could think about was my sister. Why was I spared and she wasn’t? Why me? Do you know that Mother said? It was because she couldn’t recognize my sister’s body! My father had destroyed it beyond recognition!”
Kazuma looked away and took a deep breath. After a moment, he spoke. “I never answered your question about believing in gods. There are no gods watching us. There are only perverse monsters who watch us squirm when pressed.” He left the crying girl and went to the other side of the boat.
As soon as Kazuma left, Seeko asked, “Lorissa, are you all right?”
“Can’t a girl have some privacy?”
He wasn’t about to anger another girl tonight. He turned to leave when he found Keith sitting right next to him. “Keith, when did you get here?”
He shrugged.
“What did you hear?”
“I wasn’t listening. I’m not a creep.”
“What if Lorissa needs our help?”
“She would have asked for it. See?” Keith pointed to Mori, who was now consoling Lorissa. “You can’t help everyone. You’re a creep.”
“You’ve been here just as long as me!”
“Well, looks like I need to get back to helping sail the boat. I need to help everyone get to their destination.” With that, Keith left, heading back to the sails.
With a grumble, Seeko moved down into the ship and down the hall that greeted him. There was a large room on both sides of the hall, one side holding material and the other holding cots. Seeko headed to the room full of cots and, once inside, sat on an empty one. There, he just listened to the creaking of the boat, to the sound of the water washing against it. He closed his eyes and continued to listen. Even though he lived close to the sea, he hadn’t gone to the beach much on Earth. And he had never been on a boat before. He dozed off until he heard someone enter. His eyes crept open.
It was Kazuma. “Seeko? Ya awake?” He moved to a cot next to him. “Guess not.”
Seeko could see him through the corner of his barely opened eye. Kazuma was rubbing his new finger nervously.
“I just wanted to say …” He paused and looked around for eavesdroppers. “… thanks. For the finger and all.” He fell on the bed and before long was asleep.
“No problem. I just wish I could help you more.” And then Seeko, too, was asleep.
/ / / / /
The next morning, Seeko moved to the bow, food in hand, ready to eat. Mori sat on the deck, silently eating the dried meat that the captain had provided for them. He cleared his throat and spoke up. “Hey, Mori.”
She faced him and smiled. “Hey.”
“Uh, aren’t you mad at me?” he asked, surprised at the smile.
“For what?”
“Nothing, I just … Forget it.”
Captain Aykshi stepped onto the deck. “We will be there before the sun reaches midday,” he declared. “If you watch, you can see the island rise over the ocean.”
Seeko did so, watching the sea with Mori. Eventually, Mori scooted closer and they enjoyed the morning together.
After a while, smoke appeared over the horizon, a black fume signaling destruction.
“What is that?” Seeko asked the captain.
Aykshi squinted into the distance. “No idea.”
He faced his crew and shouted orders to them. The sailors manipulating the sails sped up, channeling more magic into them.
Linea Island came into sight before long, a mountain first, then the rest of the large island. Smoke continued to billow into the air out of the mountaintop.
“Is the mountain supposed to be smoking like a furnace?” Seeko asked.
Mori stood up next to him, pausing for a moment before replying, “No, I’ve been to this island plenty of times. The mountain shouldn’t be doing that.”
“Is it a volcano or something?” Seeko asked. Of course the portal would have to be next to a volcano.
Kazuma spoke up from behind him. “That explains all the boats headed back to Arenthi.”
Seeko sighed and sat with a thump. “Nothing is easy, is it?”
Mori sat next to him, nudging his shoulder.
“I should have expected as much by now.” He took a deep breath and watched the mountain burn for the next few hours. As they drew closer, he saw the town of Paltri along the north shore of the volcano. Long docks lay along the shore, people flooding onto them in an attempt to get away.
Captain Aykshi pulled his boat up do the crowed docks. Everyone was filing onto the boats, trying to leave. “Whatever business you have in Paltri, I suggest you get it over with quick. Doesn’t look like anyone’s sticking around, which means no trade. I’m heading upriver to Linea.”
Boats continued to disembark from Paltri, full of frantic people. They walked into the chaotic mess of a town. Panicked people littered the streets, fleeing with what they could carry, either to the docks or to the eastern road to Linea. The sounds of screams, of worry, flooded the company’s ears. The smell of ash invaded their nostrils as hot wind picked up.
Seeko examined the trash that scattered the streets as it flew by. First Irris, now Paltri. Why doesn’t anyone use magic to stop this?
“It’s not that simple. The only magic that would be helpful is earth, and even then you could only barely slow it,” Lorissa responded.
The volcano’s smoke filled the sky and masked the sun. Seeko tried to contact the Mother but found no need to. The Kikoeru gave him the answer. Many Akeni were yelling about the portal, the portal on the side of the volcano.
Seeko put his hand on his head, groaning as he did so. “Well, at least it won’t be hard to find. Why are the portals so spread out anyway? Wouldn’t it be better to have them all in Halcyon territory?”
He asked his questions to the Kikoeru; the response was a violent wave of answers. He picked some of the clearer ones from the chaos: “No allegiance to Halcyon. More pain. No allegiance to Irenic. Faster destruction. To stop the hero.” Seeko was surprised that he was mentioned in the list of reasons.
“The hero?” he asked.
“The hero is no more. Yoshino killed him, he is dead,” the angry voices replied.
Seeko stopped talking to the Voice. They think I’m dead. Yoshino kept me a secret. “Well, at least we have the element of surprise.”
He walked through the town, toward the volcano.
“Wait, where are you going?” Mori asked.
The group followed behind him as he moved toward the portal’s position. Seeko pointed to the volcano. “The portal is on the side of it! We have to seal it!”
Kazuma’s eyes went wide. “Are you insane? Paltri Peak? That thing will destroy us!”
Seeko could see that the rest of the company agreed with Kazuma, even Mori.
“What did we come here to do?” Seeko said. “Seal the portal! We can’t just give up now!”
“When I agreed to follow ya, it wasn’t into an active volcano!” Kazuma said.
“I’m sorry, but you’ll just have to trust me.”
Kazuma gazed up at the soot leaving the nearby mountain. He closed his eyes. “You’re insane.” He stepped forward, willing to follow. “Just don’t get me killed.”
Seeko smiled and faced the others in the group. Mori threw her arms up in the air and stood by his side.
Keith spoke as he walked up to him. “We better hurry. We don’t have much time.”
Seeko spun around and found Lorissa already with the group. “Thanks,” Seeko said to her.
The young girl smiled.
And the group moved toward the volcano, following their hero. Soon they stood at the bottom of the mountain. Ash filled the air, becoming thicker with each passing minute. A gray film layered the ground in all directions. Seeko coughed on the ashes and kicked a bush next to him. The ash fell from the plant, repositioning on the ground.
“Can we get this over with?” Kazuma said. “I don’t want to be here when it actually erupts.”
Seeko
nodded and continued to ascend the mountain. He listened to the Voice for the exact location of the portal. The group walked up and around the mountain, following Seeko’s lead. They soon found themselves standing at a flat notch in the mountain. In the center of the dip was the portal surrounded by cliff edges. The black orb swirled with dark purple and maroon smoke around it.
Seeko took a step forward, scanning the area. “There should be someone here protecting it.”
He drew his weapon and the others copied him, with the exception of Lorissa, who had no weapon. They crept up to the darkness and stood before it. Suddenly, a bulky, bearded man wearing simple cotton garb walked out from behind the portal. He strode calmly to protect the portal from the company. Seeko could see a necklace around his neck, and knew who he was instantly, for the Kikoeru had already told him.
“Hatsuko. He is the protector of the garnet necklace. He is very dangerous and powerful, and he has the capability to kill all of us. And that is without the boost in power the necklace gives him.”
“He also has four arms,” Kerodesis added inanely.
Sure enough, at that moment, Hatsuko’s back burst open and a pair of bloody, grotesque arms erupted from it, long and misshapen.
“Who dares approach me?” he asked in a rumbling voice. As he spoke, blades materialized in each hand, a different one for each element.
“We are so dead,” Seeko thought.
Kerodesis laughed from within his cage.
21: Casualty
27 Din, 112 AV: Day 156
The four-armed Hatsuko flourished his elemental swords. “Again! Who dares approach me?”
The company stood in silence.
“Answer me!” Hatsuko barked. A gust of hot wind buffeted the company, created by him.
Seeko cleared his voice. “I am the Hero of Endetia, Seeko Dris!”
“Where did that bravery come from?” Lorissa asked within.
“All bravado,” Seeko thought back.
Keith and Mori moved to shield Seeko from Hatsuko.
Hatsuko chortled. “You? The hero?”
Seeko pulled out the topaz necklace. “See! I’ve defeated Vishoni!”
“You? Good for you. He was rather insane, was he not?” He took a step forward and the world rumbled around him. “Challenge accepted!”