He sarcastically snorts and I tear my eyes off that smug smile of his while all along wishing it would go away. I feel as if this self-proclaimed monster wants to disturb my el’le’le’kek, my inner peace.
We stand tense, facing each other. He is obviously amused by what can be considered an argument between us. I’ve never engaged in a tiff of this magnitude with anyone other than my sister, Na’ta. And I am overwhelmed by the urge to spar with this creature until I become victorious. However, I’m more influenced by the urge to maintain the peace between us. After all, we will be companions until we find Na’ta, after which he will leave this universe since he has no other reason to be here. My sister and I can handle Lario Exgesis and his misfortunes with the Mtknv.
“Do you have your speed Selell?” I ask, changing the subject.
“Chex is the name, and if you’re asking if I can move fast, then the answer is yes.” I can tell that he’s bothered by my taciturn tone of voice.
“I know your name,” I gruffly mumble but, as soon as I say it, I wish I hadn’t. Thankfully, Chex doesn’t react negatively to my tone. He seems to be pondering the fact that I remember his name. I can’t help but wonder why it amazes him so.
“We’re off to find your sister, yeah?” he asks.
I drop my face to nod, still embarrassed by being so contentious.
“And does she look like you too?”
I lift my head and frown a little. “We favor each other,” I answer pensively.
“I just want to say, out of all the ones I’ve seen, you’re my favorite.”
This time when he smiles it isn’t so off-putting.
At first, I’m lost for words. Should I say thank you? Should I ask him to clarify what he means by favorite? Instead I find myself unable to focus on his face at the moment. I tear my eyes away from him to glance up the path and then back at him.
“We should go,” I say.
His habitual smile fades, replaced by a ferocious scowl. It makes me shudder. This Selell clearly means to harm whomever tries to impend our progress.
“After me,” he mutters, and without hesitating he takes off.
We race up the trail the trees have carved out for us, blasting forward at a speed that I’m familiar with. The Earth hindered me from moving this fast, but not this universe. It feels like we are finally making progress in the search for my sister.
I picture the last time I saw her, in my dream. She was in such misery. I’m incessantly haunted by how the branches of the wicked tree coiled tightly around her torso, arms, and legs, squeezing her, tormenting her.
Na’ta! I shout within myself, and louder than I’ve ever shouted.
I expand my senses, hoping to receive even the tiniest response from her, even if optimism eludes me. And rightfully so: I’m still unable to sense her.
This forest is indeed vast. We’ve traveled a great distance and still have not come to the end of it. I’m happy that the air is no longer stiff, hot, and moist. It seems that ever since the Mtknv arrived, it has cooled down to a tolerable temperature. The trees are kinder to us and have stirred up a light, inviting breeze. Yet I am perspiring again, and am suddenly self-conscious about it. I take a nervous glance at Chex and he’s already observing me.
“What is it?” I anxiously ask.
He’s not devouring me with his eyes and I am relieved about that. Although I wonder—if he did watch me in that way, will it have the same effect on me?
“Where are you from?” he asks, interrupting my train of thought. The look on his face tells me that he’s extremely interested in hearing my answer.
“I am from Enu.”
“Right. I can smell that you’re not human, but where on Earth are you from? You have a life on Earth don’t you?”
“No, I’ve never been there until…” I barely say because I’m suddenly struck by what lies before us.
We come to an abrupt stop because we have reached the edge of the forest. My lips part in awe and so do Chex’s. What we see is worth our response.
The land is like a sheet of smooth stone, but it’s dry and has millions of deep, narrow cracks intersecting across it. The plane is barren, holding no plant life, and I venture to say that no living species can seek to survive here. As I gaze further out in the distance, I see pockets of smoke rising behind the flat-topped mountain range that stretches from coast to coast, farther than our eyes can see.
For the life of me, my eyes seek the sun. There it is, red and ominous, like it has been stabbed in the heart and is bleeding to death. It feels like my beautiful Enu was merely a place I lived once upon a time in a wonderful dream.
“What the hell?” Chex marvels at the spectacle which lies before us. He looks down to examine the dry earth that’s only one step away.
He carefully presses a foot against the dry ground. I gasp when I see it go right through the foundation.
“See this? These Mash monsters…” he takes a fast side-glance at me, “…creatures, whatever the hell you want to call them, have come to play.” He hawks out into the distance with his eyes narrowed and top lip curled.
“It’s a trap,” I say, stating the obvious. However, I’m compelled to test the ground with my own foot.
Chex and I look at each other dumbfounded. My foot doesn’t sink through. Suddenly, he becomes very still.
“Do you hear that?” he takes care to whisper.
I open my ears to listen out. “Just the breeze behind us,” I whisper.
“No, that’s not it. How good are you in a fight?” Are you anything like your sister, Glo?” he asks in a rush.
“Well, no,” I reply, feeling like I’ve disappointed him. “Glo’s power is of the body, mine is of the mind…” My words trail off and I gulp at what I see next.
A black swarm rises out of the mountain range and then momentarily hovers above it. The creatures that are gathered together have fluttering wings and they know exactly where we stand.
“Are those bats?” I ask, spellbound by the sight of them.
“No,” Chex says assuredly.
“Then what are they?” I whisper, not expecting Chex to know the answer.
Their wings are spiny and flapping rapidly as they soar in our direction. I’m petrified.
“Hell if I know but if you can’t fight, then get back in the woods!” he shouts above the buzzing noise they make.
I turn to look behind me. There lies the safety of the forest. The trees have kept me from being imprisoned by the Mtknv and I’m sure they’ll keep me from being devoured by the Mash. But the Selell is standing bravely beside me. He’s willing to fight, and for what? My sister’s freedom? He has loyalties and allegiances, if not to me, then certainly to Baron Ze Feldis. But he doesn’t go run and hide in the forest. Yet here I stand, considering doing just that.
The creatures are closer and the noise louder. Their refrain is comprised of a combination of buzzing and growling. And now I can see that they’re not bats. They have bony arms and legs, and long feet with broad heels. They are black and chalky looking. And as they squawk they open their mouths wide, revealing a mouth full of sharp teeth.
I let out a long breath once I realize I’ve been holding it. “I’ll stay,” I gasp.
“If you’re going to die, go. If you’re going to live, then stay,” the Selell shouts over all the noise.
“I’ll live!” I hear myself shout but I am terrified. Is this the sort of peril my sisters have faced and I have avoided throughout the centuries?
“Rule number one: never let him hit first!” Chex shouts right in my ear.
He takes a huge leap up off the ground and toward the desert land. There are hundreds of them and one of him, yet he’s streaking ahead like the numbers are in his favor.
I can’t let him leap alone. I summon the power of light to my hands, all of it. Every fiber of my being dreads getting close to those creatures but I charge forward, staying as close to Chex as I can. Black ashes spray all over me as he clashes with the
first flank of Mash creatures and I lose sight of him. Grit pours in my eyes and up my nose. I’m coughing trying to stop myself from suffocating. All I see is black and I feel the creatures press against my chest, both sides of my head, and my body. At first, I’m befuddled because I’ve never been this close to losing my life, but an instinct to survive grips me. I gain control of my mind and tell the light that I want these creatures to release me and I want them gone.
The power pours out of my skin like a geyser. Suddenly waves of powdery ash explode all around me. The light doesn’t simmer, it intensifies, following the command of my will. My arms swing in every direction. The light stabs the creatures before they’re able to get near me, and they explode into black particles. Suddenly their screams turn more abrasive. Those that remain alive, retreat to the mountains, which suck them into their depths.
Silence prevails.
It’s still again.
Chex and I are alone, hovering above the deserted land below.
I’m still jittery as I look down at myself all soiled by grime, then over at Chex. He doesn’t have a speck of ash on him. I’m praying to God that they don’t come back. I don’t ever want to see them again.
“Are you alright?” Chex asks, studying me with a deep look of concern.
I’m holding myself, shaking. I shut my eyes tight, forcing myself to stop shivering. It takes a few moments but finally I stop.
“Yes,” I’m only barely able to say. “But why are you not soiled?” I manage to ask. Sometimes, I’m surprised by my own curiosity.
“Because I’m an artist, Darling,” he mumbles, taking me seriously as he stares out into the distance.
He takes a deep sniff and then slowly, carefully, releases the air out through his nostrils.
“I don’t know what the hell we’re in for but whatever you just did, keep it up. And your sister is out there,” he glances down at me, “I can smell her.”
“You can?” I’m surprised by that. “Then why can’t I sense her?” I mumble to myself.
Rightfully, Chex doesn’t answer. He’s quite intuitive. Instead he says, “Let’s go,” and starts toward the mountains. Once again, I follow where he leads.
We’re standing in a field of grass that’s so coarse the blades pinch my bare arms and legs and scratch my cheeks because they rise high, most extending past our heads. And there is a white, smoky haze that settles all around us. The mist is a mixture of low hanging cumulus clouds and settling smoke from the raging fire-pits that are plopped throughout the field.
I’m skittish because I thought I saw something peculiar when we made our descent into the grass.
“One second,” Chex says. His ears and eyes are on alert. He takes a deep sniff.
I tug at the ends of my hair, lifting it off my neck. It doesn’t help. The heat is still torturing me.
“What is it?” he asks, frowning down at me.
“I’m uncomfortable,” I groan. I’m still holding my hair above my neck, even though it only gives me a little reprieve.
Suddenly Chex is behind me and my hair is tightly pulled at the back of my head. I reach a hand around to touch it.
“Oh,” I pull a long woven braid forward and lay it across my shoulder, “Thanks,” I say, surprised that he committed this act of kindness toward me.
“You’re welcome,” he says grinning, displaying that toothy smile of his.
I’m processing how different I feel about that expression of his when flames start to ignite beneath our feet.
“Up!” I shout and wrap my fingers around Chex’s wrists. But he swiftly changes the position of our hands and pulls me up into the cloud.
We hover over the area we just escaped. Orange flames soar, crackle, and pop in the place where we last stood. That’s exactly what I suspected when we first landed in the field; the bowls of fire are not static and they’re not done with us yet. The blaze beneath us explodes, shooting flames up high into the cloud. I watch the molten heat heading for us with widened eyes. There’s no way we can escape.
Then, all of a sudden, I’m bolting across the atmosphere above the field, being pulled along by Chex. Pits of fire ignite beneath us, chasing us until we clear the wild meadow.
Soon we’re standing on a narrow, dusty road that cuts between two clay walls of structures that looks like the abandoned ruins of the Earth’s ancient Mayans. As we stand out in the open, I can finally feel Na’ta. She’s like the warmth of home flooding my insides. Our souls connect and all I can feel is the path that guides me to her.
I leap off the ground to allow my body to carry me to her, but I slam right into Chex’s chest. He grasps me by the shoulders to hold me still and then, in a flash, he has me hemmed up against the wall in a tight dark corner.
“Where the hell do you think you’re going?” he whispers. His very strange and unnatural black eyes shine in the shadowy crevice.
I fidget against the strong hold he has on me. “Na’ta, she’s here!” I exclaim.
“Quiet,” he warns me. “Do you think whatever the hell’s been trying to kill us has given up because you’ve got a line on your sister?” he gruffly whispers.
“I came here to get my sister.” I jab him in the chest with my freed hands, attempting to push him out of my way but he’s unyielding, like a boulder.
“Keep, your, voice, down,” he scolds me in a whisper.
His black eyes gaze deeply into mine. Then, he dips his face forward to position his nose between my lips. He takes a long and indulgent sniff and then closes his eyes to savor my scent.
“I’ll follow that,” he says on a deep exhale.
I can’t move and can barely breathe. My eyes are focused on the sharp angles of his face. I believe he said, “I’ll follow that,” but I’m not sure. I am mesmerized. Oh my, has this Selell just bewitched me?
“What did you say?” I breathe.
“Don’t move.”
“But…”
“Stay, here,” he softly demands.
I can feel my eyebrows pull toward the bridge of my nose as I acquiesce by nodding.
He’s gone. I’m alone here in the crevice. Every cell of my body feels constricted and while I wait for this feeling to free me, a loud chirp, like a very huge bird, echoes in the distance; then another, and another. The sound continues, but never more than one chirp at a time. It makes me nervous and Chex has been gone longer than I’m comfortable with.
Suddenly I hear plop, plop, plop…. I stifle a gasp. Whatever or whoever is making that sound is near. I press my back closer to the wall, hoping the dark shadows will conceal me. Anticipation squeezes me so tightly that I feel I might pass out. I hear it lurking and its breaths are husky as if it’s straining to cycle the opaque air.
Then beyond the shadows the first appendage of a leg becomes visible. It’s a bony limb with a hoofed foot, the leg of a stallion. I’m both eager and frightened to see the rest of the creature. And I don’t have to wait long. There it is, not far away from my hiding place.
The creature’s two legs, feet, groin, buttocks, torso, and chest are those of a brown mare. Its shoulders, arms, face, and neck closely resemble that of a human, only these parts of its body lack flesh and bone. Instead these parts are composed of vapor, maybe smoke, and when it breathes, a ball of fire shoots out of its mouth and dissipates into thin air.
The creature is searching along the block walls and in every corner. I stay still. Since I don’t need to breathe to survive, I stop breathing. Worry sets in. What will happen to me when it sees me? I don’t have to wait another second to find out.
The creature shifts its smoky head to the right and is now facing me. I’m stunned as I watch it open its mouth and let out a loud chirp. I’m waiting to hear the answering chirp but the call isn’t returned. At first, the creature twitches its neck a little. The features on its face carved out in smoke look confused and then angry as it leans into me with rage in the eyes.
I don’t hesitate to lift my palms and release the i’l
ek’u. The light stabs it in the heart. Instantly, it softens its infuriated face. I’m relieved to breathe again as we stand, observing each other.
“What are you?” I ask while watching its slightest movements.
“A guard of Siffeo,” it says morosely and continues watching me. I wonder if it’s waiting to take instruction from me.
“Will you let me go if I request it,” I ask, testing my assumption.
But before the creature can answer, in a blink of my eyes it’s laid out on the grimy ground, right in front of the tips of my tight shoes, smoke pouring out of the hole in its chest.
Chex is back and standing in front of me. He stuffs a dagger into the lining of his black duster coat.
“Simple,” he mumbles, looking down at his victim.
“Did you just kill it?” I ask, flabbergasted. He didn’t have to do that. The creature was under the influence of the light. He wasn’t going to hurt me, or him.
He shrugs, nonchalant about the slaying. “You’ll want him dead when you see what he’s done to your sister.”
Suddenly, my heart is full of hope. “You’ve seen her?”
“I did,” he says with a smug lift of his top lip. “I took out the croakers with the foggy heads but…” He snorts, “…it’s not going to be a cakewalk getting to her.”
“Cakewalk?” I ask confused.
“Just a figure of speech,” he quickly replies. “Come on.”
He takes off down the galley and I follow. When I turn back for one final glance at the dead creature, it’s consumed by fire right before my eyes. My heart breaks for it as I continue across the dusty path. I cannot properly mourn it. Na’ta’s distress presses upon me. Saving her is all I can focus on at the moment.
Chex’s pace is swift but he’s smooth, a master of riding the wind. He’s like a soft breeze, but he’s also a violent storm. This is evident in the blistering balls of fire we pass over.
“Did you have to kill them all?” I ask, bewildered by the sight of more death.
“Yes,” he replies, sharply and without remorse.
The further we voyage into Siffeo, the more pockets of writhing flames of fire we pass over. The scenery doesn’t change until we reach a wide doorway that’s pitch black beyond it. But we don’t enter—we continue on, up and down the galleys, passing more entries. It feels like we’re moving in circles, yet Na’ta is closer. I’m reaching out for her. Finally! I’m consumed by relief because I can feel her weak pulse and fading heartbeat.
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