The Spark

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The Spark Page 17

by Taylor Gibson


  “Dammit!”

  Just as we were about to leave the Wet Twigs to see if he ran out into the street, George caught my attention again and pointed to the corner where his tattered shirt was lying. It was a clue. Perhaps he had wandered into the kitchen? There was a door leading to it only a few feet away. Out of nowhere, the tavern’s liveliness escalated and my senses told me that it was the cause of some sort of magickal energy. Something or someone was behind this, causing it to grow louder in the tavern so we wouldn’t be able to locate Spike.

  “George, sneak into the kitchen. I’ll have my eyes open for him out here.”

  “Right,” George answered with a nod.

  I took a few slow steps around the tavern, evading drunken men and women who were dancing about. Each and every person seemed to be under the influence of more than just alcohol. Spike was going to have to pay with his life for all the trouble he had caused us. He was wasting our time and energy by dragging us here, and my parents were probably worried sick. As I kept my eyes open for any shades of green close to the ground, I thought of the green bearded wizard who would not be too pleased with my idea of searching for Jobik. Realizing this, I was reminded that our current situation was entirely my fault.

  George was right all along; I was not ready to face my destiny yet. I still had much to learn. Keenness to learn more is an important trait for a mage, just as much as a wariness of one’s surroundings. I grunted and threw my hands up in the air. I bit my tongue to prevent myself from causing a scene. George, I hoped, was having better luck in the kitchen than I was in the crowded saloon. I had several men bumping into me and several women laughing at me because of it. I knew I had to find out where Spike was before he could break out and tell Jobik about me.

  I needed to take a breather. I waited by the kitchen door to see if George would come out with Spike, but in the time I waited, I began to worry that he might have been caught by one of the chefs, or worse. I had to go in and see what was happening; I snuck in with little effort, seeing that everyone was too inebriated to notice. The first thing I saw was Spike crouching under a brick oven. When he saw my red face, he gasped and crawled like a worm out from under it, but before he could even leave my sight, I reached over and grabbed him by the legs and pulled. The goblin squirmed and squealed like the filthy maggot he was. I looked to my right and noticed George sneaking his way over to me.

  “I tied the chefs up in the closet.”

  “What? Why?”

  “Well, I didn’t want us to get caught, so…”

  I shrugged it off as we had bigger things to worry about. Spike soon calmed down, but he was too quiet for someone who had just been caught by his enemy. We had to get out of the inn. As we headed out of the kitchen, I couldn’t help but wonder why Spike went through all the trouble of leading us here. Was he stalling us so that Rïdeneer could be attacked without our protection, or could it simply be a trap for us? Either way, I was worried, and far more anxious to get home than I thought I could ever be.

  As I carried Spike out of the tavern, with George at my side, I realized that we had forgotten something. The shirt! If it was the goblin that the Gemini Twin ships were searching for, then that shirt was the only thing hiding Spike from the hovering airships, watching over with telescopes and spies. I ran back inside, dodging the helpless drunks again and noticed that the corner where I last saw it was empty. Someone had thrown it away. It seemed clear now that we were going to have to pray he wasn’t seen.

  We made for the main gate. All of a sudden, we were ambushed by four soldiers suited in silver and steel. Their helms were decorated with long feathers as well as blue, red, and yellow patterns which matched their heavy armor. The soldiers were of the Shimbian Grand Army and we were their suspects. Now that we were caught, I actually felt a bit relieved. Their grip was too strong to break and neither one of us wanted to dig our pit of public tribulation any deeper, for we already couldn’t see the bottom.

  “You two are under arrest for harboring this inhuman filth! All three of you are coming with us!”

  The soldiers led us outside of the city and into the fields, where the airship twins had made a landing. With incredible force, they restrained us and bound our wrists together with metal shackles behind our backs. They didn’t confiscate my weapons, as they were very fearful of them for some odd reason. I couldn’t reach them with my hands bound under my sword, so, it didn’t matter either way. In the light of the setting sun, I knew that evening was not at all going to be a pleasant one for George and me.

  ***

  Kings, dictators, presidents, chiefs, emperors; they’re all the same to me.

  ~George Gibson Goodwill

  Sui was trying her hardest to remain calm, but with the soldiers pulling and tugging at us, she had no choice but to comply with them. Spike was completely unable to move, and having his wrists broken, he was spared the wrought iron cuffs. The three of us were brought aboard the Gemini I, the army’s first-class airship; the Gemini II was her equal. Inside it was like a battle station out of a graphic novel. Everything was gray and white with a few hints of silver and dull blue surrounding the area around us.

  When your childhood is mostly made of strife, you will find ways to get your mind off things. Reading comics was one of those things that made my miserable life seem brighter, hoping that I would one day escape into another reality. Well, now that I was finally aboard this airship, my dreams began to backfire on me. This was not a luxury cruise Sui and I were on. This was a royal ship built by top Shimbian engineers and ran by the most powerful crystal stone in all of Bonitheraj. The Gemini Twins were by far the last two ships you would ever want to be on if you were under arrest.

  As the soldiers escorted us through several chambers, I got to see tons of technological breakthroughs I never even considered to be possible. There were computers that didn’t need to run on crystal magick and metallic humanoids who served as intelligent, walking, talking computers. There were televisions that ran off of mysterious power the public was not allowed to possess.

  Indeed, this was a fantasy I had never imagined. The Shimbians and D’Gunans were not as primitive as the graphic novels would have liked me to believe as a child. Sui continually tried to convince the soldiers to listen to her, but they had no desire to lend their ears to our reasons for having a goblin in our midst. Even when I tried to help her, they simply cuffed our mouths with their cold gauntlets and ordered us to remain silent. We repeated ourselves over and over again to no avail. It was the simple pride in their great kingdom and magnificence that kept them from believing the riffraff of the outlands. We didn’t matter to them; we were just ‘non-human collaborators’ for all they cared. We passed a hallway leading to what appeared to be a torture chamber. Spike was taken by one guard down there, as we were forced to keep moving deeper into the airship. We quickly heard him pleading for help. After everything that goblin had put us through, I didn’t feel sorry for him.

  I noticed the subtle differences as we entered new chambers of the Gemini I. The technological features of the airship slowly started to diminish with every room. We had left the control room for a more significant-looking hall where treasures and valuables hung on every wall and adorned every piece of furniture. It was either a lobby, or a treasury that held a pair of wide doors at the end. As soon as we were taken through those doors, we were in a humungous white, dome room with a sunroof. As we were pushed to our knees by the soldiers, I looked up and gasped in horror. It was the person I least expected to see on this airship, even though it was his very own, along with its twin. He was as large as a bear and almost as hairy as one too. King Bonitheraj II was sitting upon a throne high above the white stairs, which shimmered in the setting sunlight, raining through the sunroof, making him appear like a god. Seeing him made me believe my eyes were being cheated, but then I heard his booming voice order us to stand. I said, under my breath, in a hateful tone, th
at none could hear, “O, your majesty.”

  Sui got up instantly, not wasting any time, but I took my time to stand before the king, who rules the kingdom that promotes discrimination of the races and loathing toward those who are different from the Shimbian culture. But I had to stand because I didn’t want my head severed from my body like many before. Totally unaware of why the Shimbian fleet was searching for suspicious activity, I knew that I had to ask when I was permitted to speak. For the sake of my life as well as Sui’s, I remained silent until the king spoke.

  “My boy, state your name and a conflict shall be avoided.”

  It took me a moment to catch my breath. For this moment was the first I had ever stood before the king. All those years as a neko, I remember cursing his name. It was because of him that I was shunned by society and it was because of his insane laws against non-humans that we were here. When I gathered the guts to tell the king my name, I swallowed my inner loathing and spoke as firmly as I could.

  “My name is George, your highness.”

  “And you, my girl, state your name to me.”

  “I am Sui Ozborn; the chosen one to save all life from destruction. May I be allowed to make a statement on why we were holding the goblin hostage in your city?”

  The king stood and furiously pointed his sausage finger directly down at her. “You shall watch your tongue while in my presence, young lady! All I asked was your name, not what you want to add about yourself! Do I make myself absolutely clear, ma’am?!”

  “Yes, your majesty.”

  Sui shamefully bowed her head with embarrassment to have upset the king. To be completely honest, I didn’t even belong there with Sui because it was entirely her idea and hers alone. The king stepped down the polished stairs with his scepter in hand. As he got closer to us, he moved his eyes to Sui, with his head turned and his concentration sharply directly on the sword behind her back, along with the bow and single arrow. He recognized their shapes before, it seemed, and when he turned back to face her eye to eye, I knew right away that he was well aware of who she was and what she was born to become.

  “Guards, unbind the girl at once! Leave the goblin and the ragged boy as they are!” The king demanded, not taking his eye off of her, and her eye not leaving his. Reaching out to touch her face, the king asked, “What was it you called yourself girl?”

  “I am Sui Ozborn of Rïdeneer. I am the chosen one to destroy the very evil that plagues the Fancore and threatens all life. I am the savior; a mage taught in the ways of sorcery by my wizard forefather Äbaka. If you wish to imprison us, that is fine with me. I just pray that you will believe me, and with all due respect, believe with your heart and not your eyes.”

  The king moved his hand away before he could feel her face. He nodded and coughed, walking away from her, taking his scepter back to his throne up the stairs.

  “You must understand,” said the king, almost shamefully, “I was not looking for anyone except the goblin. When I was informed he had people with him, I had no choice but to arrest all those who were involved. I am sorry, Ms. Ozborn. I truly hope you can forgive us our treachery against the grand cause.”

  “What will happen to the goblin?” Sui asked, “I saw the guards drag him away into the torture chamber.”

  “Oh, I need answers out of him. Recently, the city guard found a few of his kin lurking about outside the city walls. Suspicious— I wonder what it was they were searching for. I hope to pry the secrets out of his maggot-eating mouth, and once I do, I will send him back to the East where he belongs.”

  I was a little unnerved as to why there might have been goblins lurking about near the city, but Sui nodded, satisfied with his answer and Spike’s fate. I then started to think about the situation we were in. If you ask me, I thought it was best that we were stopped in the act of seeking out Jobik. We were unprepared and ignorant of what awaited us if we happened to reach his doorstep. I held my bound hands together and observed more of the wealthy scenery around me. The throne room was much fancier than I had realized. Gold was carefully decorated around the walls and window frames to bring some character to the brightness of the dome. I nodded and bit my lip.

  “I’m not ready to fight Jobik yet, your majesty.”

  I turned to look at Sui, raising my eyebrows with a small grin. Finally, she had seen reason. What was making her realize that I was right? I hoped to hear an answer soon.

  “Ah, I see,” said the king suspiciously, “then just what is it that you were doing with this goblin trash in my kingdom if I might ask? Were you holding him as a guide of some sort?”

  “Your majesty, I have had a sudden realization that Jobik is far too powerful for anyone to face just yet, but in the moment when the goblin told us that he could help, I was angry and desperate. It is possible that the goblin took over my mind and caused these desires to ignite hotter than before. He was originally willing to show us the way to Jobik, but it would seem that all those tales of people trusting goblins are true. You really do get cheated.”

  “I understand, but please save the formalities. You may call my Brian,” he said with a gentleman’s smile. He eventually looked over at me, making me wonder if he knew who I was in this whole series of events. “You look awfully familiar, boy. What was your name again?”

  “George Goodwill, your highness,” I said with a nervous gulp. He knew there was a bounty on a neko child in his teens and he searched high and low for him, to no avail. The irony that he had me here and didn’t know it was almost enough to make me laugh out loud. But in order to keep calm, I answered his question with another truth, “I am her guardian, and I look like this because I was defending her, because I love her.”

  Sui smiled, blushing pink as could be, and nodded to the king who looked at her in question.

  “Unbind him as well. I have a sudden spark of inspiration from this brave young couple. Tej, get me a blank scroll, an ink well, and a quill! I am about to have an interview with them. In fact, I might as well go ahead and invite them to stay with my father for a day or two. He always reads about the prophecy and the savior, you know.”

  Sui and I both knew that we didn’t have time to stay with the king today or tomorrow. No matter how generous he could be to us, it wouldn’t be right to go with him without informing the folks back home that we were safe first. I believed it was best that we told them in person, too, not by having these people send a courier. For a visit with King Bonitheraj I in Bonithära, would be a luxury for another day, when we were all together as a family. Sui told the king what we were both thinking.

  “Oh, forgive us your high- er, Brian, but my parents are probably worried sick about us. May we visit you another time perhaps? We’ve been out for nearly two days and without sleep, food, or drink.”

  “Oh, in that case, then heavens yes, of course you may go home to, uh- where was it you said your home was again?”

  “Rïdeneer.” She answered.

  Yes, of course. Captain!”

  “Yes, your majesty?”

  “Fly us to the deep south to drop off our heroes.”

  “Yes, your majesty! Right away, your majesty!”

  As Sui and I had a quick interview with the king on the flight home, he asked us questions about our lives and things we had learned in mage training. It was a good hour and a half ride back home in the presence of the brawny, yet gentle king. When we hovered over the hills of the Crosscc plains, I realized that the Gemini airships were diverging from regular protocol just for our benefit. The king forgot to mention the fate of Spike the goblin, but one can reasonably assume that he was being sent to be executed. Despite the kind of hospitality he was showing us, I knew he was still a terrible monarch. If we were anything other than human, he would have thrown us in the dungeon without a second thought. Someday, I knew he would have to face the same pain so many have endured under him. Discrimination is an awful thing and often h
ides in the heads of wealthy aristocrats. But aside from his political methods, he seemed like a humble man when speaking to Sui and me.

  Thankfully Rïdeneer was just as we left it when we were chasing Draäm through the plains, and only minor damage was inflicted. The Gemini I landed as straight as it could on the rough hills outside the village. We gave our farewell to the king and his crew before they returned to Shimbia. On our way back to the raspberry-red house I called home, we were attacked with hugs and kisses from friends who thought we were killed. Without hesitation, the two of us went straight into the house, giving Sui’s mother and father a tight hug and Molli Su a warm embrace as well. They were excited to see us and hear our tales about Shi Shii. After the reunion, Sui and I had a bath and settled back at home.

  For the rest of the long-awaited, soothing night, Sui and I spent our time resting in our bedroom, thinking of things that have come to pass and things that would likely transpire in the future. The dinner that Mrs. Ozborn prepared for us was probably one of the best meals I had ever consumed. Eventually, we finally blew out the candles, covered ourselves under the soft, silky quilts, and kissed each other goodnight, having sound dreams once more.

  Despite his kindness to us, I didn’t completely know how to feel about King Brian Bonitheraj II. The more I pondered on it, the less sense it made for him to just believe that Sui was the chosen one. It seemed as though he was hiding something from us. Was he truly with us? If he was, wouldn’t he have offered us his army? I put it out of my head for the night and went to sleep with my beloved by my side.

  Chapter 7

  What you believe is as real as you see it. Do not dismiss anything; for nothing is nonexistent and nothing existing, exists without you or anyone else that exists.

  ~Aloli-Ta Äbaka

  Waking up in a place so unfamiliar was never one of my favorite experiences. I lay in a warm bed surrounded by darkness and the absence of any presence, which could have brought me here from the Crosscc plains. I was uncertain of what had happened to me after summoning the great and powerful Anima. The maelstrom that the beast produced had taken me to the very depths of unconsciousness, as I was oblivious to the length of my slumber, yet another peeve of mine

 

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