Alterni

by Sunshine Somerville

  She swallowed, stood her ground, and looked away from the bentaforx only long enough to see Owen pounding the inside of the barrio.

  Sorry, she thought. I’m not letting you die.

  The bentaforx thrust its head straight for her, its mouth gaping open. She threw another dagger spell at it – since this was the most effective spell so far – and the bentaforx pulled back its neck to avoid getting a mouthful of spears. Esme wasn’t prepared for the tail that whipped around from behind, and it knocked her backwards. She tumbled face-first toward a rock, but she waved both hands in front of her and created a shock wave that buffered her fall. This made fresh pain shoot through her non-castorca hand. With a wince, she held it to her chest and spun in the snow to face the bentaforx again.

  “Ticka-ticka-ticka. Kich!”

  She sucked in a breath and shouted at the demon, “That all you got?”

  The bentaforx roared and beat its wings, which blew freezing wind into Esme. She held up her castorca and flicked her fingers fast, shooting flames. The bentaforx drew its wings back in for protection, but it roared at her and swiped with one of its long arms. She ducked and ran farther around a boulder, but the beast’s tail met her on the other side. She reached out and made a twisting motion with a thrust, and the spell caught the tail and tossed it aside.

  On the far side of the boulder now, Esme saw she’d at least distracted the bentaforx away from Owen. He beat against the insides of the barrio shield, calling to her without a sound breaking through.

  What can I do? I can’t just put myself in a barrio like I did with Owen – eventually this monster would wander off to find easier prey! We don’t have time to wait for reinforcements to find us…wherever we are. Could the cavali do anything even if they were here? I’m not letting anyone else die! I have to stop the bentaforx. Now!

  Esme ignored Owen and examined the boulder she’d tried to use for cover. She took a step back to brace herself. Summoning magic, she reached out her castorca and twisted, creating a whirlwind around the boulder. She spun her hand faster and faster, wider and wider, and the boulder shook on the ground.

  I’ll never lift it all the way.

  With a deep breath, Esme stretched out her other hand. Her burned fingers resisted bending, but she made a series of moves like typing in a keypad. The magical vibrations peeled more skin from her palm, but she focused and pulled magic into both hands. With her castorca hand spinning the whirlwind to loosen the boulder, soon her other hand’s magic was strong enough to do what she wanted.

  Now!

  With a grunt of pain and exertion, she swung both her arms toward the bentaforx as if she was swinging a baseball bat. The strain made her body drop to the snow.

  The boulder rolled off the ground and flew through the air. The bentaforx’s beaten tail was too slow to block it. Instead, the boulder slammed into one of the open wings, and a huge section of wing tore away. The bentaforx roared in pain and tottered from the blow.

  Gotcha. You’re not flying anywhere now.

  The torn wing bent at horrible angles, but the bentaforx recovered its balance and stood with hind legs spread wide. The demon stretched to tower into the sky, its roar shaking the ground.

  Then, to her horror, the bentaforx twisted its neck, opened its mouth to expose rows of teeth, and bit into its own wing. It chewed with horrific crunching sounds and shook its head to rip the wing from its own side. It was amputating.

  Oh, no, that’s right! They regenerate! It can grow a new wing!

  She scrambled back to her feet and looked at her bleeding hand. Her palm was missing a layer of skin. Panting, she ignored her wounds and glared up at the bentaforx.

  I can’t hold out much longer. I have to take it out! But how? Even my two-handed spells barely wound the thing. I could throw every spell I know at this monster, but I’d only cripple myself in the process.

  She used the bentaforx’s distraction to think. Again, she ran over the Chronicles of Kings in her mind, desperate to remember anything useful. There was nothing. Whenever kings and alterni had faced bentaforx, they’d always had more men, more weapons. Alterni like Trent Simons had had a clever plan in place to trap and kill the bentaforx. Here, Esme had nothing.

  If only I’d finished the termino before this monster got out! We… Wait. The termino spell… It’s all I have left.

  The bentaforx was a few bites away from fully amputating its wing.

  Esme looked at Owen, who was still safe in the barrio shield. He mouthed, “Let me out!” and didn’t look happy when she shook her head at him. Instead of setting him free, Esme lowered her gaze to the symbol she’d drawn on Owen’s chest. She felt a flicker of hope.

  Can I do it?

  Something hit the ground, and Esme looked to discover the decimated wing now lying lifeless in the snow. Already, the bloody stump on the demon’s back was forming new scales and growing a new wing. With a growl, the giant beast tilted its head to find Esme.

  Taking a breath, Esme made sure her footing was secure. She reached out her castorca toward the bentaforx and gathered her fingertips to a point. While the demon roared, she pulled magic into her castorca and began to draw the termino symbol directly on the bentaforx.

  With the first slash mark, the bentaforx recoiled in surprise. A strip of burned scales lit up and sparked on its chest, and it tilted its head to see the wound. Esme didn’t stop there. She held the symbol in her mind, twisting it and superimposing the image over the bentaforx’s entire body. She moved her castorca up and down, this way and that, drawing the correct lengths of lines, curves, and swirls over the demon. The burning marks lit up the bentaforx as she worked, and the distracting pain kept the monster from attacking. More than once it moved so she had to fix a line, but she held the image in her mind and drew furiously, burning wider and wider.

  The bentaforx roared as a swirling burn mark traced over the scaly space between its eyes. The demon’s whole body was now lit up and sparking with the symbol, and Esme knew she had to hurry. She held her castorca hand, palm out, in front of her face, and made circles, exposing different parts of the symbol to her line of sight at a time. The symbol blurred with her movements, and the blur spun faster and faster as her hand controlled it.

  The symbol crackled. Then black scales peeled off the bentaforx as the termino sucked them in. The demon roared in anger and pain, but more and more of its scales stripped off into the termino. The beast tried to take a step forward, but its whole body was stuck in the pull of the sparking symbol. It blew gas in desperation, but this too was sucked into the termino. One of the enormous horns flaked apart, then the other. The intact wing went next.

  Esme’s entire arm blurred with the circular movement, and she made a small cry of pain. But she didn’t stop. The bentaforx fought against the termino, its hind legs sliding through the dirt as it resisted.

  “Die, you asshole!”

  Knowing she had no choice, Esme lifted her other hand and matched her castorca’s spins. The added boost strengthened the termino. Blood from her hand splattered her face, but from the bentaforx’s roars Esme knew it was working. Its scales and skin and outermost bones ripped apart and swirled into the termino. And still it roared.

  Esme screamed to relieve the pressure vibrating through her arms. Unable to stand it anymore, she raised both hands and made a tearing motion, throwing her arms as wide as she could.

  The entire bentaforx burst like shattering glass. Caught in the termino, demon pieces flew inward and lit up where the symbol had covered the bentaforx. For a moment, the symbol’s light retained the vague outline of the demon. Then the whole symbol crackled and flashed violently. In an instant, it collapsed and disappeared.

  Esme fell to her butt, caressing her hands against her body. She was again aware how cold it was, though sweaty hair stuck to her face and neck. Realization dawned on her that she was sitting in snow, and she quickly lowered her hands to bury her burns in the freezing whiteness.

  This pain is unbea
rable. Why can’t I ever pass out when I want?

  She looked over where the barrio still cocooned Owen. With a wince she pulled her castorca hand back out of the snow, and she made the chicken-feed throw that dissolved the symbol on Owen’s chest. The barrio dropped just as he was midway through pounding a fist against the shield, and his arm went straight through. Free, Owen ran over and knelt beside Esme as she stuffed her hand back into the snow.

  “By all the gods! What were you thinking?”

  Owen looked both furious and worried simultaneously. Esme knew these expressions well, but she didn’t think she’d ever seen him quite this mad.

  “You’re welcome.”

  Owen held back his anger and glanced downhill. “Can you move? We need to get out of here.”

  Esme took a breath and tried to fight the pain and exhaustion, but it was no use. Her legs were done. “I’m not sure I have strength to walk.”

  Owen stood from the snow and scooped her up. She put her arms around his neck and crossed her wrists so her hands didn’t touch. When Esme was secure, Owen took a few shaky steps over the snow, then picked up the pace.

  He wouldn’t look at her. “Try to rest.”

  Is he mad at me for sidelining him? What else could I have done?

  She didn’t have the strength to argue, so she tried to be still as he carried her down the mountain.

  Esme fell asleep. She woke from a jostle and opened her eyes to find Owen still carrying her. They were hiking downhill through a snowy, rocky, sunlit forest of coniferous trees. She heard Owen breathing hard, and she saw his breath puff out in front of her.

  “I’m awake. I can walk.”

  Owen stopped by a fallen tree and lowered Esme until her boots touched snow. She felt colder than she had pressed against his chest, and she hugged her shoulders for warmth. Wind needled her bare arms. Owen had wrapped her burned palm in a strip of cloth. Her castorca hand hurt, but not as bad as earlier. On further inspection, Esme discovered her pants were ripped, and the biggest hole exposed her thigh where she’d made the barrio. This was now only a faint burn, but Esme suspected she’d always have a scar.

  Her sullen companion didn’t look much better. Owen’s tattered cavali shirt hung open, exposing the burned barrio on his chest. He too would probably have a scar, but he was doing his best to cover his chest with folded arms. Somewhere along their adventure Owen had lost his kneepads. He must’ve discarded his empty holsters to be free of the weight.

  “Where are we?” asked Esme.

  “The Rockies.”

  “What? It flew all that way?”

  “Looks like.” Owen’s eyes scanned the hillside. “If we are where I think we are, there should be a cavali bunker nearby.”

  “If…” Esme shivered and looked at the trees. “What if we’re not where you think we are?”

  “Then we better get moving. It’s after noon. We can’t waste daylight.” Owen didn’t look at her and started marching downhill again.

  Esme frowned.

  They walked in silence for a few minutes, Esme watching her footing over the rough terrain.

  We have no way to call for help. We have no supplies. I guess we can always make drinking water. Building a fire shouldn’t be a problem… But we have no food. No weapons. If we don’t find shelter by nightfall… No one knows where we are.

  She had another fear and asked aloud, “What if more rifts open while we’re gone?”

  Ahead, Owen’s tone was short. “The Order dealt with dozens of rifts before you came. I trust they can handle a few without you, alterni.”

  Esme had had enough, and she jogged forward to block Owen’s path. “What’s your problem? I’m sorry you don’t like how I handled things back there, but this is my job, right?” She jabbed a pointed finger into his arm. “The job you brought me here to do!”

  Owen’s jaw tightened as he looked down at her. “Not like that!”

  “I was only trying to protect you! Do you have to be such a macho asshole about it?”

  “It’s not your job to protect me! It’s my job to protect you! Don’t you get it?”

  “What happened to watching each other’s backs?” Esme took a breath and tried to calm down. She felt tears rising. “Besides, you’re the king. I’m the replaceable one, right?”

  Owen chuckled darkly and looked around the woods. “You have that so wrong, you have no idea.”

  She reached for his hand and squeezed so Owen looked at her. “It’s the truth, Owen. I’ve accepted it. I’m sorry I disobeyed your plan back there. Maybe it wasn’t fair of me to barrio you. But I knew you’d do anything to save me, and I wasn’t going to let you sacrifice yourself.”

  Owen softened but shook his head. “So your solution was to stick me in a barrio? What if I’d had to watch you die?”

  Esme felt herself pale as she realized her mistake.

  The first Esme. He watched a bentaforx kill my origini. I almost made him live that nightmare all over again! Jerk move, Esme.

  “I’m so sorry. I didn’t even consider how similar…”

  Owen saw what she meant and shook his head. “That’s not… I wasn’t thinking about her. But you shouldn’t have put me in a barrio.”

  “If I’d run out of options, I would’ve freed you to help me.”

  Maybe.

  Esme stroked his hand with her thumb. She tried a smile. “Besides, my way worked. I killed a freakin’ bentaforx.”

  “Yeah, and how the hell did you do that? Your magic…” Owen frowned. “It was so powerful it almost took you out right along with the bentaforx. You need to be more careful.”

  “I’m okay, Owen.”

  He sighed and looked at the castorca on her hand that held his.

  Esme swallowed. “I’m freaked out by my magic too, you know. But if it’s strong enough to tear a bentaforx to shreds, isn’t that a good thing?”

  Owen was quiet a moment. Then he shook his head. “No, it’s not a good thing. Not at all.”

  “What do you mean?”

  He released her hand and hesitated a moment more, looking at the trees. “There’s something you need to know, Esme.”

  She felt a chill unrelated to the temperature. “What?”

  Owen motioned for them to continue their hike, walking beside her now. “I’m sure you’ve figured out that we’re not telling you everything?”

  Esme thought back and nodded. A knot formed in her stomach. “Is something wrong with my magic? Ever since my first day of training, Roman’s studied me like… I don’t know. If the malevolenci are more active than ever, and my magic is more powerful than ever… Did I somehow cause this?”

  “No, Esme.” Owen looked over to make sure she believed him. “The malevolenci being this aggressive predates your summono, remember? You aren’t responsible for this. If it wasn’t for you-”

  “So why is it bad that my magic’s so strong?” Esme took a breath as she stepped over a rock. “I’ve asked around, you know. Lexi told me after my first battle that no one’s ever performed hand spells that strong. Ada says I mastered spells faster than any alterni she’s ever heard of. No one’s used two hands to cast before. Now I’ve ripped apart a bentaforx with a termino. I don’t… I don’t understand how I did that. I was desperate, and the magic did whatever I wanted. It was like when I split that first felicox in half, or when I ignited the chiroptorx in that whirlwind. How am I controlling magic like this?”

  Owen scowled at their path. “Esme, what I’m about to tell you is hidden from the rest of the Order. The kings and Master Conjuri have kept this secret for centuries. I caved and told Hakim, but not even Lexi knows.”

  Esme thought on this and wondered.

  “The argument,” Owen continued, “is that we should hide the full truth about alterni because, if we’re ever in the situation we’re currently in, people would panic. It’s best to keep the Order fighting as hard as they can, without knowing the load of shit we’re in.”

  She’d locked in on on
e phrase. “The full truth about alterni?”

  “Yeah…” Owen kept his eyes on the path. “No king’s ever told an alterni the truth either, as far as records indicate. In general, people in the Order might panic, but for you alterni this news is…personal. I’ve been trying to spare you from this until we were certain this horrible thing is really happening. Hakim wanted to tell you right away, and he was probably right.”

  Esme took a breath and, like Owen, nervously focused on the path. “You’ve been protecting me from knowing something so I didn’t worry?”

  “Yeah.”

  “And it explains whatever’s going on with my magic?”

  “Yeah.”

  She prepared herself.

  At this point, I’m ready for anything.

  Owen stepped over a log. “I’m sorry. I’ve been protective for my own reasons – which you are overly aware of – but there’s more to it. If we lose you, we lose everything.”

  She frowned. “What does that mean?”

  “You’re an alterni endi.”

  “A what?”

  “It means you’re the last alterni of Esme Kuchis. You’re the only version left alive. If we lose you, there’ll be no Esmes to replace you.”

  “Wait a minute.” Esme stopped walking and grabbed Owen’s arm so he faced her. Her heart raced. “I’m the last. You’re sure?”

  Owen looked tense, but he nodded. “After what I just saw with that bentaforx, yeah, I’m sure. Your magic is so strong because you’re the last alterni of my cycle. All this world’s magic is connected to you because you’re the only one left. Normally, each alterni in each world has a slight, miniscule connection to this world’s magic. Once you’re here, you’re more tapped into the magic’s source. But if all those hundreds of alterni are gone, the magic only has you to connect with.”

  “I don’t understand. There were nine alt-Esmes when I was summoned.”