Aster Wood and the Blackburn Son

by J B Cantwell

  “But it was too late, for the boy’s trust in the man had been forever broken, and his threat held no weight. Pahana raced through the town, and upon reaching the cool, stone floor of the church, he delicately placed the boy down so not to disturb his wounds further. Sacha was nearly unconscious now, and the great cat ripped carefully at his shirt until the boy’s wounds were free of their covering. With his giant, rough cat’s tongue, he tenderly licked Sacha’s back, taking care not to push too hard, for sandpaper has no place against open flesh.

  “But he needn’t have worried. For every lick, every caress of the white animal brought healing to the boy. Soon, he was sitting up, the thick gashes all but mended, and his resolve firm.

  “They hid in the church for three days, waiting, and during this time something miraculous happened. The magic that had healed Sacha’s wounds had been transferred to him by Pahana, and in the scant hours since they had left the cottage of the wicked father, Sacha had grown large, no longer a boy. So that on the night when the two heard the disturbance of the army sneaking into the town, he left the church a man.

  “The villagers awoke to the brutality of battle. Dragged from their beds, beaten bloody by the weapons of war, they were quickly scrambling for their lives, their plans to fight forgotten. And at the moment when the bravest and biggest of the men, Sacha’s father included, were falling to their knees before the leader of the army, Sacha and Pahana emerged, the boy, now a man, astride the great cat. The two, giants both, walked fearlessly before the army master.

  “‘You have come and defeated my people,’ said Sacha, gesturing at the gathered crowd of men. ‘You may take your spoils with you and leave this place.’

  “But the army master only laughed at Sacha, believing his own power to be greater than the pair’s. Instead of taking the opportunity, he told them all of his intentions to pillage the town until nothing remained to do but burn it to the ground. Around them the women cried, and the men moaned in agony and defeat.

  “But Sacha and Pahana were not to be swayed. Together their power began to swirl all around them, intensified by their proximity to one another. The bands of blinding white wrapped around the two as a cocoon around a worm until the pulsing of power did not sway but with the beating of their hearts. Then the great white cat lifted his paws into the air, rearing like a horse, and stamped them down into the ground. A blast threw the army men beyond the village, down the hills and away from the fight. And when they were gone, and Sacha and Pahana stood waiting, the villagers looked up to find their foes cast off.

  “Sacha’s father rose and addressed the strange man who rode the jaguar his son had fought to keep.

  “‘But where is my son?’ he asked, at once demanding and forlorn.

  “And to this Sacha responded simply and without sadness. ‘You have no son,’ said the young man.

  “Pahana, his patience lost with the man who had hurt his little boy, raised up one clawed paw and rested it on the father’s head. Slowly he dragged his talons down across his face, but with the touch of Sacha’s hand on the fur of his neck, he did not cut the father. He turned then and sprinted, the little boy no longer a child clinging to his back, into the night.”

  Zacharias took a deep breath, beaming with the joy of telling the story. The men sat silent, contemplating the sad, and heroic tale. Zacharias looked over at Chapman, who had moved away from me to the opposite side of the fire.

  “Will that do, my friend?” he asked.

  “Yes,” Chapman nodded. “Yes, that will do just fine.”

  CHAPTER TEN

  Sleep did not find me easily that night, though it had been several days since I had rested for any length of time. Zacharias’ story had been intended to fill me, all of us, with some sort of courage. But instead of increasing my resolve about the trial before me, my brain buzzed with questions. About Jade. About Stonemore. But more than anything, about that panther. It seemed like a tale most of the men had heard before, maybe even as children. And yet none of them seemed to know anything about the White Guard. Why?

  The wolf I had met on the snow planet had stomped his feet, just as in the story. He had protected me. Saved me. And Erod, with his weird white bands of power, had done the same. But I had never met another person who had had the same types of encounters, at least nobody who spoke of them. And while the story matched my experience in many ways, it was written off by the men as a fairy tale, good for spirit lifting but not practical advice.

  When I finally did doze off, my dreams were punctuated with the bright, glowing beasts. In one, I ran through a meadow, joyful at the freedom and the feeling of power my speed gave me. Then, on my tail I saw the panther, Pahana, speeding up behind me. I turned to face him, elated at his appearance, and opened my arms to embrace him. But he didn’t stop running, didn’t stop charging, and he bared his teeth and lunged at me, pinning me to the ground and wrapping his giant fangs around my neck. When I opened my mouth to scream, no sound came. I felt his razor sharp teeth break the skin on my neck, just as he had done to Sacha’s father thousands of years ago.

  I was shaken awake, finding Kiron staring down at me.

  “Get up, boy,” he said. “You’ve slept long enough. Everyone is already preparin’ for the day.”

  I sat up and rubbed my eyes, looking around.

  “Preparing for what?” I asked.

  “You and Owyn are settin’ off today.”

  “What?” I asked, my eyes snapping open. “But I’m not ready for that. I never said—”

  Kiron stood over me and crossed his arms. I fell silent. Many times I had tried to sway Jade, prodded her to continue on, to keep fighting the Corentin when she wanted to give up and hide. Now, I was the one who needed convincing.

  But I hadn’t expected that fighting the Corentin would mean fighting my best friend.

  I nearly flopped back the the ground, but Kiron’s hand shot out and grabbed me by the back of my collar. He forced me to stand.

  “You can die noble or die a coward,” he said roughly, his face close. “But either way you’re gonna die, and probably soon. You’re the best chance we got. Now get it together.” He released my shirt, pushing me away in irritation.

  “What about you?” I asked, defensive. “What are you going to do while I’m off trying to do the impossible.”

  He ignored my tone.

  “We’ll be breakin’ through the mist,” he said, shuffling through several sheafs of paper he had written notes on. “Here.” He held out the Book to me. I looked down at it, uncertain.

  “Are you sure I should be taking this with me?” I asked. “What if something happens to me? What if she—” I paused, not quite able to say the words kills me. “It seems like it would be safer with you.”

  “Ain’t nothin’ gonna be safer anywhere than with the person who can rightfully claim it,” he grunted. “If we fail, if Stonemore falls while you’re gone, what will become of it then? It’s too valuable a prize to be riskin’ it here.”

  I ran my fingers along the crevices decorating the ancient leather cover.

  “The Book belongs to you,” he said.

  I knew he was right. I had fought for this prize, and won it. But that did nothing to bolster my courage. If it came down to a fight between Jade and I, I knew who would be on the losing end.

  “What if I can’t get it?” I asked, my voice quiet. “What will we do then?”

  Kiron stopped his shuffling.

  “We have the bit of gold from the hold,” he said. “It’s just a tiny amount, not near enough to level the Fold or even make a dent. But could be that we’ll find a way to use it. Maybe start a search for more. But it’s all we got. We can’t risk it unless there’s no other choice. Besides, could be that any other gold out there’s guarded by someone more terrible and powerful than Jade. Or we could spend years, centuries lookin’ for it. And in the meantime, Stonemore will fall. Those kids you met will die. Is that what you want?”

  My arguments died on my lip
s, my mouth open, searching for the words I needed to convince him to let me stay.

  “This is impossible,” I finally said, deflated.

  “Yep.” He went back to his papers, shoving them roughly into the interior pockets of his coat. “We all got parts to play that ain’t likely to succeed. But if you make it back, if you get her gold, we’ll have a chance. We can defeat a thousand armies with that much power. And then we’ll really get down to business. Together.”

  An hour later, we were gathered around the fire pit, now all but empty. A tiny wisp of smoke curled up from the blackened coals.

  Now that the plan was made, and it had been decided that we wouldn’t yet go back for Rhainn and Cait, I was more eager than ever to get started. The sooner I got that gold, the sooner we could set them free.

  “The best way to get back to Riverstone,” Owyn said, “is to take the chaser. You.” He pointed at me. “How long did it take you to get here from the Fire Mountains using Kiron’s link? That’s where we need to jump from.”

  I shrugged. “I was out there for a long time,” I said. “Months. But if we jumped straight through, we could do it in a day or two, probably.”

  “Good,” he said. “The link Kiron gave you is faster than the one I carried when I set out. The sooner we can get there, the better.”

  It was the first thing Owyn had said that I had fully agreed with.

  Then, he turned to Kiron and Finian and held out his hand to shake. “Sorry our meeting’s been so short, my friends.”

  Kiron shook his hand. Finian just glared.

  “Bring our boy back,” Kiron said.

  Owyn dug the tip of his staff into the dirt and didn’t answer. It was the first time I had noticed he was carrying it, and the sight of it reminded me of how it had felt in my hands when I had unearthed it from the treasure hold. Warm. And surging with power. Maybe with a tool as powerful as the staff we would stand a chance against Jade. Though I hoped still that I would find a way to convince her to give up the gold willingly.

  I approached Kiron, and I was relieved when he didn’t look away from me, didn’t hide any of the complexity of his thoughts that showed through his steel blue irises. He put one hand on my shoulder, and I understood. No false promises were to be made today. Not by him.

  “When you get back,” he said to both of us, “we’ll either be here, or there.” He pointed towards the city. “Hopefully still in our right minds, in either case.”

  I smirked a little. “I’ll just give you a kick if you’re not,” I said.

  He raised one eyebrow, grimacing as he remembered his bruised shins. My own were still smarting from the other day.

  “Ready?” Owyn asked, holding out one hand.

  I pulled out Kiron’s link from around my neck and pointed it back in the direction of the Fire Mountains, gripping Owyn’s hand at the last moment.

  The friends that I had finally made my way back to after all these months vanished from my sight in a blast of power.

  We jumped. Ten times. Twenty. Forty. I lost track as I tried to hold my stomach tight, to keep the pain from the twisting at bay.

  Finally, after more than an hour, Owyn gripped onto my forearm, stopping me. His face was covered with sweat, and his hands shook.

  “Time for a rest, I think,” he said.

  I didn’t argue. We both flopped down to the ground, panting. Surrounding us was the tall grass I had run through days before, waving innocently in the breeze. We hadn’t come across the army again, and I was extremely grateful. Maybe seeing those kids would’ve strengthened my resolve to keep going. But more likely than not it would’ve just made me crumble.

  When Owyn had caught his breath, he sat up, pulling from his pocket a square package wrapped in paper. He crinkled the wrapping and pulled out a hunk of fine pastry, holding a piece of it out to me. Dripping down the sides of the bread were thin trails of icing.

  I stared.

  “Where did you get this?” I asked, my mouth watering, but still unwilling to accept the treat. When I didn’t take it, he tore off a piece of it and shoved it into his mouth.

  “Stole it,” he said.

  “Why didn’t you tell the others?” I asked.

  He laughed.

  “Split eleven ways we all might’ve had a bite the size of a grape.” He smacked his lips, nudging me with his still outstretched hand. “Go on, take it. Otherwise I’m going to eat it, myself.”

  I didn’t know what to do. It had been so long since I had tasted anything sweet. And yet something about the casual way he offered it bothered me. His logic was sound, for not telling the others about it, but it made me wonder what else he was hiding inside his coat.

  Finally, I shook my head.

  “I’m not hungry,” I said, trying to sound sincere. “Maybe later.”

  He raised his eyebrows and then grinned. “More for me.” He popped the other half of the pastry into his mouth without another thought.

  My stomach growled. I ignored it.

  “Who did you steal it from?” I asked, unable to drop the subject.

  “The princess herself,” he said, laying back into the grass. I eyed him, unsure of how to respond to this.

  “You’re different than I remember,” I said.

  He snorted, holding his arm over his eyes to block out the sun.

  “How’s that?” he asked.

  “It’s just, when I met you before,” I stumbled, trying to pinpoint my thoughts, “you were so serious. Now…”

  He grinned.

  “Two centuries below ground can rob a man of his joy,” he said. “Don’t I deserve a little happiness now that I’m finally free?”

  “Well, yeah, of course,” I said. “But—”

  He rolled onto his side and looked at me.

  “Don’t mistake yourself,” he said, more serious. “I still remember everything. Everything that monster did to us down below. The darkness. The rotten food. The torture. Don’t think I’ve forgotten.” His face abruptly turned dark, and he looked strangely alarming. “Don’t you think I deserve to have a little joy? Have I not earned the right a little sweetness on my tongue, no matter the source?”

  My heart was thudding and suddenly my hands were slick with sweat.

  “I—I’m sorry,” I blurted. “Yes, of course you do.”

  He rolled over onto his back again, and smiled. “Of course I do,” he said.

  I had a sudden urge to jump away, to leave him there. But I just sat still, not daring to move at all.

  Don’t be stupid. He’s right.

  But I did not lay down beside him. I sat looking out over the land instead, waiting for my accelerated heart rate to slow.

  We had all been through so much.

  Owyn stayed quiet, and I couldn’t tell if he was sleeping or not. He barely seemed to breathe.

  His wood staff lay on the ground between us, and at the sight of it I began to squirm. I wanted to touch it, to grab it and feel the warmth emanate through the wood into my fingertips. I felt like a little kid sitting in front of a plate piled high with sweets I shouldn’t eat. But this I couldn’t resist. I checked to make sure his eyes were still closed, and then reached out a tentative finger.

  Warm, invigorating power pulsed up my arm from the touch of just one finger to the wood. Though I had held the staff once before, I had forgotten how truly wonderful it was to feel it against my hand. It was like drinking hot chocolate on a freezing afternoon, liquid power seeping into every corner of my being, warming me from the inside.

  A thought popped into my head that I had never considered before.

  Maybe I did have power, something more than just the ability to run like a cheetah. Maybe I had just been looking for the power I possessed in the wrong places.

  When I looked up I found Owyn wide awake, watching me. I dropped the staff back into the grass. I hadn’t even realized I had lifted it from the ground.

  “Better get moving,” he said quietly.

  “Sorry,”
I said reflexively.

  He stayed silent for a moment, watching me.

  “No problem,” he said finally, his voice silken. He sat up, hoisting his pack onto his back. “Shall we?”

  My stomach gave a painful squeeze as I remembered where we were headed.

  I tried to imagine the village on the mountainside. It was the spot where Jade had jumped from, and it was where we needed to go now to follow her trail. I cringed as I remembered the burned bodies stacked like garbage inside the little stone church.

  But I had buried the bodies, I reminded myself. The mountain was destroyed. The dragons dead.

  Still, the feeling I had that I was plodding back towards a place that would trap me, kill me, would not go away.

  It took fifteen more jumps until the destroyed range of the Fire Mountains came into view. Owyn held out the scope to me, and through the glass I saw what remained of the once spectacular mountains. Where once a high peak had stood, burning orange in the sunlight, now only a crumble of rock and debris remained. It was as if a giant fist had come down on the jagged peaks, crushing them into a pile of stones no bigger than a man. It had collapsed in upon itself, and the spot where I had escaped the dark tunnel was completely gone. When I had left the mountain that day, much of the outer shell of it still stood. But now, months later, the weight of the granite had given way, and the huge, sheer cliffs were reduced to rubble.

  Five more jumps and we stood in the valley below the mountain. I held the link out, ready to give the command that would take us in range of the village, and Owyn looked at me expectantly. But when I opened my mouth to speak, no words came out. I stood there, silent, suddenly more terrified than I could ever remember being.

  Finally, I let the link fall heavily against my chest, turning away.

  I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t go back there. Too much had happened. This was all too raw. Too soon.

  I jumped when I felt Owyn’s hand on my shoulder. He squeezed it.

  “The princess will see you,” he said. “She won’t hurt you.”

  I stared back in the direction of Stonemore. I had trouble breathing past the lump in my throat.