Aster Wood and the Blackburn Son

by J B Cantwell

  “Who is it? Your girlfriend?” she asked.

  What?

  “No,” I said. “It’s a little girl. I have to go back for her.” I started pushing my way through the crowd, only vaguely wondering how I would escape the city on this side.

  “You can’t go back.” She had grabbed my arm. “Without that staff these people are dead if those monsters come after ‘em.”

  I looked down at the staff, torn by my obligations. But I had promised Rhainn. I had promised him that I would come back for him, too, and I had already failed at that.

  “But I have to go,” I said, wrenching my arm out of her grip. “There’s no one else.”

  “Don’t be an idiot,” she said. I felt heat on the back sides of my legs as I started to walk away, and I turned to find her hovering three feet in the air over a pocket of boiling, white-hot air. “I’ll get her.”

  Then she floated by me, headed in the direction of the hills.

  Larissa didn’t move hastily. Instead, she floated, almost dreamily, over the cobblestone streets. Slowly, she began to rise up above the city, each time clenching her body before boosting it higher. Then, when she was just far enough up to clear the wall, she vanished over it.

  I stood for several long moments, waiting with my breath held to see her again. When she finally appeared, higher than she had been a moment before, I finally exhaled.

  It was our best chance.

  Around me, the crowd was thinning, and when someone jostled me I was brought back to my senses. I turned and, seeing Kiron’s bobbing silver head in the distance, took off running after him.

  On the other side of the city, people were pouring through a small doorway in the wall. I reached Kiron’s arm and fell into step next to him. We couldn’t run in the long passageway that led us through the stone defense, so we shuffled like cattle on our way through.

  “I know a place,” was all he said.

  He looked terrible, even in the dim light of the tunnel. Blood had cascaded down his face and was now drying and cracked against his cheeks and lips. The wound had mainly stopped bleeding, though. His eyes were tired and fearful, but his brows were furrowed with determination as we pushed our way through to the other side of the wall.

  When we made it out, we found that people had stopped moving. Those in front had reached the edge of Pahana’s protective dome, and they seemed afraid to go any further. I walked up to it with Kiron, and we both paused, inspecting it.

  “It’s meant to protect us,” I said, more to myself than anyone, sucking in my breath. I felt sure that any defenses of the White Guard wouldn’t hurt us to touch. But I was still nervous about what would happen when we broke through the glassy, shining surface of the shield.

  There was nothing else to be done. I backed up a few feet and took it at a run.

  As I passed through the barrier, everything turned a watery blue, as though I were looking at the people around me from beneath the ocean waves. Then, a faint zapping sound popped in my ears, and my vision cleared.

  The dome had been broken.

  I turned back towards Kiron. Did the army on the other side know? Would they now pursue us until we were all dead? We couldn’t wait to find out what choices they would make.

  “Run!” I yelled at the top of my voice, and I took off towards the rocky mountain range.

  I ran on ahead, hoping to reach higher ground so I could see what the other side was doing now. In a few moments I had reached the first hilltop. The Stonemorians fled towards me like ants on the hillside. I could see the army in the distance on the other side of the city, but they were too far away for me to tell what was going on. The glowing form of Pahana has vanished. As I turned to run on, I hoped he would come along on our escape with us, to continue to protect us.

  I ran down the first hill and up the next, turning again. I could see now that the army was invading Stonemore.

  “Too slow,” I said, gritting my teeth, watching the Stonemorians. If the army came after us we were lost. I might be able to outrun the horde, but those I had convinced to follow me couldn’t run like me.

  One more hill.

  I crested the top of the third hill, clutching my chest not from exhaustion, but with the hope that all of their lives would be spared, somehow.

  And I saw, up on the near wall of the city, the warriors. They now stood, watching our retreat. But they didn’t follow. Not yet.

  I started moving back down the way I had come. The people had reached the second hilltop now, and I was so pumped up with energy that I made it to them in what felt like seconds.

  They were gasping and coughing, still running at top speed away from the attack. I held up my arms and faced the crowd.

  “We won’t get anywhere if you all drop from exhaustion,” I called. “We walk from here.”

  Finian pushed his way through the crowd, his silver disk held tightly in his fist. He approached me, nodding curtly. Kiron came a moment later, and as disheveled and battered as he looked, he seemed to have come back to his senses.

  “What did you see up there?” he asked.

  “They’re not coming yet,” I said. “I couldn’t tell what they’re up to, but for now they’re staying put.”

  “So it must have been the city they wanted all along,” Finian said. “We should have left days ago.”

  “If you think the Corentin has sent his possessed to rain down on us and do nothing but take the city, then you’re gonna be disappointed.” Kiron turned to me. “You see anywhere up there we can hide?”

  “I don’t know,” I said, looking up at the jagged mountains. They were enormous. Somewhere up there had to be a place we could disappear into. But this many people, with the kids and everything…how were we supposed to hide an entire city? “But we can’t stay here.”

  He nodded, wiping some of the blood from his face with his sleeve.

  “Lead the way then,” he said.

  For a moment I stood, surprised. I suppose I had thought that he would take over again once the battle was over. But he stood back now, his arm out in a gesture of submission.

  I turned to find the entire group, everyone who had survived, surrounded me. They all waited for my word. I looked at their dirty, bloody faces, their ripped dresses and muddied pants. Then, with one last nervous glance towards Stonemore, I turned towards the mountains and led them all away from the shell of the city that remained.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  In all, only about a hundred people had survived the onslaught. We were all that was left of the once bustling city. We walked for many hours, the adrenaline still so high in most of the people that complaints were few. It wasn’t until the sun began to set in earnest that the party began to slow.

  For a time I had frantically scanned the horizon, searching for clues about the enemy’s plans, but nobody seemed to have followed us. It was strange to me that we hadn’t been pursued, and I racked my brain trying to figure out why. Hadn’t the Coyle wanted all of Stonemore dead? Or, at least, under his control?

  It was all just a game, I thought, entertainment until he decided to finally finish us. I watched the shadowy areas of the rocks above as we walked, wondering when that attack would come.

  Eventually, what was left of Stonemore decided it was time to stop for the night. The terrain had turned from grassy hills to jagged rocks, and when we emerged into a valley with a trickling stream, people started sitting down and didn’t rise again.

  It was as good a place to stop as any, and I noticed as Kiron knelt down by the stream that his whole body was shaking. I hadn’t been paying him any attention until now. I walked over to where he sat, cupping water in his trembling hands.

  “Are you alright?” I asked, taking some water of my own and splashing my face. My hands came away filthy, the remnants of smoke mixing with the dirt of battle.

  He didn’t answer at first. He just splashed the water on his face, removing the rest of the dried blood except for that which surrounded his injury. Then h
e sat back with a groan and looked up at the sky.

  “Come on, girl,” he said quietly.

  I followed his eyes up, catching the first stars of the night popping into view.

  I had been wondering where she was, too. It hadn’t escaped me that Larissa had been gone all day, but my concerns were so many that I couldn’t quite focus on any one of them. Now, it seemed I had the answer to what had gone on in Kiron’s mind during our long trek this afternoon. He had family in this game, and no matter how much the two seemed to hate each other, his concern for her was clear.

  I lay back onto the rock, still warm from the sun. Nobody seemed to have the energy to do anything, and it seemed to me that we could all stand to sleep for a while before figuring out what came next. The people were huddled together in small groups, and the initial pockets of conversation began to wane as several lay down to sleep. It was stupid of us, I thought, to let everyone rest out here in the open. We really should have found a cave or something. But as my body started to relax, I realized that none of us had the energy to do anything but stare blankly into the shadows. We were all exhausted.

  “Didn’t expect this,” Kiron finally said. I had been close to nodding off, and his words pulled me from the edges of sleep.

  “Didn’t expect what?” I mumbled.

  “Lissa,” he said. “To be so…”

  “Good?” I finished.

  He snorted lightly.

  “Yep.”

  “Don’t feel too bad,” I said, rolling over. A pebble stuck into my side. “She’s still just as cranky as you. Crankier, even.”

  I was wide awake again with the reminder of her absence. What had happened to her? To Cait? I wanted to ask him what was taking her so long. And I wanted him to tell me that this was just Larissa’s way, that she would be along anytime now. But I knew from the grim look on his face that he didn’t know any better than I did when his sister would appear. Or if she would appear at all.

  The temperature was starting to drop, and I curled up, trying to keep the little heat I had in. I imagined little Cait, huddled up in her hiding spot, cold and scared. I hoped Larissa had at least found her by now. I told myself that she had; I would never be able to sleep if I imagined the little girl’s chattering teeth all night.

  Chapman waddled over to us and sat heavily down next to Kiron.

  Not everyone had survived. Four of the remaining nine men had been lost over the side of the wall. Three were men I hadn’t even met one on one. But Zacharias, the storyteller from many nights before, had also been among the dead. My heart felt heavy as I realized his loss; no more stories would bring us warmth during our most troubled moments. I wondered what else he had known, what other secrets had been locked in his chest of tales. Looking out over the crowd, I tried to imagine who would be the one to step up now, to give their talents to entertain these broken people, to relay the wisdom of the mythical past.

  “Tomorrow?” Chapman asked no one in particular.

  Kiron didn’t answer.

  “Tomorrow we move on,” I said, “deeper into the mountains. At least for one more day.”

  Chapman nodded. “And then?” he asked.

  Then I go home.

  But I didn’t say that.

  “Then we make a plan,” I said instead.

  He looked down at his dirty shoes, which had been bright with the shine of well cared leather before all this had started. I could see the worry on his face, and the fear of being away from the home he had never left before. But he was a harder man now than he was when I had first met him. Fighting the Corentin on so many levels had resulted in his needing to grow up, to move past the frightened little man he had once been.

  “You know the most about the city,” I said. “You should be the one to speak to them tomorrow. After we all talk about what to do next.”

  He glanced at me, and then nodded solemnly. Then his features hardened into a stoic determination. I had said the right thing. And it felt good to give away some of my own responsibility to someone else.

  I lay back again, and for a few brief moments before my eyelids could hold themselves open no longer, I watched the sky above. I was getting close now, I realized. Out there, somewhere, was Earth. The thought of my mother’s arms wrapped around me filled me with comfort.

  With one last shiver, and only the promise of her embrace to keep me warm, I finally drifted off to sleep.

  I didn’t dream. At least not anything I could remember. I was woken too soon, and stared around me into the night, wondering what had snatched me from the comfort of the black.

  “Hey!” someone whispered from behind me. I felt thin fingers grip my shoulder and started.

  I sat bolt upright and turned to find Larissa. Clinging to her frail body was the sleeping form of Cait. I exhaled sharply with relief, the alarm draining instantly away.

  “You made it!” I whispered, wrapping my arms around her as if she were my own long lost family. She returned the hug. Maybe she was starting to realize that the time for such things might be coming to a close.

  “Is she okay?” I asked, trying to catch a glimpse of Cait’s face.

  “It took some convincing,” Larissa said, “but I won her over in the end. I think it was the butterfly that did it.” She smirked, satisfied with herself. Fluttering between her chest and the girl, the little moth still held vigil.

  I smiled. There was a reason Kiron had brought old Crane to Larissa’s house to stay. I remembered the bird in her little cottage, hidden until the last moment, squawking impatiently. And the way Crane had instantly taken to her.

  “What took you so long?” I asked.

  “Couldn’t leave right away,” she said. “They were swarmin’ all around the place. Woulda noticed a sailer right off. I had to hide until dark, and then finding you all wasn’t no easy trick.”

  “Really?” I asked, looking around at the people, sleeping exposed on the side of the mountain. “We were hard to find?”

  “Course you were,” she said. “You’re in the Sheltered Range. Nothin’ can be found in these mountains unless it wants to be. That’ll make gettin’ food a trick, though, since the animals can hide from ya in plain sight.”

  “What are you talking about?” I asked.

  Even in the dark night, I could see her confusion.

  “You mean, I know something that my own dear brother don’t?” she asked, throwing a sneer in his direction. “Well, ain’t that nice.” She gently removed Cait’s hands from around her neck and handed her over to me. Cait gave a sleepy little moan, but once settled in my arms she fell right back asleep. Larissa stretched her arms above her head, and her back gave several large cracks.

  “Oh,” she said. “That does feel good.”

  “So, we’re hidden here?” I pressed. “Even out in the open like this?”

  “I expect, yes,” she said, sitting down next to me. She held out here hands. “Here, give her back.”

  “Why?” I asked.

  “Cause you got things to do,” she said. I reluctantly held out Cait, a warm, soft bundle. Larissa took hold of her again and laid back onto the rock.

  “What do I have I need to do right now, in the middle of the night?” I asked.

  “The Blackburn,” she said. “He was the one that called Pahana, sent me to help you all. He wants to talk to you. He’s out there, waitin’.”

  I looked beyond our little group. All I could see was dark and shadows.

  “What’s a Blackburn?” I asked.

  She gave me that strange look again.

  “Two things you don’t know, eh?” she asked. “Looks like I’m gonna be downright useful around here.” She settled herself, draping Cait over her like a blanket, and then fastening her own hands around the child’s middle. “You’ll know him when you see him.”

  “Uh,” I said, concerned. “And where is he?”

  “He’s there,” she said, closing her eyes. “Don’t worry, you’ll find him. He wants to be found. At least by
you.”

  I looked off into the night. The moon was full and round, but I was nervous about the idea of leaving the group, especially in the dark.

  “Go on,” she said, poking me.

  I looked down at her, her brother sleeping unknowingly beside her. I trusted Larissa now, and I knew she wouldn’t send me in a direction that would mean danger for me or the people here. She had risked her life to save us all, and then again to save Cait. But, like Kiron, I was finding she had a way of not giving me much in the way of answers before expecting me to head off into dangerous terrain.

  I stood up anyways, made a weak attempt at brushing the dirt off my clothes, and took a few steps away. Then I paused and turned back.

  “What happened to you?” I asked. “What did you find out when you went back to Ossenland? I didn’t get a chance to ask you when you rode in. Did you find out why Jade stopped?”

  “He’ll tell ya,” she said, snuggling up with Cait, shielding her from the hard rock. “The Blackburn knows more than any of us about everythin’. About ourselves, even.”

  “But—” I started.

  “Just shut up and go,” she said, rolling over, her back to me.

  For a minute I stood, irritated, trying to think of something cutting to say back to her. But then I decided to hold my tongue, at least for tonight. Cait’s face, even in the dim light, looked peaceful and content. Larissa had done right by me, more so than I could have really hoped for.

  As they both relaxed into sleep, the moth, it’s job completed, rose up above their heads. It hovered for a moment, as if it was making sure that its charges were truly safe. Then, it drifted on the breeze high up into the sky, like a fallen star making its way back home to the cosmos above.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

  It wasn’t long before I started hearing them. Whispers. They were low, almost too quiet to be heard at all, and each time I would freeze on the spot, staring in the direction of the noise. I kept expecting the source to reveal itself, but I never saw anything, only ominous shadows, like a kid seeing a monster in his room at night that turns out to just be a coat draped over a chair.