Why Suran was here was beyond Terico, and why she was cooking what smelled like bread and omelets was anybody’s guess. All manner of utensils were strewn across the counter, including a dark blue Nexi stone for water, and a red one for fire.
Father chuckled. “As expected of my wife, no visitor leaves without getting put to work!” Mother nudged him in the side.
“Oh, it’s not like that,” Suran said, blushing a little. “I volunteered to help with the breakfast while she finished with some of her calculations for the medicine.”
“That’s very nice of you,” Terico said. “You don’t have to come all the way here to go to this much trouble, though.”
“Oh! I came to drop off some herbs.” She gave a tiny laugh. “My brother Lanek had a medicine cabinet full of them—some rare elvish herbs—and we thought they’d be more useful here. I just want to do what I can for our sick neighbors... Everyone’s pulling together to help them, and it wouldn’t be right for me to not do what little I can. Especially when you and Turan are risking your lives, fighting these cavern monsters.”
This more than anything else was what Terico liked about Suran. There wasn’t a single ingenuine iota in her heart, and she always put the needs and wants of others before her own. Even since they were children, Terico had wanted to become better friends with her. Perhaps at first it was that air of mystery about her that attracted him—the elves had such a deep, magical lore and culture, after all. And he thought Suran was cute too, with bright hazel eyes and long, silky red hair. It was definitely the way she conducted her life, though, that endeared Terico to her.
He just needed to find a good way to share his feelings for her. “No, it was fine,” Terico said. “Thanks, Suran. For... everything. This is really nice of you... Thanks!”
“A weak performance,” Turan said under his breath.
“Thanks!” Suran said. “It may not be your mother’s cooking, but I’ll try my best. Everything should be ready in a few minutes.”
“Okay, Sea Scrub,” Mother said. “Go to the other room and I’ll get you some bandages.”
Terico sat on the creaky chair in front of the dormant fireplace, while Father and Turan stepped out with their swords to spar for a few minutes. Through the front window Terico watched them have at it, and wondered what Father was saying to Turan. Perhaps instructing him on his footwork—or perhaps complimenting him on his skill with the blade. Turan was very talented for his age, and perhaps the best in their class. Suran’s brother Lanek was arguably just as good of a fighter though, and Terico considered himself rather competent as well. Like everyone else, Terico would take Nexi Power Ranking exams—or NPRs—every few months. It seemed he would always end up with some rotten luck during the tests though, keeping him from advancing to a higher level.
Mother came back with some bandages, a damp cloth, and some healing ointment. “Go ahead and clean your wounds and apply the medicine. I can help you wrap everything up.”
Terico rolled up his left trouser leg and soaked up the blood caked on it. Once it was cleaned off he dripped some of the glass bottle’s medication onto his fingertips and rubbed them onto the wound. It stung like a hundred needles, but Terico kept from crying out.
“Sorry, it’ll hurt,” Mother said. “I’m sorry this happened to you, Terico. I never wanted you to get hurt so badly.”
“I’ll be fine. It’s really not a big deal,” Terico said. And really, it could have been much worse. A few bad scrapes wasn’t anything to worry about, though telling his mother that would be kind of pointless.
She kept a concerned look on her face, but didn’t comment further on Terico’s injuries.
He glanced out the window again and saw his father patting Turan on the shoulder.
“You look like something’s troubling you,” Mother said. “Other than your wounds, I mean.”
Terico wondered if his worries were that apparent. “It’s nothing.”
Mother tilted her head a bit and gave this straight-lipped frown that meant Terico’s response simply wasn’t going to cut it.
“I wish I could make Father proud,” Terico whispered. “I was hoping to do a good job fighting that plant monster, but... things didn’t work out as nicely as I hoped.”
Mother nodded a couple times and smiled. “Terico, you’ve always been the hardest worker I’ve known. And that includes your father, believe it or not. Just keep fighting, and you will definitely keep improving. That’s more than enough to make your father and I very, very proud of you.”
Terico turned his head and shut his eyes a few moments. “It doesn’t feel like enough. Hard work doesn’t mean anything if it doesn’t bring results.”
Mother shook her head and gave a light little sigh. “Men tend to think that way. I think you’ll learn for yourself that’s not true though, Sea Scrub.” She didn’t say any more on the matter, so Terico didn’t either.
While Mother wrapped up his leg, Terico took off his cloak and long-sleeved shirt so he could tend to the rest of his wounds. The cut across his chest wasn’t too deep, fortunately, but it stung like crazy when he spread some of the ointment across it.
“I’ve finished the breakfast,” Suran said as she walked into the room. “I’ll keep it warm while...”
Terico looked up and found Suran frozen in mid-stride.
Her eyes gazed down at Terico’s chest, and her entire face reddened. She quickly shut her eyes and scurried back to the kitchen. “S-sorry, Terico! I didn’t mean...”
Terico couldn’t help but smile at her modesty. “No need to apologize, Suran... You took part whenever our class went swimming. This isn’t so different.”
“Th-that was a few years ago,” Suran said in a quiet voice. “You’ve grown since then.”
Mother tried to hide her amusement, though she made a poor effort of it. “Ah, you’ve caught her interest now,” she whispered. “Your father used similar tactics, now that I think about it.”
Once Terico finished tending his wounds, he went to his room to change into clothes that weren’t bloodied up, and then joined everyone at the table for breakfast. Everyone simply pushed the lab materials toward the center of the table to make room for their plates, and Turan ate kneeling at the end of the table, since there were only four chairs. Terico sat by Suran, but couldn’t think of anything very good to say to her, other than thanking her for the meal. Turan kept up a loud conversation with Terico’s parents, so it was simpler to just eat.
“I hope your injuries will get better quickly,” Suran said quietly. Her thin eyebrows were arched upward, her face wearing such a worried expression.
“I’m feeling better already.” Terico smiled.
“I’m glad,” Suran said.
She finished breakfast about the same time as Terico, and stood up to give Terico’s parents a slight bow. “Thank you for letting me visit.”
“No, thank you,” Mother said. “You cooked the meal and brought those elvish herbs. They will be a great help for the patients.”
“Oh, thanks,” Suran said. Even when thanked, she instinctively thanked people for their thanks.
“I’ll help see you out,” Terico said, getting up.
He followed her out the door and closed it behind them.
“You shouldn’t exert yourself,” Suran said. “Can you walk all right?”
“Yes, it doesn’t hurt so much anymore,” Terico said. Er, I mean, it never hurt much... he thought. It was too late to change his words though.
“Well, I need to go help my brother with a couple things before school starts,” Suran said. “See you in class.” She waved good-bye and started to turn away.
“Wait, there’s something else,” Terico said. Suran stopped and tilted her head to the side. It was an adorable little gesture, and Terico stumbled for the words to say.
“There’s... the festival. The Long Shadow Festival is coming up.”
“Oh, yes,” Suran said. “That’s always fun, with the shadow tracings, and shadow
puppet shows.”
“Yeah,” Terico said. “I was wondering... you’re going, right?”
“Mm-hmm,” Suran hummed.
“That’s great!” Terico said. “I’ll... see you there then?”
“Probably,” Suran said. “It’s a small town, so even with everyone gathered together, it’s not too hard to see everyone.”
No, this wasn’t quite what I meant to say, Terico thought.
Suran smiled and waved again. “Though if we don’t meet up there, I’ll see you at school, at least. See you later, Terico!”
She was in a hurry for something, but had been nice enough to finish this conversation with Terico.
It didn’t go the way he wanted it to, though. He sighed and headed back inside, wondering when he’d get another good chance to talk with Suran privately. Perhaps at the festival? It was probably his next best opportunity, he decided.
Terico waited for Turan to finish breakfast, then gave his goodbyes to his parents before heading off to class. The long wooden school building was situated just outside of town, as there wasn’t a good spot for it in the central square. It was one of the more recent structures in Edellerston, built just a few years after Terico was born. Beforehand groups of children were taught at teachers’ homes, and typically moved on to apprenticeships at an earlier age than was expected today. Today there were more guidelines for what everyone in the country should learn, and the last couple days had given Terico a lot of old poetry to memorize. Terico much preferred learning more about ways to utilize Nexi stones, and other of the more magical subjects.
Terico and Turan crossed a series of radish fields, and continued on down a trail that ran down an expansive turnip farm. Turan still had his leather armor and sword on him, so he’d probably get an earful from the teacher again about bringing a weapon to class. When Terico brought it up, Turan just gave one of his many carefree “don’t worry about it” responses. Their idle chat turned to the inevitable within a few minutes, though.
“So you set up a date with Suran, at long last?” Turan asked. “
Well... not quite,” Terico said. He knew this was coming, as Turan had been pestering him to set something up with Suran for some time now.
“What?” Turan cried. He gripped his blond hair and gave an exaggerated frown, though he only held this expression for a moment. “Come on, Terico. I’ll give you a deadline if I must. If you don’t ask her out by Friday, I’ll make a move myself.” He closed his eyes and rubbed his chin with the back of his hand a few times. “Turan and Suran. Has a nice ring to it, don’t you think? I bet I can win her heart in three days flat.”
“Right, right,” Terico said. “Just like you’ve won the heart of every other girl in class. Oh, wait. When was the last time you had a date?”
Turan waved his hand toward Terico’s face. “Don’t sweat the details. I’m just waiting for all the girls to finish fighting over me, and then I can just take the one left standing when the dust settles.”
Terico stifled a laugh. “You might need to rethink that strategy of yours.”
“Yes, but seriously, Terico.” Turan’s face turned serious. “You’ve got to make a move some time with Suran. I mean, you’ve liked her since you were—what, two?”
“Not that early,” Terico said, “but all right, I get your point. I’ll see if I can find her at the festival, and maybe take her to a hill to watch the fireworks with me.”
“Yes, girls love fireworks,” Turan said. “But then again, I love them too.”
“Most everyone does, I imagine,” Terico said. “I think everyone looks forward to the Long Shadow fireworks.”
“Hey, speaking of fire...” Turan pointed to a rising cloud of dark smoke in the distance. There were a number of houses and a couple shops past this end of this field, not far from the school.
Terico instinctively took out a dark blue Nexi stone from his pocket. “Come on! We might be able to help put out whatever’s caught on fire.”
He ran as fast as he could manage, though it sent painful jolts up and down his left leg with every step. As they approached the town outskirts, Terico saw there were several buildings on fire—perhaps all of them. He glanced back to the central square in the far distance behind him, and found smoke starting to rise there as well. The air filled with screams, cries for help, and weeping.
It’s an attack! Terico realized. He wished he had a sword on hand like Turan, but he would have to make do with his Nexi stones.
He reached the nearest burning homes and found three dead bodies, each stabbed several times. A mother. A father. A child. All murdered beside their blazing home. Terico was not familiar with this family, but he still recognized them. He gripped his Nexi stone tight and searched furiously for the perpetrators. There was nobody around, though. The assailants were simply rushing through, killing everyone they could find.
Turan ran off toward the burning shops down the road, and Terico followed him—only to find more dead bodies. Terico looked on ahead to find the school building, also drenched in fire.
Suran!
Terico bolted toward the school, running as hard as he could. He payed no mind to the pain of his injuries—he had to find Suran immediately. There were screams coming from inside. What if Suran was trapped amongst the flames? He had to get her out of there. He had to get all his classmates out of there. Everyone was counting on him.
“Terico!” Turan screamed. “A little help!”
Terico glanced back and stopped, surprised to find two armed men advancing on Turan from either side of him. Men in white uniforms and silver armor. Their defining element was the flat, featureless white mask each of them wore, which was entirely blank save for an inverted black cross etched across the right eye.
The Brotherhood. The most feared warriors of the Shire Kingdom.
“Use your Nexi stones!” Terico yelled back. “I’ll be back as soon as I can!” Terico was confident Turan could fend off these two warriors for a minute, while Terico dealt with the fire in the school. There was no time to question his decision—not if Suran’s life was on the line.
Terico bolted to the school building, which pulsated with hazy, painful waves of heat. He lifted up his dark blue Nexi stone and forced it to activate with all the power he could muster. A great burst of water rushed forth from the stone, sweeping across the south wall and onto the roof. With the back entry doused, Terico ran in and continued releasing as much water as he could from his Nexi stone. The flames were powerful, and the fire was vast and overwhelming. It was going to be too difficult to put all of it out.
I have to find her... I have to reach her right now!
He ran into the main hallway, where flaming planks of wood fell from the ceiling and crumbled atop blackened floorboards. Terico put out some of the fire to make room for him to continue further into the building. His heart began to race faster when he realized that all the screams he had heard earlier had stopped. After drenching the door to the nearest classroom, Terico kicked it down, only to find a burning inferno. He saw figures lying on the ground and aimed his Nexi stone in their direction.
The fires cleared, and Terico found bodies littering the floor in terrible, bloody piles. Students of all ages lay with gaping holes in their chests and stomachs. Incredulously, some were sliced clean in half.
Terico bent down and puked.
It was all so impossible to believe. Terico knew these people. They were his classmates. His fellow villagers. Kids he was planning to play with at the festival.
He coughed up smoke and nearly fell to his knees. Have to get out of here, he thought. Have to find Suran... Have to get out...
The continual use of the Nexi stone was draining him of energy—there was no way he’d be able to keep using it much longer. But he didn’t see Suran amongst any of the bodies on the ground.
He remembered she had said she needed to help her brother with something. She didn’t say what, though.
Terico called out her name, but there
was no answer. He yelled again and again, only to have his voice drowned out by the building’s raging fires and crumbling structure. After beating down the door to another classroom, Terico was nearly blown away by the heat that rushed through the entryway. He screamed from the sudden blast of searing heat, and had to use the Nexi stone on himself for a moment to keep from burning up.
There was nothing to see inside the classroom—it was an utter hell that had already enveloped everything in its path.
“Suran...” Terico cried. He turned back to the hallway and yelled as hard as his smoke-filled lungs could handle. “Suran! Are you there?”
She wasn’t anywhere.
Terico wanted to just keep using his Nexi stone, to keep putting out as much fire as he could—but he was too weak to keep wielding so much water. And yet he couldn’t let himself just leave. What if Suran was in the next room? What if she could still be saved?
The sound of screaming from outside jolted Terico back to his senses. It was Turan.
Terico struggled to run down the hall, but was overwhelmed by the thick blankets of smoke developing in the building. He pushed himself to make it through, until at last he stumbled out the building and fell to his hands and knees. For perhaps half a minute Terico fell into a painful coughing fit, helpless to assist his friend.
He looked up and found Turan in combat with one of the Brotherhood warriors, fighting only a few meters ahead of Terico. Farther ahead lay the body of the other warrior, whose masked face drooped in a puddle of blood leaking from his slit neck. Turan had managed to kill one warrior, but then tried to escape to the school building—but was unable to shake the second fighter.
The enemy was a fast swordsman, but Turan was barely managing to keep up with the man’s attacks. It was clear Turan was terribly worn out, however.
Terico pushed himself to stand on his feet, but felt his head go dizzy for a couple seconds. He ignored the feeling and took out a white Nexi stone. If he could blind the enemy with light for a moment, Turan would be able to slit the man’s neck just as he had the first warrior.
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