by Jeff Kish
Galen hurries into the chamber and approaches his superior. “General Graff, I-”
“Where the devil have you been, Commander?” Graff barks.
“Sir, I-”
“Save it!” he snaps. “Diamond’s traveling companions broke into the barracks before escaping again. Of all things, the boy turned out to be another runic!”
Galen’s brow furrows. “That kid?”
“That accursed Ares also made an appearance, though it appears he slipped out amidst the chaos.” Confidently, he says, “They may have escaped, but Diamond is retrieving them as we-” He cuts himself off as Di marches into the hall, her expression cold and unyielding, and a scowl forms when he sees she is alone.
The short-haired soldier marches to the general. “I failed,” she reports with a smug salute.
Graff backhands her, though she maintains her footing. “You failed? You are the military’s greatest weapon! You do not fail.”
Di indignantly rubs her cheek and says, “Fire defeated me in combat.”
“No,” the general scowls, “you are not defeated until you are dead. Assuming a rune can even die.”
“You ordered me to retrieve him, but I could not. Once that order was nullified, your command to remain in the barracks brought me back.”
Graff’s nostrils flare. “Then you will start obeying me even without a command, Diamond.”
“My name is Di,” she defiantly growls. “I may be a rune, but I will never… never obey you unless you force me. There’s nothing you can do about that.”
“Nothing I can do?” He extends his open palm, revealing his emblem of power over her. “Go into the city and slaughter five civilians in their sleep. We’ll blame the Allerians, so be sure to carve each one up mercilessly.”
Di panics when she hears the command, and Galen jumps as well. However, both realize that, despite Graff’s words, the seal doesn’t light, nor does Di make any movements toward the door.
“Do you think I wouldn’t do that?” he bellows. “Do you think I can’t force you to commit atrocities that will be forever burned into that tiny brain of yours? You will obey me or I will break you, Diamond.”
Her breath trembles with anger, yet she says nothing. She knows what he says is true.
The general notices her hair but chooses not to acknowledge it. “You’ll make it up to me, Diamond. You will find the other weapons as we receive information on them. And you will retrieve your friend for me eventually.”
She nods her understanding, not out of forced obedience, but because she knows he’s right. No matter where Era runs, Graff and his military will follow. And she’ll be leading the charge.
“Turn in for the night. Tomorrow you’ll begin hunting the new weapon.” With that, he briskly retreats.
Di gives one last glance to Galen, who averts his eyes from her penetrating glare. She then turns and marches toward her private quarters.
* * *
The sky boat shakes violently as it lands in the tiny clearing. Pearl disengages the runes and rips off her harness. Pulling her goggles up, she jumps over the edge and swings the door open, then helps Jem ease Era from the craft.
Though still gripping his shoulder, the bleeding has stopped, and he’s in far less pain. He says nothing as his friends help him to a tree and then collapse next to him, succumbing to their mutual exhaustion.
“They’re both dead, aren’t they?” Era asks, breaking the silence.
Jem swallows hard. She wants to say something to the contrary, to encourage her friend to maintain his hope, but her mind is blank.
“I killed them,” Era realizes aloud. “I killed them, and I almost killed you two as well.” He squeezes his eyes shut and says, “I’m so, so sorry.”
Jem places her hand on his knee. “Era, something big is going on here. There’s no way we could have predicted any of that would happen! That Di would…” She cuts herself off, glancing at Era’s left shoulder.
Pearl can’t fight back her curiosity. “What happened in there, anyway?”
Era looks to the sky, watching as the clouds give way to the stars. “Di… wasn’t Di, anymore. They did something to make her into a soldier, and it seems she couldn’t disobey that guy’s commands.” Pausing, he adds, “Who was he, anyway?”
“That Ares guy called him the general. If that’s true, he’s the leader of the entire military,” Jem realizes. Looking back at Pearl, she says, “He made Di fight Era, and she… she did this to him.”
Pearl scoots next to Era and studies his covered wound. “Di did this!?”
“It’s more than that.” He holds his muddy hand up for Pearl to see. “This used to be my blood.”
“I-Is that some kind of joke?” she asks, glancing to Jem, whose expression tells her otherwise.
“Blood aside, my arm turned to mud as well,” Era says. “The general called us runes.”
“Runes?” she repeats. “What does that even mean?”
“I have no idea!” Era shouts in frustration. He wants to discredit the suggestion, yet there’s simply no alternative explanation.
Wanting to change the subject, Jem asks Pearl, “How did you and Fire meet up?”
Pearl grows visibly agitated at the mention of it. “She was so mean! The moment I returned to that clearing, she jumped me and forced me at knifepoint to go back and land on the barracks. Land on it! Soldiers started pouring onto the rooftop thanks to the noise, just like I said they would.” With a frown, she admits, “But she took them all out. She’s scary good.”
Era can’t help but be amused. “That sounds like her, all right. Did she… Did she say why?” Pearl shakes her head.
Finding the group in silence once more, Pearl asks the question on everyone’s mind. “So what now?”
“At the very least, we’ve put you through enough,” Jem says. “You should get yourself home.”
“Hey!” Pearl protests, taking offense. “I’m involved in this as much as any of you. You can’t just get rid of me.”
“And what if Di survived that fall?” Jem asks. “I-I mean, that’s great news if she did, but she’s working for the military now and knows you saved us.”
Pearl’s eyes widen in alarm. “We’ll need to move the operation immediately!” she half-whispers. “Ugh, Father’s going to kill me!”
Era returns to his depression. “Pearl, you and Fire both gave up so much because of my foolishness.” He buries his face in his knees, wishing he could disappear.
She smiles at him. “Era, you’re a good person.” Her eyes tear up as she looks to his shoulder again. “I don’t know about all that rune stuff, but I do know you’re special. I’d do it again for you, if you asked.” Era looks at her in wonderment, and her silver hair reflects the moonlight as she looks back to her sky boat. “I need to get home so I can warn my father. So… I’m not sure when I’ll see you again, Era.”
He nods in the darkness. “Maybe that’s for the best, Pearl. The military will be coming for me, so it’ll be dangerous to be associated with us.”
“Era, for being so selfless, you’re just so selfish!” she abruptly declares. “Do you think that Jem or I or even Fire care about that? Quit assuming that all we want is to be safe. We also want you to be safe, and to be our friend.” Glancing at Jem, she asks, “Right?”
Jem is taken aback by the admonishment, but she grins in agreement. “Sorry, Era, but I think she’s right.”
Era finds solace in their words. “You two are weird.” He stands and wraps his arm around the pilot. “Thanks, Pearl. I hope to see you again.”
“Me too, Era,” she responds, hugging him back. When he releases her, she hugs Jem as well, much to her surprise. “Best of luck, you two!”
“We’ll be fine,” Jem assures her, pushing the girl off. “Now get going!”
Pearl climbs onto her sky boat, straps her goggles on, and activates the runes. With a wave, she lifts off and ascends to the skies. Era and Jem watch as the craft rises higher and hi
gher before accelerating and disappearing from view.
Jem turns back to her partner. “She’ll be okay.”
Era sits back down, returning to his prior gloom. “She’s being brave, but her life is in danger now. I just hope they don’t find her and, you know…”
“Hey, let’s just spend the night here,” Jem suggests. “Fire is the one who told Pearl to take us here. If there’s any chance she survived, she should meet us here, right?”
A small glimmer of hope finds its way into his eyes. “Good point!” He reclines and tries to clear his mind. “Thanks, Jem. You’re an amazing friend.”
“You’re worth it, Era,” she says, lying down next to him. “So just… shut up and sleep.”
He smiles, grateful for the strength of his partner as he watches the stars crawl across the sky.
* * *
The bustle of the city is a stark contrast to the towns Jem has been visiting as of late. Duroshe is smaller than Canterin, but its tall buildings create the illusion that it’s larger. The noonday crowds pack the market, which Jem uses to blend in. The occasional Allerian gives her a small confidence she won’t be pegged by military personnel, though the town seems to be void of soldiers. She laments that her three days of not being wanted are over. It seems she’ll forever be hunted by the military now.
Still, Jem grins in spite of her situation. She glances to her bag, tallying up the goods she procured while ‘shopping’. Fruit, bread, and a fresh garment for Era are all within. ‘Not to mention the bag, itself,’ she smugly thinks.
Exiting the town gate, she walks off the path into the woods, humming the tune that always brings her comfort. Her thoughts travel in endless circles during her solitary walk, and she soon finds her partner at the base of a decline, still leaning against the same tree in depression.
Suddenly, she hears a rustle from behind. Excitedly, she spins around, expecting to find a certain someone emerging from the brush. However, she’s met only with a dead branch that fell from the trees. With a sigh, she turns back to her original course, and she comes face to face with an exasperated Fire.
“Have you learned NOTHING from me!?” the mercenary barks. “You go into a major city, you walk the main paths, and you-”
“H-Hey! I’m…” Jem starts, but she can’t hide a goofy grin.
Fire raises an eyebrow. “Say, Allerian, are you… happy to see me?”
“Of course not!” she responds with a sniffle. “I just-”
“I take it the idiot is with you?” she interrupts, to which Jem nods. “So he’s okay?”
“Physically, yes, but he’s in a bad place otherwise.” Excitedly, she exclaims, “This is just what he needs! To see you and-”
“Pass,” Fire replies, holding up her hand. “I just came to confirm you two survived. I’m not talking to that bull-headed, moronic-GYAH!” she screams as Jem grabs her collar and drags her down the hill. “Hey, don’t- STOP! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?”
“You’re GOING to SEE HIM!” Jem screams back.
“I DON’T WANT TO-AGH!” she yelps as Jem flings her in front of Era, who came to investigate the commotion.
She shoots Jem a death stare as Era shouts, “Fire!?”
“Fine, yes! I’m alive, you’re alive, we’re all alive,” she growls. “Let’s all hug and… are you crying?”
Era wipes the tears from his eyes. “Fire, you’re alive, thank goodness…”
Fire appears genuinely stunned by the response. “W-What is it with you two, anyway?” She slumps against a tree, giving up on a quick getaway. “Yes, I survived the fall.”
“And Di?” Era eagerly asks.
“Alive, naturally,” she answers, waving her hand in the air. I don’t know where she got that kind of power, but, well, by saving herself she saved me as well. She left me in the woods and returned to the capital.”
Era collapses to his knees. “Everyone is alive,” he mutters to himself as he chokes back more tears. Jem also has a hard time containing her joy from the news.
“That’s great and all, but you two owe me a serious explanation,” Fire says. “The brat is now siding with the military, her air shaping ability is beyond belief, and she called herself a rune. What gives?”
Era’s head drops, and Jem admits, “We’re still trying to figure it out, ourselves.”
Fire folds her arms. “That water monster was a rune, and it had a consciousness. Is it possible a rune could produce something as complex as a human?”
“It’s possible,” Era says. “When that water creature lost its limbs, the water would spread along the ground, lifeless. After all, whether it’s a shaper or a rune, there needs to be contact in order for there to be control, right?”
“So?”
He plucks a strand of hair and hands it to Fire, who watches in fascination as it turns to sand and crumbles. “This is what Di meant!?” she cries in alarm, jumping to her feet. “She said Era was the same as her!”
“Relax,” Jem says. “He’s not an enemy. He isn’t like Di.”
“Di wasn’t like Di either,” Fire reminds her. “Something changed when they captured her.”
Era offers a shrug. “I’m still the same guy… so far, at least. But I’m a rune.”
“I still don’t get it!” Jem huffs in frustration. “What about your history? You even have a famous father! You can’t have a father and be a rune.”
“You mean the famous father no one seems to know,” Fire realizes aloud.
Era offers a sad smile. “Di had a history, too, but when we went to Canterin, she didn’t exist. My dad… he doesn’t exist. I don’t exist. None of our memories are real.”
Jem argues, “No, you exist, Era. We’ve traveled together for a year-and-a-half. You’re stubborn, ignorant, and overconfident.” With a smile, she adds, “But you’re loyal, caring, and, frankly, you’re amazing. You exist.”
“But tell me… what am I?” he pleads.
“You’re Era. You are what you are, and that’s all that matters to me.” She glances at Fire, who averts her eyes. “Okay, I’m going for a walk,” Jem grumbles. “You two work out this thing you’ve got going on.”
As she leaves, Era and Fire sit in silence, neither wanting to be the first to say anything. However, Era gives in and asks the question that has been burning in his mind since last night. “Fire, why? Why save us again?”
With a shrug, she says, “I figured I still owed you one.”
“Why?” Era asks again, but Fire ignores the question. “Look, I’m sorry for, you know, those things I said. You really did save us back at Canterin. There was no other way, and I see that now.”
Fire slams the ground and glares at Era. “Would you grow a freaking spine already? Of course there was no other way, but you wanted to save the princess so badly you were willing to throw your life away for her.” Hesitating, she adds, “And I had no right to make that decision for you. S-So… I still owed you one.”
Era snickers at Fire’s pathetic apology. “Fire, I wish I could figure you out.”
“Right back at you.”
He thinks back to the previous evening. “So had you been following us since we parted at Canterin?”
Fire shrugs. “You surprised? It was pretty obvious what you were going to do.”
“So you followed us to Satari and got the jump on poor Pearl after she landed at the rendezvous point? My, you’re persistent.”
“I see a job through to the end.”
Era nods gratefully. “How’d you get back here, anyway?”
She leans forward, crossing her legs as she sketches absent-mindedly in the sand. “Walked through the night and caught a train to Duroshe. How else would I get here?”
“Well, I’m glad you found us,” he says quietly. As a cool breeze sweeps through the trees, Era closes his eyes and deeply breathes in the fresh air. “Fire… thanks.” The sound of uncomfortable shifting is her only response.
“Well, one thing is for sure,” Era says, changing the su
bject. “I’ll need to learn how to use a sword right-handed. You might actually stand a chance in a fight against me as I am.”
“Don’t tempt me to beat a cripple,” she mutters as Jem approaches. “That was a short walk, Allerian.”
“That’s because it came to me!” Jem proclaims. “We need to know what’s going on, right? So we’ll go to the one place that might have answers for any of this.”
Era looks at her expectantly. “And that’s…?”
“Come on, Era! Use that rune-brain of yours. What’s the one place full of super-smart people who study nothing but elements and runes?” With a wink, she adds, “And as a bonus, they already spent two years studying Di.”
“You want to go to the Academy?” Era asks. “What do you expect to find there?”
Jem acts offended by the question. “Don’t be so negative! We’ll figure out what you are. You don’t think they’ll have a lead?”
“I guess they should,” he agrees. “If nothing else, didn’t Di say they had ties to the Academy in Alleria? Surely they’ve compared research notes, being allowed to travel back and forth like that.”
Fire’s eyes bulge, and her heart races. She gives a glance to the west, realizing she’d heard those rumors once before.
“Exactly,” Jem states. “Between the two Academies, someone should know something about you.”
“S-Say,” Fire says, choosing her words carefully, “I’m going to come with you.” The two look at her in surprise, and she explains, “The brat knows I survived, so there’s certain to be a bounty on my head. I need to find something I can use as leverage.” Era and Jem both eye her suspiciously, and she quickly adds, “N-Not you! Sheesh, you think I’m going to turn you in after all that? I dove off a sky boat for you.”
“Well, I guess we can let you come along,” Jem says. “But if Era turns into an obelite disc, I call dibs. Think of how much that would be worth!”
“Fine, you can have your Era rune,” Fire agrees with a smirk.
Era stands and brushes himself off. “Jem, Fire… by some miracle, we all managed to survive last night’s adventure. It’s just too dangerous to keep you involved. I think I should do this on my own from here on out.”