Elf Mastery

by Bryant Reil

  “Yes, sister. Aspen, Eunoe. Be ever cautious.” Aspen didn't need to be warned. She doubted she was going to ever be able to walk around again without being on alert.

  It was several minutes, and Aspen started to worry, but finally Phaethusa returned, looking over her shoulder.

  “Were you seen?” Lampetia asked.

  “I don't believe so. There are many creatures. Some are airborne; mostly harpies and wakwaks. There are also a few fairies, and a dragon. They are circling the Heliopolis but are not currently attacking.”

  Lampetia spoke. “The Helian Shield is still intact, then. This is good news.”

  “Short-lived, I'm afraid. The sun's power wanes under Erebus and will certainly fail. We should flee with the dryad and alseid.”

  “I shall not leave Hippus.”

  “I am relieved to hear he is well.”

  “He may not be. He and several others headed to the mines. I chose to wait for you, but have not had contact since they left.”

  “I'm certain they are well.” Phaethusa turned to Aspen. “What is the function of the aqualux you require?”

  Aspen reviewed, to the best of her knowledge, Kyla's plan, that it was to be used on the aurichalcum, and made so the light could be switched on and off, so that Erebus might be lured and trapped inside before the light activated. It was longer than she usually spoke, as Eunoe usually interrupted at some point, but now Aias was in control of her body. Aspen felt some relief at being able to speak without interruption, but was ashamed that she felt pleased with Eunoe's predicament.

  Phaethusa gave an unreadable stare. “You do not have the knowledge to apply such an enchantment. I shall accompany you. Lampetia, take care of the others. I am happy to see you well.”

  “And I you, sister. I shall not leave until I see you safely away.”

  “Viktin agrosea uklun.” It was off-putting for Aspen to hear Aias speaking in Eunoe's voice. She waited for a translation.

  “It's me,” Eunoe finally said. “I was trying to help Aias understand what you were all saying. He wants to know if these tunnels lead to our destination.”

  Lampetia raised an eyebrow. “Pardon? Who is Aias?”

  “There are two persons sharing that body,” Phaethusa explained.

  “I see. No; the Heliopolis has its own network of tunnels but they do not connect to the canals for security purposes. We will have to find a way to cross over the enemy.”

  “Air is too dangerous. Underground is not an option. Force would be suicide.”

  “Through. Peacefully,” Aspen said. “They don't know which side we’re on.”

  “The tengu who escaped know,” Eunoe noted. “If they came here. Though if it's crowded they may not see us.”

  “They will not believe Phaethusa and I are joined with them,” Lampetia pointed out. “No being of light could be a disciple of the god of darkness. We shall find another way.”

  “How does the refined aqualux reach the stores in the Heliopolis?” Phaethusa asked.

  “Pipes from the refinery. I see, sister! Perhaps we can travel through the pipes. Though we shan't be able to breathe.”

  “We shall shut off the flow if the need arises.”

  “Very well. Back to where we started, then; we have a bit of a walk ahead of us.”

  “Maybe.” Phaethusa looked at the canal of liquid light. “Or perhaps we can sail.”

  It took a little doing, but an exploration of some side storage rooms revealed some old barrels and thin sheets of metal that Aias was able to cleverly bind into a raft. It was a fast ride on the canal, though a little rough as they approached the refinery and the aqualux was routed into several large cisterns. Aspen couldn't help but dip her hand in the liquid light. It was more viscous than water, and a little difficult to wipe off, leaving glowing smudges as she wiped her hand on her skirt. Her eyes were becoming more accustomed to the brightness, but while she thought this was a good thing, Lampetia and Phaethusa were growing more concerned.

  “The light is dimming,” Phaethusa said as they stepped off the raft. “Erebus is growing stronger.”

  Phaethusa frowned. “Then the Helian Shield will weaken and the Heliopolis overthrown. We must hurry. Aspen, I do not know what chance your friend has to succeed in her plan, but there is little choice. With the sun extinguished, life on earth cannot last long.”

  “His own followers will die.” Aspen wondered at this. “Do they realize it?”

  Lampetia snorted. “They are fools and nihilists. Those who hated life and thought to make all miserable as themselves, and those too stupid to realize they could not co-exist with Erebus' vision of the world.”

  “Surely Oberon has a plan of action.” Phaethusa looked at a chart on the wall that illustrated the layout of the refinery. “We must head through that door. It goes beyond the refinery to the reservoir, and out again. There should be a map of the pipe system on that end.”

  Lampetia followed as Phaethusa led them along the underbelly of the refinery. “Do not count on Oberon's success. The sun was poorly guarded, and the attacks on earth undefended.”

  “True. The Avowed chose non-military targets. Yet Oberon has defended the Earth for thousands of years, and his forebears for millions before that.”

  “Yet Chaos and his armies only banished: never destroyed. Eventual failure was inevitable.”

  “Perhaps. Perhaps not. Even if Oberon fails, we may depend on Aspen's friend. Isn't that right, Aspen?”

  Aspen shrugged. “I hope so. I don't know if her plan will work, but I certainly don't know many people who would even try.”

  Lampetia nodded. “Very well. She has a better chance than most. I believe this is it.”

  They entered a large room where cascades of aqualux thundered down into a swirling, glowing pool about fifty feet below the platform on which they stood. Lampetia quickly found a reference map on the wall which showed the network of pipes below the city. “Ah. I see.” She looked down. “Fortunate the reservoir isn't full, or the exit we need would be fully submerged. We need to go through that pipe, there.” She pointed to one of several holes that peeked above the top of the cascading aqualux. It looked large enough to squeeze into, but only barely; though fortunately the aqualux was low enough to afford some breathing room in the pipes.

  “If we hit a grate or valve, we shall become trapped,” Phaethusa noted.

  “True. Is there any other way?”

  “I know no songs that can defeat an army.”

  “Nor I.” Lampetia looked at Aspen and Eunoe. “Are you willing to come with us?”

  Eunoe folded her arms. “Aias is horrified of this plan so he handed me back over. Can't say I'm keen on it.”

  “Interesting way to die,” Aspen said.

  Eunoe looked at her and chuckled, albeit weakly. “Yeah, I guess.”

  Lampetia stood with her toes over the edge of the platform. “I shall go first. Watch which hole I enter.” And she jumped, wrapping her wings tightly around her body as she fell. She hit the raging liquid below, but it was already roiling so that a splash was hardly seen. She swam hard to one of the holes, which Aspen noted had a symbol of a red sun painted above it.

  Phaethusa jumped next, giving Aspen and Eunoe a weak smile as she dropped into the reservoir below, and swam for the pipe. Aspen looked at Eunoe. “Would you like me to go next?”

  Eunoe grabbed Aspen's hand. “No. I'll go. The anticipation is driving Aias crazy.”

  “Please be careful, Eunoe.”

  “I will. Don't worry. I have you and Aias depending on my survival. Glad I took the time to learn how to swim.” And Eunoe jumped. Aspen felt her stomach lurch, and there was a brief feeling of panic from Eunoe as she disappeared into the aqualux. Aspen was relieved when Eunoe finally surfaced and swam to the pipe, giving her a quick wave before disappearing.

  Aspen closed her eyes and held her breath. She was a strong swimmer, and didn't fear drowning, but the whole drama of fighting Erebus was starting to weigh on her.
She missed the simple days in Arkwood, before the drama with Elson, when she and Eunoe used to go to the river to fish or lie in the meadow and watch birds.

  Now she had chosen a life of adventure, and adventure she shall, so she jumped into the reservoir.

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  Separation Anxieties

  “Shh! I'm not going to hurt you! Don't yell!”

  Kyla woke up with a hand pressed over her mouth. Interrupted in mid-sleep she wasn't sure where she was, or if she were dreaming.

  “It's ok! Don't be scared. Don't be scared, ok?” The voice was hushed in a hoarse whisper, and only took Kyla a moment to recognize as Linkin. She tried to twist out of his grip, and while Linkin was nowhere near as strong as Dunkin, he was still stronger than she was. She tried to kick at her bedpost but he grabbed her around the neck and rolled her onto the floor.

  “Sh! I told you to be quiet! Listen, I told you this would happen. Eternal darkness! You see? But it isn't too late! Erebus got all the pieces last night! Except yours.”

  Kyla tried licking, biting, squirming free but Linkin's hand held fast over her mouth. He pinned her to the floor as she tried to kick to make noise.

  “Sh! Sh! I let you go in the cave. Remember? When that pig knocked Dunkin into the hole.” Linkin laughed aloud, and soon there was the sound of footsteps.

  “If someone's in my house there's going to be blood!”

  Kyla's door swung open. She could only give a muffled reply, but it was enough. Lianaria stomped into the room and grabbed Linkin's head from behind, pressing a thumb into each eye. He howled and let go of Kyla, who kicked and squirmed away. She heard Linkin grunt as her mother swore. Kyla fumbled for her light orb and tapped it on to see Linkin try to pull free from her mother's grasp. Then there was a gale as Aura blasted into the room, and Linkin gasped for breath.

  ***

  Aspen felt a hand grab her as she shot from the pipe into a pool of aqualux. She had managed to keep her grip on her staff, and tossed it onto the side of the pool. Phaethusa and Lampetia each grabbed an arm and pulled her onto the floor of a plain white room. Eunoe (or Aias, it was hard to tell at the moment) was sitting against the wall holding her left hand. She was bleeding. Also, she was glowing.

  Aspen ran over and took a look. Eunoe looked up at her. “Cut my hand on the edge of the pipe. Turns out if this stuff gets in your blood it makes you glow!” It was an eerie yet awesome sight, as Eunoe's veins and arteries glowed the strongest and seemed to illuminate the rest of her from within. Among a concentrated mass of branching vessels Aspen could see Eunoe's heart beating inside her rib cage. She couldn't help but put her hand over it and smile. “You look like an angel!”

  “She wishes.” Phaethusa ripped a slip of cloth from her dress and wrapped Eunoe's hand. The blood, which was now a golden-red, seeped through. “It will wear off in six to eight hours. Many who work with aqualux wear gloves and body suits for this reason.”

  Eunoe smiled, but then frowned. “Aias is worried we won't be able to sneak around like this.”

  “Phaethusa and Lampetia already glow. Sneaking wasn't one of our choices. That's why we came in this way.”

  Lampetia peered through the door. The hallway was darker than the current room, but the walls gave their own soft light. There was an uncomfortable silence as she stepped into the hall to scout ahead. A minute later she returned and waved at the others to follow.

  “We need some aqualux,” Eunoe reminded them. Phaethusa nodded and led them to a nearby room stocked with shelves covered in glass jars filled with the liquid light. Phaethusa grabbed one, and so did Aspen, which got her a glare from Lampetia.

  “It will make a very pretty lantern,” Aspen explained. Lampetia shrugged.

  The building was empty. “Evacuated.” Phaethusa looked out a window at the enemy force. “They must have known there was a portal in here. What are they after, I wonder?”

  “No matter. This way.” Lampetia led them upstairs and down a long corridor to a set of large golden doors. “The portal room.”

  There was a loud clatter, and shrieking and screaming. Aspen gasped. “They've made it through!”

  Eunoe's posture indicated a change back to Aias. The spear, however, was gone, and Aspen doubted he would be very effective without it.

  Lampetia pulled at the door. “It is locked.”

  Phaethusa, as if not believing her sister, gave the door a try with as little success.

  “Kissin pec allsa!” shouted Aias as the flurry of sound drew closer.

  “Can you sing it open?” Aspen asked. She had never heard of metal-singing, but she had no better ideas.

  Phaethusa looked up and down Aspen's staff. “No. But that wood is bonded. I can teach you to sing it into a key.”

  The clamor drew nearer. “Vas kissin pec allsa!”

  “You must sing it, Aspen. The wood is bonded to you. Sing the first line to shape the end of the staff. Then stick it in the lock and sing the second line. Listen carefully:

  Riali-lona-a-i-nai

  Paina-alo-tar-asai.”

  There was a howl and a shriek. Some of the creatures had spotted them. Aspen quickly sang the first line. “Riali-lona-a-i-nai!” A small protrusion extended from the bottom end of the staff.

  Lampetia turned to meet the onslaught, and Aspen heard Eunoe's feminine grunts matched with Aias' heavy fists against the flapping of wings. She turned to help, but Phaethusa turned her back. “We cannot win. We must escape.”

  Aspen did her best to focus. She pressed the thin tip of the staff into the keyhole and sang the second line. “Paina-alo-tar-asai.”

  She felt the wood pulse, though she couldn't see the change inside the lock. Aspen felt a heavy claw at the back of her head, and Phaethusa spun around to fend the attacker off. Aspen turned the staff and heard a heavy click. The door eased open under its own weight. The tip of the staff broke as she pulled it out, and Aspen hoped the hickory tree would forgive her for losing a part.

  “It's open!” she shouted, and ran to the portal at the far end of the room. She didn't know to which designation the portal was currently set, but fortunately had been through Denzig's cave and knew the one she needed. She didn't look back, afraid to lose time as she set the portal for VS1109B. Then she turned. Both Aias and Phaethusa were pinned to the floor, while Lampetia struggled with a vicious-looking wakwak. Aspen screamed and charged at the crowd, staff twirling, and struck the wakwak over the head. The other creatures suddenly took notice and turned to her.

  “Run!” she screamed. “The portal's ready!”

  Lampetia grabbed Phaethusa by the arm, but this only ended in a tug-of-war with a troll, and Aspen thought this would end badly. She fought her way forward enough to give the troll a solid whack on the knuckle, to which he howled and let go. Lampetia dragged her sister through a frenzy of talons and dirty fingernails which shredded their clothing and left them with numerous cuts and gashes as they forced their way into the room, leaving a trail of red-gold blood.

  Meanwhile Aias, unarmed, was hiding behind the open door and covering Eunoe's face. Aspen thrust her staff wildly at the assailants to create an opening for Aias to sneak through. He dropped and crawled through her legs, barely avoiding impalement by the tail of a scorpion-man.

  “Go!” she yelled, though Aias waited until Aspen herself turned to flee. They ran and dove through the shimmering portal, followed closely by screeching and shouting and the flapping of wings.

  ***

  It was nearly morning, or would be if such things mattered anymore. Linkin was tied up to a chair and only now shaking off the draught of passion flower. The lanterns were even dimmer. Kyla thought it might be the fireflies wearing out, at first, but noted her light orb was similarly dimmed. The darkness was becoming more oppressive, and it wouldn't be long until the light encircling Linkin dimmed enough for him to make an escape through the shadows.

  “We don't have much time!” Kyla rotated the orb nervously in her hand as her mother cho
pped onions for a breakfast omelette. “I don't know if we can wait for Eunoe and Aspen. We need to get Erebus here now!” Kyla had no idea how she was to summon Erebus, yet felt a strange confidence he would come.

  Linkin cackled groggily. His voice gurgled and blood dribbled from the corners of his mouth. “He knows where you are. He might send forces to kill you. He might not. He might no longer care. But I care. I will kill you! It's your fault, this darkness. I told you.”

  “Quiet.” Lianaria pursed her lips. Her voice was cold and strong, and Linkin stopped talking for only a moment before he started laughing.

  Pots hanging from the ceiling rattled as Aura blew into the room. “They're coming. And Eunoe's glowing.”

  Kyla rolled her eyes. Strange things were always happening to Eunoe. She ran outside. Eunoe was indeed glowing, and her veins shone through her skin.

  “Kyla!” Aspen hopped off Castor as soon as he touched ground.

  “Wait one second!” Kyla shouted, and quickly ran inside to retrieve the orb Inda and Exa had made. She ran back out, holding it up proudly. “Look how pretty it is!”

  Aspen took the golden orb and examined it with a smile. Eunoe walked behind and took a peek.

  “What happened to you?” Kyla blurted.

  “Apparently if you get aqualux in your bloodstream it makes you glow. It was brighter before, but it's lasted for hours.”

  Kyla walked around Eunoe for a better look. “I'm not gonna lie. That's the coolest thing I've ever seen.”

  As Linkin continued to rant, they decided to have their tea outside, though Lianaria kept the door open so they could keep an eye on their dwarf prisoner. Aspen and Eunoe laid out a blanket and they sat in a circle as Aspen and Eunoe – but mostly Eunoe – explained how they barely escaped from the sun, and ridden Denzig to Equinox to pick up Castor.

  “Phaethusa and Lampetia were hurt. Denzig is back at his cave tending to them now, but we need them to enchant your little ball with the aqualux.”

  Kyla was glad Eunoe mentioned that; she had supposed she merely needed to paint it on.