by Aaron Yeager
The bear’s flesh came apart and Mandi again took the form of a person. Dr. Griffin paused, uncertain as to how to proceed.
“What are you waiting for?” Mandi purred, egging him on. “Aren’t you going to attack me with the big stick?”
Dr. Griffin stepped forward and swung the stick like a club. Mandi effortlessly stepped to the side and jammed her fingers into the pressure point at the base of his neck. Dr. Griffin let out a groan and was unconscious before he even hit the floor.
Privet jabbed at Mandi with a broken bar from his cage, slashing and stabbing with extreme precision and speed, but each time she wove around his attacks as if they were nothing.
“Hey, stand still so I can hit you!” Privet grunted, as he kicked out in an attempt to sweep her legs out from under her.
“Gee, why didn’t I think of that?” Mandi said sarcastically as she leapt into an aerial cartwheel. She placed the palm of her hand on Privet’s forehead as she passed over him, and there was a flash of blue light. Mandi landed and rolled to one side, barely dodging a stone thrown by Mina, then extended her hands outward releasing a jet of blue fire that struck both Evere and Mina in the face.
“Stop hiding behind the lies of words and the arbitrary rules of society,” she said cruelly. “Show me your true nature. What is it you want?”
Everything seemed to grow quiet for a moment. None of her attackers were pressing their advantage. They just stood there, as if in a trance.
It was Evere who broke the silence. He looked over at his wife, his face wrinkled with a cruel scowl.
“Cursed Mesdans, your people took my family, you took my eyes, you took my life! I hate you! I hate each and every one of you!”
“Oh, delicious,” Mandi praised. “Your true nature reveals wrath.”
“Always with the wandering eyes!” Mina screamed back at her husband. “A blind man with wandering eyes! A lazy, incompetent excuse for a man, and always I have to obey you, because they make it so much harder for a woman to get her own command!”
“Exquisite,” Mandi extolled, soaking in the feelings as if they were sunlight. “Her true nature reveals jealousy, contempt. Stop hiding who you are. Stop hiding how you feel. Your lives have been a lie up until now, and now I set you free!”
Evere and Mina leapt on each other, kicking, punching, and cursing. Margaret fell down and scooted away as best she could, nearly frozen with fear.
“What did you do to them?” Athel asked, pulling at the bars of her cage.
“Oh, I didn’t do anything, really,” Mandi said innocently.
Mina punched Evere in the gut, causing him to wheeze in pain. With a thump he struck her with a vicious head butt, knocking her back and followed up with a kick to the shin.
“Okay, maybe I did something,” Mandi admitted. “I brought out their true nature. The feelings that they have hidden from others and from themselves. I have removed the chains of society.”
Mandi walked over to Privet, who was still standing motionless.
“Don’t fight it, my pet,” she said, running a finger along his strong jaw line. “You have never once been who you really are. You have had a mask forced on you since the day you were born. Show me who you are!”
Privet fell to his knees, shoulders slumped, head fallen. He began sobbing uncontrollably, tears running down his chiseled features.
“I’m sorry, Athel,” he cried mournfully. “I’m sorry I couldn’t accept you. I wanted to, I really did. But Aden Buckthorn hurt me so badly. I hurt so much that it’s all I can feel inside, and I’m terrified that it will just happen again. I’m too scared to let you or anyone in that close again.” Privet rolled onto his side and continued sobbing.
“Marvelous,” Mandi praised. His true nature reveals fear, regret.”
“You’re a monster,” Athel cursed, pulling at the bars of her cage. “Stop hurting him, stop hurting all of them.”
“Hurting them?” Mandi laughed. “I’m not hurting them. I’m setting free who they really are inside.” Mandi kicked Spirea’s limp body aside and began walking toward Athel’s cage.
“Leave my friends alone,” Athel screamed, feeling completely powerless.
“Friends? Friendship is an illusion. A mist that clouds your eyes from the truth. The truth is that they hate and fear you. They treat you kindly because they are afraid you will hurt them if they don’t. We are animals. Our nature is to serve ourselves, and we will do so by whatever means necessary. That is the great truth I bring. Friendship is just a word your governments and religions invented to blind your eyes to who you really are. Look at your shipmates! See how honest they are now? See how true they are?”
Athel hung her head and ground her teeth. She wrenched at the bars with her hands. There was no one left and she was still in this hateful cage. She tried to drown out the sounds of Mina and Evere hurting each other, or Privet weeping, but she couldn’t. There was nothing she could do. She was completely at the mercy of her captor, and it made her feel so small and helpless she could barely stand it.
In her heart she began to realize what her mother had been trying to teach her. Although she could command a forest, the strength belonged to the forest, not to her. When her mother sat on the throne, it was not the strength of the Queen she utilized, but the strength of the people.
Athel hung her head in defeat. She had never been strong after all. She was just a helpless little child who was deluding herself.
Mandi stood before Athel’s cage and clapped her hands together, eyes closed. The black flames from the stone circle rose higher and licked over Athel's body. Tendrils latched onto her skin and hair, yet she offered no resistance. Suddenly the fire shuddered and evaporated into mist. Mandi opened her eyes and looked down. One of the stones had been removed from the circle.
“Please leave Miss Athel alone,” said a high squeaky voice.
Athel looked up and saw Alder, who placed himself in between Mandi and the cage, his thin arms clutching one of the magic stones.
“Get out of my way,” Mandi huffed in frustration as her right arm grew into a long leathery tail like a whip with a single venomous barb at the end. Bringing it above her head, she brought the whip down, striking Alder on the shoulder and shredding through his uniform.
Alder winced from the pain, but stood his ground.
Mandi whipped him again, harder than before, the barb planting itself deeply into Alder’s back
“Stop it!” Athel pleaded.
She whipped again, striking his right arm so forcefully that it spun him around, threatening to snap the bone.
“Stop it! Alder!”
Mandi whipped again, leaving a deep bloody gash across Alder’s thigh.
“Just get out of her way, you idiot!” Athel pleaded.
Mandi whipped again, tearing deeply into the flesh of his bony chest.
“Alder, you don’t have to do this!” Athel yelled.
Mandi whipped again, slicing deeply into his arm.
“Stop it, you’re killing him!” Athel screamed.
Mandi lost her temper and let into him with all her might. She whipped him again and again, shredding and stripping his shirt away. Blood gushed down his back and shoulders, pooling around his feet in great dark rivers.
“I won’t let you hurt her,” Alder whispered. “Athel is my bride.”
With one final whip, Alder fell to his knees. Tears were streaming down his face, mixing with the falling blood, but he would not budge from his spot.
Tiring, Mandi stopped for a moment and looked over the small, pale young man with interest as he bled before her, fighting to keep himself upright. “I can kill you, but I can’t break you, can I?” she mused. With a wicked grin, she placed her palm against Alder’s forehead.
“Stop hiding behind the lies of words and the arbitrary rules of society. Show me your true nature. Show me what is in your heart.” There was a flash of light, and Alder’s head became encircled with a blue fire that was sucked into his ears and
eyes as if inhaled. After a moment, he opened his eyes, and stood up.
“I have lived my life as a slave,” Alder whispered quietly. “Born into a cage without a door, and sold to the Forsythia family to be househusband to their spoiled daughter.”
“Oh, this is too precious,” Mandi exclaimed, clapping her hands together. “I am going to savor this for a very long time.”
Mandi pulled out a knife and key from her belt.
“Here,” she said, placing one in each of his hands. “Let your true nature shine forth as bright as the noonday sun. Show the world what the slave truly thinks of the master he serves.”
Alder turned slowly and walked over to Athel’s cage. Athel couldn’t move. She was completely petrified with shock as Alder took the key and opened the cage. Instinctively, she scrambled back away from him.
Alder poked his head in, looking directly into her eyes for the first time.
The knife fell from his hands and he pulled her to him, wrapping his arms around her and holding her tight in a tender embrace.
“What do I want? I want you to be happy,” he said softly, tears streaming down his face.
“His true nature reveals...love?” Mandi asked in shock.
At first Athel was so surprised that she couldn’t do or say anything. She could only sit there as he held her close. His frail and bloody body trembled, and she could feel the strength and honesty in his emotions. There was a purity to what he was radiating that she could not deny, and in that moment she realized something.
She realized that no one would ever love her as honestly and completely as he did.
That realization shocked her. As she wrapped her arms around him to return his embrace, she saw the deep cuts in his back, and beneath them, the crisscross of old wounds and scars. This woman was killing him, and the thought of losing him filled her with such terror that she clung onto him tightly. Suddenly in her mind she could see everything she had done to Alder, as if it were being displayed before her. Every unkind word, every spiteful command. She had been nothing but mean to him, cruel even, and the guilt of it overwhelmed her to the point of tears.
“I’m sorry,” Athel sobbed, through pain-filled eyes. “I’m so sorry.” Every lesson about dignity and shame was brushed aside. Her mother’s voice commanding her never to show tears before another dissipated like mist and her tears flowed. She held him tightly and wept, breathing out apologies between sobs.
Tenderly, Alder took her face in his hands and looked deeply into her eyes.
“I forgive you,” he said softly, and kissed her on the lips. Athel felt a sensation like electricity spread from her lips throughout her entire body. Her heart pounded in her chest, and her whole being felt so alive it nearly overwhelmed her. She held him all the tighter and returned his kiss passionately. In that moment she knew that she belonged to him, heart and soul, and it didn’t frighten her in the slightest. It was a complete abdication of the freedom she had always sought, yet it felt like the most natural thing imaginable, and she knew nothing would ever be the same again.
“NO!” Mandi shouted. “NO! People are not capable of love. They are selfish, deceptive, and cruel!” Mandi threw her arms skyward and the flesh exploded, reforming themselves into giant pincers. With all her hate she swung them down, intending to crush the two, but something struck her in the abdomen, knocking the wind out of her. She took a step back and lost her footing. Looking down, she saw that Alder had thrown himself into her. She slipped backward and the two of them fell over the edge of the precipice. As Mandi plummeted down alongside the waterfall, her struggles and screams died out until she was completely immobile and silent, a look of bewilderment on her face. Before her eyes all she could see was the image of the young couple kissing.
Her lips silently spoke, “Impossible,” then there was a terrible crash as she struck the water.
Privet and the others ceased what they were doing and looked around as if they had just woken up from a horrible dream. Mina and Evere embraced each other tearfully, breathing out apologies between sobs and kisses, while Privet gathered himself up and hid his face in shame.
Athel jumped out of her cage, screaming Alder's name. As she reached the edge of the precipice, he floated up past her, gently settling down next to her.
“H-how did you...?” she faltered.
“Surely you haven't forgotten that our uniforms have float-stones in the belt,” Alder explained with a smile, tapping the buckle.
Athel and Alder embraced affectionately.
With some difficulty, Ryin pulled himself to his knees and dragged himself over to the edge and looked down into the water below. “Wow, that is really high. You know she's dead.”
“No,” Athel contradicted, “We’d better get down there. If there’s one thing I’ve learned from my books, it’s that people can survive falling from very high places. If we let her go, she’ll just track us down again in a few months and finish us off.”
As they looked on, far below, black bubbles rose to the surface of the water, followed by bloody pieces of limbs and chunks of torso.
“Oh, well, maybe not, then,” Ryin concluded.
The false world around them faded, dissolving away until they were sitting near the edge of a cliff face with pieces of broken cages around them. Birds chirped distantly as the morning sun came down upon them. Looking over the edge, Athel could see the Dreadnaught circling far below near the sea, waiting for their signal.
Chapter Thirty Nine
Creation
Unlike other kingdoms, Wysterian marriage ceremonies were private affairs. No long lines of guests, or piles of gifts. They involved only the couple and her Nallorn tree.
That is not to say that they did not require lots of time to prepare for. It took several days after escaping from Thesda before they were able to find a cove that Deutzia was happy with, but now that they were there, both Alder and Athel agreed that it was the perfect spot.
Two thin waterfalls cascaded down, joining together at one end of the shallow lagoon, which was blue against the white sand. Deutzia had been replanted in a much larger vessel, which made her look even smaller than usual. She sat at one end of the lagoon, red and white bows tied to her stems. The local trees buzzed with excitement and Athel had spent some time talking with them to explain the ceremony and politely ask them to maintain reverence until it was over.
When Athel walked over to where Deutzia and Alder were standing, she couldn’t keep the smile off her face. Alder began without missing a beat, recounting his adopted lineage and, to her surprise, perfectly recounting hers as well, even including Aspen Milicent Forsythia, the third countess of Cliffrose, whom Athel always skipped over by accident no matter how many times she practiced.
He was so cute as he took her hands in his that she completely forgot herself and kissed him far too early in the ceremony. Rather than scolding her, he kissed her back. His kiss was so gentle and honest that it made her shiver with joy as her Nallorn tree shimmered angrily.
“Oh, sorry, Deutzia,” Athel apologized, pulling back. “I forgot where we were.”
Deutzia made a noise like a sigh and unfurled one branch formally, which Alder took, placing a light kiss on one of the leaves.
Deutzia squealed in disgust and wrapped her branches around Alder, hefting him up into the air.
“Oh no,” was all Alder could get out as she pulled back to throw him into the lagoon. “She’s rejected me.”
The tree paused, holding a very confused young man above her.
“Stop playing around with him, Deutzia,” Athel insisted, rolling her eyes in frustration. The small tree gave off a series of sparkles and set Alder down again.
“Is...Is she laughing?” he asked in confusion. “Was that a joke?”
“Yes,” Athel sighed, “she’s got a really odd sense of humor.”
Deutzia slugged him playfully on the shoulder with one of her branches.
“So, she doesn’t reject me, then?” he asked, checking
his arm to make sure his bandages had not come loose.
“No, of course she doesn’t,” Athel reassured, kissing him again. “She’s actually quite fond of you.”
The couple took hands again and closed their eyes. From inside her pot, Deutzia extended one small root, which gave off a golden glow. Two smaller rootlets sprouted off of it, and each of them sprouted two even smaller rootlets, and each of them sprouted off two rootlets that were smaller still.
By the time the rootlets reached the couple, they were beyond count and thinner than strands of hair. Far beyond the range of normal sight, they sprouted smaller and finer still several more times. When they washed over the couple, it felt to them as a gentle mist, as if every cell in their bodies was being caressed. Deutzia, Athel, and Alder were surrounded with a golden light which overpowered even the noon day sun.
When the light finally receded, Deutzia had tripled in height, now towering over both of them. A single piece of golden fruit had grown from one branch near the top, and Deutzia gently plucked it and handed it to Alder.
“The first fruits of the harvest, which I give to none save it be my wife,” he said confidently, taking a bite and looking deeply into her eyes as he handed it to her.
“Which I accept from none save it be my husband,” she answered, taking a bite as well.
“It’s very good,” Alder commented.
“Of course it’s good,” Athel scolded, slugging him playfully on the arm. “What a weird thing to say.”
“How joyful it is when one becomes two, as a child is born from mother,” Deutzia said happily, “and how much more joyful is it when two become one, as husband and wife.”
“I can understand her,” Alder said, excited.
“Of course you can understand me,” Deutzia said warmly, “for you are now a part of me, as she is a part of you as well. Joined together with bonds stronger than life.”
“Didn’t they teach you anything in househusband training?” Athel accused.
“I must have missed that day,” Alder apologized.
Alder and Athel held hands as they listened to Deutzia pronounce their blessings and give them counsel. Understanding Deutzia was a new experience for Alder, and as he listened he tried to categorize her voice. It was strong yet motherly, confident yet careful. It resonated of substance without being deluged with pride. Finally he realized...it was Athel’s voice.