Bridgeworlds: Rise of the Magi

by Randy Blackwell

  She never explained to him that she was really upset that he had blown off her attempts to help him, in fact to save him. She wanted so much for him to give his life to the Master as she and as Protos had, but he’d refused. He chose to hold on to what she thought were stupid things and selfish pursuits, and she couldn’t understand why. She couldn’t force him, but she still resented him for his choice. Most of all she worried that he would never get another chance from the Master, and he’d end up being destroyed by his own foolishness.

  Omar, Myles, and Sebastian also worked together training each other. They’d wait until the rest of the Magi were asleep and then train just at the brink of the jungle, about a mile from the tower. Tonight Myles and Sebastian were training Omar who was learning how to fight both on the ground and in the air. He’d never been athletic, so training for him was frustrating and sometimes even embarrassing. Omar wanted to be able to survive without a bodyguard if he needed to, so that was the goal for now.

  After two years of training, Omar had gotten to the point where he could defend himself well on the ground against an untrained opponent and in the air he’d gotten to where sometimes he could best Sebastian. But even when he attacked Myles on the ground while he was in the air, Myles always beat him. Myles was actually faster than a Gabad. Omar had learned to anticipate Sebastian’s moves in order to compensate for his Gabad speed, but Myles’ fighting style was ever changing and adapting so it was hard to anticipate his moves or get ahead of him. It was good training for Myles too because Sebastian proved to be quite a challenge when attacking from the air.

  Omar took a break while Myles and Sebastian kept at the training. Sebastian taunted Myles as they fought, “So, Kasey asked about you today.”

  While Myles flinched at his comment, Sebastian whacked him on the shoulder with his wooden sword. Myles took two steps back and probed, “What did she ask?”

  Sebastian laughed at him and replied, “She didn’t! I just wanted to score a hit on you.”

  Myles glared at Sebastian in frustration because he knew that he had a weakness and Sebastian knew it too. He didn’t like anyone knowing his soft spot. Sebastian laughed again as he darted away from Myles’ advances and observed, “You know there are other women in the camp, right? And some of them really hate Kasey for keeping you off the market without at least taking advantage of your undying devotion to her.”

  “I’m not off the market, Sebastian. I’m just not interested in anyone right now.”

  “Suuuuuure,” said Sebastian with a mocking tone. “Then I’ll go let

  Kasey know that you’re no longer interested in her.” With that, Myles stabbed his sword into the dirt, threw his arms up, and stalked away in anger.

  Omar shook his head but chuckled a bit at the banter between them. “You shouldn’t take jabs at him like that, Sebastian. You know Kasey is a sore spot for him.”

  Sebastian shrugged, “He normally takes it better than that, though it does help me to win against him. I didn’t mean to make him blow a blood vessel though. He’s been uptight lately. You’d think he’d have given up after two years.”

  Omar laughed at that. “Myles give up? Are you crazy? You know, those two are so stubborn they’re almost meant for each other.”

  Sebastian nodded. “Yeah, if they don’t kill each other first. What is she mad at him about in the first place?”

  “I’m staying far away from that. If you want to pry, feel free. I never pretended to understand women, and I won’t start now. Would you care to play a game of Milchamah?” Milchamah was a game of strategy that Omar had invented since they arrived on Soterion. It helped one to sharpen the mind and many of the Magi loved to play it.

  “Sure, I’d love a game,” Sebastian cheered. So they sat down to play. It was likely that neither one would ever get to bed that night.

  ~*~

  Myles felt a surge of emotions as he marched towards the tower. It was as though every wound, frustration, and insult were all rising up at once. His mind raced through a thousand different things, adding in-tensity to every step he took. But of all the feelings that assaulted him at that moment, most of all he was angry. Myles gave in to its passion and indulged the rage that was growing within him. The more he entertained that anger, the more his thoughts began to coalesce, and he was ready to let it out on just the right person. She didn’t want to discuss their problem, but he knew exactly how to make her want to talk about it. And he was determined that the time to talk about it had arrived.

  When Myles reached the tower, he could see Kasey training with Kleis and Protos over at the edge of their camp next to the jungle. Filled with a burning need to resolve their differences, he walked right up to her and got in her face. Kleis and Protos stopped what they were doing, but Kasey continued speaking to them trying to ignore Myles. Unfortunately he was not about to be ignored anymore.

  Myles interrupted her comments and angrily insisted, “You can’t ignore me any longer. Talk to me, now.”

  But she just continued speaking over Myles as though he wasn’t even there. Myles shook his head in frustration. “So you think you’re better than me. Is that it? Are you too good to talk to the likes of me? Am I not worthy of your attention?”

  Seeing that Myles was angry and saying things that were inappropriate, Protos stepped in to stop him. “I think my sister wants you to leave her alone.”

  Myles just laughed at him and turned his frustration on him instead. “She’s not your sister, remember? She killed your sister and kidnapped her daughter. Did you forget that? And now you’re going to pull this big brother act, really?”

  Protos cocked his head as his own frustration began to rise. “And what gives you the right to come here and verbally attack her? Yes, she’s ignored you. Get over it! How long did you know each other anyway, a few days?”

  Myles rolled his eyes and turned to where Kasey had been, but she was gone. He could see her silhouette disappearing into the jungle so he turned to chase after her.

  “Leave her alone, Myles,” shouted Protos.

  “Back off, Protos,” Myles yelled back as he ran towards where he had last seen Kasey.

  Protos and Kleis didn’t chase after him. Protos knew that Kasey, being a trained assassin, couldn’t be found if she didn’t want to be. He decided it would be better to let her deal with this the way she needed to without intruding as Myles was attempting to do. But he did shake his head as he watched Myles run into the jungle after her. What a pair these two are, he thought to himself.

  Myles ran swiftly across the field, but there wasn’t a trace of Kasey when he entered the jungle. He felt she must have left some tracks somewhere. Then he thought, She must be flying! But when he looked up into the trees, he could find no trace of her there either.

  Having grown up on a farm, Myles wasn’t afraid of being in a wooded area. And having worked with the circus and trained exotic animals, Myles knew that the animals were generally just as afraid of humans as humans were of them. So he had no hesitation when he pursued Kasey deeper into the jungle.

  Myles walked along a path that had been cut by the Magi when they’d first explored the jungle. He didn’t get far down the path before he saw some movement in the bushes. He stopped and waited, looking where he’d seen something move. From the bushes he could see the glint from the eyes of some animal hiding within shining back at him like two large emeralds.

  Myles, curious as always, bent down to its level and put his hand out while he lowered his head to show he wasn’t a threat. He thought it worked because it poked its head out of the bushes. It’s almost cute, thought Myles. It was some form of lizard with red scales which glinted in the moonlight. It also had horns all over its face and large green eyes. It gave a look of innocent fear so Myles called to it, “Aw, come here little guy. It’s okay. I won’t hurt you.”

  It moved out from the bush, quickly stopped, and was motionless. For a tail, it had an arm with a clawed hand on the tip, and it pushed itself forward cau
tiously towards Myles. He couldn’t resist its charm; it was just so cute. So he bent over to pick it up and sat down with it on his lap. It had a soft pink underbelly, and Myles began to pet it like he would a dog.

  As he sat there holding it, looking into its eyes, he could feel something changing inside him. He thought it was a little odd, but it was as if it was casting some spell on him, but he didn’t care. He just wanted to hold it. It was a calm and peaceful moment after his explosive feelings that led him to charge into the jungle, and he felt empowered. He began thinking about where he was and how he’d been on this island for too long. There was a world of suckers out there to be had. Yes, he began to think, he was feeling much more like his old self again. And that was good.

  Now savoring a wonderful feeling, Myles began thinking of all the fun he would have with the inhabitants of this world. He really did have a fresh start ahead of him, which would allow him to be more cunning and even more deceptive so that he didn’t get caught at his tricks. His mind drifted off to how he could be even more of a con than before.

  But suddenly Myles noticed that the little dragon had clamped its tail claw around his wrist, and it was now smiling at him. It abruptly seemed a lot less cute and a lot more wicked. Its smile revealed razor sharp pointed teeth, which were not at all charming. Then it bit Myles’ other arm and sank its teeth in deep. In an immediate reaction, Myles threw it to the ground causing it to release its bite, but it still had a hold on his wrist with its tail claw. As it gripped even tighter, it began burrowing a tunnel into the ground pulling Myles down behind it. It moved quickly beneath the ground, tunneling down deeper and deeper.

  Myles finally panicked and tried frantically to resist, but he’d let the little monster get a good grip on him and he couldn’t break free. He managed to get one of his knives from his sleeve and began stabbing at its claw over and over again. It roared in pain and immediately let go. Then Myles acted quickly to change the odds and grabbed a gun from his coat. As it started to turn back toward him he aimed at its underbelly and took the shot. When the bullet hit, it roared in pain, squirmed a little, and finally died.

  He took a deep breath in relief that it was over but then realized he was far underground. He couldn’t use his left arm to pull himself upwards because of that bite. He started to feel faint and then he thought, I can’t come this far and then just die in a hole like some prairie dog! Then everything went black.

  20

  Machaira

  Omar and Sebastian had camped at their hidden spot that night after Myles had marched off in anger. Neither one wanted to be near the tower when Myles found Kasey, so they just stayed where they were and enjoyed the beautiful night. When they woke in the morning, they rekindled the fire, preparing to make breakfast. Sebastian had caught some fish the day before that they had kept fresh in the cool water, and they decided that this would make a great breakfast.

  Omar still found it remarkable how refreshing the food was here on Soterion. Everything was much more pleasant here than it had been on Musterion, and both of them were savoring the special morning. Omar decided he was definitely going to do some more scientific analysis on the food in the near future. But right now science could wait while he indulged his considerable appetite after so much practice the night before.

  As they finished breakfast, Kleis, Protos, and Ischus approached the camp. The looks on their faces made it obvious that they hadn’t been lured by the scent of the fish to share breakfast. Sebastian looked at Omar. “Uh-oh, this can’t be good.”

  Ischus nodded. “You’re correct my friend; it isn’t.”

  Omar gestured impatiently. “Well, let’s have it already.”

  Ischus bristled at his bluntness. It was still hard to remember that he was no longer a noble ruler and couldn’t expect noble treatment. In fact, he was now in Omar’s territory and under his command. He wondered how his Musterlings were dealing with all their problems without him. “It seems that Kasey and Myles had an angry confrontation last night, and neither of them are anywhere to be found now.”

  Omar shrugged as he responded, “Is that all? Give them time. They’ll turn up.” He turned back to his remaining fish.

  Protos shook his head. “You don’t understand. They both went into the jungle. Kasey ran away from Myles, and then Myles followed her in a few minutes later.”

  Omar raised an eyebrow. “Why didn’t you say so? That changes everything. Kleis, go find Peel-off for me. The Remmys have a natural ability to find people and things. They’re supposed to be the best.”

  Kleis shrugged. “Well, sometimes. But sometimes they like to lead you on a wild goose chase. It’s all a big game for them, and they’ll try to make it more interesting if they can. We must keep his focus on finding Myles and Kasey.”

  Kleis set Peel-off down in the camp a few minutes later and informed Omar that Kasey had returned without trouble and was now at the tower. However, she hadn’t seen Myles, and no one else knew where he was either.

  "Kasey wanted to come with us to search for Myles," Kleis said softly to Omar. "In fact, she argued that she should be leading the search. It's true that she probably knows the jungles better than any of us. I'm not sure what's going on, but Ischus and Protos both told me to tell her she had to stay put at the tower. I know you and Sebastian and Myles are in command, but I ... I got the idea that it was important to obey them. What's going on?"

  Omar squinted over at Ischus and Protos. "You did the right thing. At the least, we don't need more drama."

  Peel-off jumped to the ground and bowed before Omar. “I’m at your service, sir. I hear you’re missing a co-founder. Well, I’m the right guy for the job!”

  Omar cocked his head. “Peel-off, don’t toy with me. If you’re unable to find him, you must let me know immediately. We can’t waste time. Myles may be in serious danger.”

  Peel-off grinned, fists on his hips and his chest puffed out. He put two fingers in his mouth and let out a loud whistle. A blue jay fluttered from the branches in a tree above and landed on the ground. Peel-off reached out to pet the blue jay’s head. Satisfied that the blue jay would cooperate, he turned to Omar and said, “There’s no saddle but it’ll have to do.” He mounted the blue jay. For a moment he gazed all around, looking blank. A moment later he turned to stare straight into the jungle. The blue jay shot off while Peel-off hung on for dear life.

  Omar told Ischus and Protos to return to the tower and find out what Kasey might know while he, Kleis, and Sebastian followed Peel-off. They flew after Peel-off in the hope that they could keep up somehow. Omar mused about how costly it was to live life with Myles, but he also believed it was worth any price to have him as a comrade. Peel-off stopped at a trail and got off the blue jay. The others had managed to catch up to him and landed. Peel-off stroked his orange beard for a few minutes. "What's wrong here?" Still deep in thought, he began to pace. “I know he’s nearby, but I don’t see him.” Peel-off screamed as he tumbled into a hole and the others ran toward the sound but to their horror it faded away.

  Omar ran over and looked into the black tunnel. Sebastian exclaimed, “Subsurface Drakoni make these tunnels. Myles had the odds stacked against him if he had to fight it underground. Be careful that it’s not lurking in that tunnel waiting to catch someone else.”

  Omar leaned over the hole. “Peel-off! Are you okay?”

  Peel-off's laugh reached them faintly. “Define ‘okay’!”

  Omar decided he must be all right. “Can you see anything? Is Myles down there?”

  They saw the glow of the familiar Musterion moss radiating up out of the hole and waited for an answer. “I found him!” Peel-off shouted.

  Omar shouted, “Is he okay? What’s going on down there?”

  “Well, he’s unconscious and bit up pretty bad on his arm, but he’s breathing. Throw me a rope or something! I’ll tie it around his feet so you can bring us up.”

  Omar looked at Kleis, who was already flying up to a long vine hanging from on
e of the trees. Kleis cut several, quickly wove them together into a strong single rope, and dropped back to the ground to hand it to Omar. They fed the vine into the hole and kept dropping it until they estimated it had reached about 75 feet.

  Peel-off heaved the vine up on his shoulder and dragged it around Myles’ feet. He knotted the rope around Myles' ankles. "Pull us up!"

  The weight was more than they’d expected. “What has Myles been eating?” asked Sebastian.

  Sweating and straining, they finally pulled him out of the hole. That was when they saw that Peel-off had tied the dead Drakoni to the vine too. Omar scowled at him.

  Peel-off threw his hands up in protest. “What? Won’t you want to study it? You always want to study stuff! Besides, the hide makes great armor!”

  Omar bent over Myles and examined him. “He’s lost a lot of blood, but I think he’ll be fine. Myles seems to be trying really hard to lose a limb, don't you think? Sebastian and Kleis, take him to the tower, please. And Peel-off, you go with them.”

  Peel-off saluted Omar, did an about face, and turned to follow those carrying Myles away. Where did he learn to do that?

  ~*~

  Kasey paced back and forth like a caged lion. When she saw Protos and Ischus approaching, it was all she could do to contain herself. "Did they find Myles? Is he all right?" She suddenly felt a little uneasy about her display of concern for Myles. “I want to find him so I can slap him across the head! He’s a fool for rushing off after me like that. What was he thinking?”

  Ischus let her blow off some steam. When she seemed to be finished with her tirade, he asked, “Where did you disappear to last night, Kasey?”

  “I just climbed a tree at the edge of the jungle and waited for him to pass. After he went by me, I climbed down and doubled back to the beach where I slept until morning. He's getting impossible to put up with. I wouldn't care so much if—”

  Protos interrupted. “You have the Master’s orders, you have Nekar’s prophecy, and you have our judgment that it’s for the best, Kasey. Remember what Nekar said? Myles is going to turn back to his old ways. You can’t allow him to connect with you now. This is for your own protection…bad company corrupts good morals.”