The Spark

by Taylor Gibson

  There were so many inexperienced enemies that we slaughtered them like animals. It was as though we were barely even fighting, but rather playing with a bunch of oversized children who didn’t know how to quit wrestling before they got hurt. It was more than I could bear for much longer. These lesser demons were not worth the sweat that barely secreted from my body. My forefather, as far as I could tell, was also fed up with this petty fly-swatting. The only problem in leaving them behind was the fact that we would be pursued by more elite troops and quite possibly even higher Exitius members such as those two demons in the city.

  We had no choice but to continue fighting against hundreds who fought like children. As we took down all of the southern exterior troops, nearly a thousand more of the same caliber arrived to reinforce the security as best as they could. The ones coming from the west corner were higher ranking shock troopers who served under the direct command of the lieutenant. The lieutenant was a taller, broader, and far more hideous jaqa than most of the others under his authority. He did not wear a helmet, nor did he need gauntlets to wield the swords that were each the size of Soba. His ears were longer than most jaqae. His bright blue eyes were fixated on me; broad and full of enough wrath to kill all three of us himself. The yellow and brown, jagged fangs he revealed to me as he drew near were the worst of all. As he steadily marched his way toward me with two heavy, jagged swords, I finished off three of his shock troops and prepared myself for whatever he had in store for me.

  The ashy skin on his face wrinkled with a scowl as he raised his blades to come down on me. I took out my bow and crossed it with Soba, separating them into two blades as I did before in the jungle. As soon as the lieutenant’s attack reached a few inches from me, I blocked his blades with my own, half the size of his. The brute threw lashes harsher and crueler with every second, as I heightened my defense against him, turning my blades horizontal, vertical, and diagonal, opposite angles to each of his strikes. He roared like a lion and growled like a dragon. I made assumptions of what he would do as I focused on his predictable technique. He was a slow mover, and a power house with every blow. If I was going to claim victory over him, I would require speed and agility to outmatch him.

  I was dodging more of his attacks than I was blocking, so I could save energy in my arms, but he started to adapt to my slick moves by expecting the unexpected. I realized that he was capable of cautious thought. Even though he was quite massive, the muscles that this jaqa possessed were nowhere near as efficient as my magick capabilities. After forcing him back with a few blasts of fire to the face, I dealt the killing blow, decapitating him. I watched his head roll around in the grass, tripping a jaqa who stepped on it and fell onto another jaqa, knocking him over as well, so that George could easily stick them all with the sword like a kabob.

  “Sui!” my forefather cried out, nearly taking a hit from a heavy club swung in his direction by a berserker, “we can’t fight all of them alone! We need to assemble an army to combat the enemy!”

  I was holding out just fine so far, though. I sliced two jaqae at once from either flank when he said that. George was also doing a fine job at killing these demons, so why was my forefather feeling we needed help? He was old, yes, and it was clear that his age was taking a toll on his health again after several minutes of battle. But despite his increasingly feeble state he was able to take several of these monsters on his staff like a forkful of meat. To question his intellect during a battle situation however, was a grave mistake, as I soon learned when I answered back to him in a shout, “We can handle this, Forefather! Just keep them on their toes!”

  I was suddenly tripped by a foot not belonging to any jaqa. It was my forefather, standing over me as he gutted a jaqa coming at him, then slashing another across the chest. “You will do as I say! I make the decisions, young lady, understood?”

  I lay there for a moment, staring at him while catching my breath. “Yes, sir,” I answered in shock, “I’m sorry.”

  “Alright.” He cut down another three jaqae and helped me off the ground. I assisted him for a bit longer before I found George, fighting like a true mage warrior; far better than anything I could demonstrate just yet. Such style, such poise, it was like nothing I had ever seen in my life. The way he blocked, dodged, countered, and attacked the jaqae around him with spells, agility, strength, speed, and passion. He casually closed his eyes when he leaped, as if in slow-motion, and landed on the ground with a blast of energy that struck any jaqae around him, which instantly turned them to ice. Seeing this made me envy him for having such knowledge of sorcery, but it seemed that George was picking up on things he knew before the mind-wipe. As I continued to watch him, I cut down many jaqae who tried to do the same to me.

  “Sui, watch out!” Äbaka shouted, pointing at a small jaqa holding a wooden stick and wearing some sort of faceless mask. The five foot jaqa threw two spinning blades in my direction, which cut through both of my shoulder pads simultaneously and skimmed the surface of my flesh. It was using the technique of a ninja.

  “Sui, George,” Äbaka frantically yelled, “get out of here! I’ll cover you!”

  When the opportunity finally came, George and I obeyed the wizard and retreated to the south. Some of them followed us, but were soon turned back by one of Äbaka’s luring charms. I only looked back once more and saw my forefather twirl his staff around to collect energy, and then he slammed the bottom end of the staff into the ground, sending a wave of potent blue energy that killed most jaqae in the area. But there were more that came around the left and right flanks of Shi Shii’s walls, but my forefather seemed ready for more. George and I continued to run through the fields leading to the Jungles of Matta Shimbib as the wizard held off endless amounts of jaqae who occupied the city’s outer ruins.

  ***

  In war, a family listens better than they obey or give orders.

  ~Jon Vaam Ozborn

  Our younger daughter had to go to school, so I brought her to the schoolhouse as I always did. Sellina always had lunch ready for her when she came back after two hours, but for some reason, she wasn’t in the kitchen making roasts or puddings as she did every day. The problem was that she and I haven’t exactly had the best relationship ever since Sui had that awful nightmare on her birthday. Sellina was suffering severe stress from something she would not speak of and I couldn’t stand seeing her like this anymore. When I came home from the school house, I found my wife lying in bed, sobbing herself into a pool of tears. She was at her wits end with something I wasn’t aware of, and I was about to get to the bottom of whatever it was that had her so forlorn right then and there!

  “Sellina, darling,” I said gently, “whatever are you crying about? I don’t understand what’s been going on with you lately. Ever since Sui had that dream you’ve been stressed for nearly five months, and you haven’t even bothered to share your feelings. Please tell me what’s wrong.”

  “You haven’t even bothered to question what’s been going on until now. I can’t- I-”

  What she said was true. I regretted procrastinating. It was only because I was caught up in so many things; making sure that Sui was safe over the intercom, taking care of Molli Su, and staying updated on the computer for any reports about Äbaka. I found many stories about Äbaka. I found many stories about jaqae purging cities. As I stood there with guilt, without any adequate excuses, my heart continued to sink, along with my head and weakening knees. I was being a terrible husband. Although I was wondering what it was that was eating at her heart for so long, I never gave her the slightest bit of support during the initial escalation of her problems. But as I was about to sit by her on the bed, I thought for a moment, I just couldn’t see how she didn’t try to talk to me about it earlier instead of expecting me to confront her. She continued to sob as I sat by her in the dark bedroom, rubbing her back if it would ease any of her pain. I didn’t say a word as she had her moment to shed tears.

&nbs
p; “Jon, you never listened to me.”

  “What do you mean I didn’t listen? You never spoke to me about anything. How could I have listened?”

  “I gave you signs, Jon. I gave you several signs that I was in pain but did you heed them?” She shook her head with frustration, “No.”

  She continued to weep as I ceased to rub her back. We barely laughed together without a glass of wine or mug of beer in our systems ever since Sui realized her fate. It seemed that she had a never ending supply of tears. She’d been crying face down in the pillow for several minutes as I sat there and rubbed her back again. At this time, Molli Su was in her math class. It was never a subject she was good at. She got that from her mother and her sister. Like The Wiztis in math, Sellina and I were struggling to solve a problem we were facing in our marriage.

  “My love,” I begged, “just tell me.”

  After begging her several times to tell me what it was, she gradually slowed her sobbing. She wiped her eyes and sat up next to me on the edge of the bed. I was waiting for her to tell me, but she asked me another question that threw me off the edge. “Do you think Sui needs us anymore, Jon? What if she decides to never speak to us again after she goes off to war? You know as well as I do that she doesn’t have much longer to wait for Jobik. When he comes back, what shall become of us? All her focus will be on killing that monster.”

  I had no desire to even think about a world where Sui didn’t care about her own family. “I have to tell you the truth as I see it, whether you like the answer or not,” I said, putting my hand tightly on her shoulder to attract her attention toward me, “I don’t think you know Sui all that well if you have to think about that.”

  Her reaction to my statement was one of an offended mother. I had struck a critical blow to her heart, with regret. She looked away from me and began sobbing again. I wrapped my arm around her back and continuously tried to calm her down for the second time. She wept again and eventually let me continue. Knowing that I was wrong to not pay as much attention to my wife as I should have, I had no intention of frustrating her further. She blinked and put her focus in the next words I had for her.

  “Sellina, I know you fear to lose Sui. Hell, I dread it too. I’m petrified from the thought of never seeing her again. Yes, she is our firstborn, and she is the chosen one. She’s out there among several dangers with George and it’s only going to get worse. As Jobik draws nearer to returning, she doesn’t remember everything from her past. It’s dangerous, but there are still the simpler memories Äbaka gave to her after the incident. You recall what he said. Äbaka clearly noted that there would be minor recollections of her true life. She might even remember spells she learned before the chaos she stirred. Do you remember him saying that, Sellina? There’s still hope for her even if Äbaka’s dead. Sui and George forgot their pasts, but they’re not lost. Sui’s actions when she was seventeen-”

  “I told you never to talk about that again, Jon.” She interrupted in a frightened tone, “I don’t ever want to recall that demon’s name.”

  The demon we spoke of was named Asteroth. In our world, Asteroth was a demon who possessed a person to use their fate as a means to drive mortals insane. In Sui’s case, it was the demon who took the form of Jobik so that he could destroy Rïdeneer. Sui tried to fight him, despite having no chance of success. Fortunately, Äbaka was there to help prevent everyone from dying. I wasn’t certain if Sui would need to remember everything before she went to war, but I was positive she would never forget about her parents. Whether we were to remain in her implanted memories, or as the uncovered memories that she did experience, it didn’t matter to me. As long as we were there, guiding her through the battlefield of life with all the morals we gave her and all of the love we shared. Sellina rattled her head, trying to shake out the ill memories of Asteroth. I knew how much she hated that experience, and it was what made her worry, I’m sure. Sellina had no reason to be afraid that Sui could ever forget about her family. I told Sellina how I saw it with no detail in my opinion left behind.

  “The fact of the matter is that she will never forget about us. We were the best parents she could ever ask for, you know this. Even if she never sees us again when the war begins, don’t you dare get the idea that she doesn’t love us. For if she was to come walking through that door right now, I know you would dread to hear her say she wasn’t going to see us for a very long, long time. But you would give her a hug and a kiss, just before she placed a helm upon her head. You’d know as well as I, that she would be fighting for us as well as all life in the Fancore. You would understand that. You would know that our daughter wasn’t just fighting a Black Beast. She would be fighting it in our families’ names of Wizti and Ozborn. Whenever that day shall come, I hope you’re ready with me, because I know I’m prepared to see Sui blossom into a great female warmage, combating the threat of Jobik.”

  I captured her in that moment. Her eyes could not leave me; neither could her heart calm to a moderate pulse from the motivation I had given. That was something for her to think on instead of dreading the undesirable gloom she had been facing for so very long. She bestowed a prolonging embrace upon me and returned to the woman I had married nineteen years ago. Even though I cleared her worries of Sui going to war, I had a feeling that she was going to tell me other things that were torturing her.

  “Jon, I’ve been feeling rather bothered about our relationship. We never seem to see eye to eye on things anymore, you know? Why, it was just the other day I felt that Sui wasn’t on the right path to finding Forefather and you didn’t heed the signs I was giving you. I don’t understand why you can’t read the signs I’ve been giving you.”

  “What do you mean, Sellina?” I asked calmly, not yet offended by her accusations, “Why can’t you just give it to me straight how you feel? Why do you have to make it so complicated?”

  “Words can be harsher than a blade to the back,” she replied, “I was afraid that I might mislead you into thinking something I really didn’t intend. I’ve never been a straight forward woman and you know that. I’ve always been a mystery. I thought you liked that about me, Jon.”

  “I do but-”

  I was beginning to become irritated because we were getting nowhere. An hour had almost passed us, leaving one more before Molli Su had to come home from school. I sighed and let out all vapors of stress that were bubbling in me. I continued to attempt to understand why my wife was being so closed-up. I knew what she said was not the truth; it made no sense. “I really need to know now. What is pulling us apart?”

  She raised her eyebrows after I said this and proceeded to clarify if I wanted to know the truth about what was going on. She was the only one who could see it and I didn’t have much patience left with these excessive “signs” that she was placing in front of me in a vain hope that I would understand.

  “Are you sure you want to hear it instead of putting the puzzle together yourself?” she asked, testing my patience. “It would probably be a lot easier.”

  “Yes!” I exclaimed while jumping off the bed, beginning to breathe heavily from the tension building inside of me.

  “Are you certain you won’t get angry when I point out what you’ve been doing wrong and why I’ve been throwing you signs instead of just telling you straight out?”

  I cringed, feeling heated tension flowing through my body and chuckled before answering that question, almost before she had time to finish it. “Sellina, at this rate I’d be furious if you didn’t enlighten me.”

  “Well, I have to begin with how little you do for me around the house.” I rolled my eyes at that nonsense and turned away with my arms crossed. It was total bullocks and she knew it as well as I did! “You never help me clean, you rely on me to do the dishes; Molli Su had nothing to do when she was home for the summer because you’re never scheduling any activities for her, and, uh, you always make excuses to justify why you shouldn’t help out
around the house. Sui and George are out there looking for Äbaka! You don’t have to go on the forums and read blogs and reports about strange men with green beards entering the cities! Leave it to them! I know you’ve been seeing my pain, Jon. So why didn’t you have the skin to come and help me through it? I tried to tell you my problems before like you want, but you never seemed to listen. That’s why I’ve been putting messages in my actions. I thought you’d notice it, but nope. You still lack the mind to heed it.” I turned around to face her and saw that she was shaking with anger. “And to be perfectly honest,” she continued, “I used those messages to test our marriage.”

  To be truthful, there wasn’t an ounce of falsehood in her words. I was being a horrible husband and an irresponsible father for our younger daughter. The fact that I was unable to listen to her troubles before she went to new levels made me feel excruciatingly guilty about how disregarding I had been recently.

  “Jon, you know how much I love you, and I know how much you love me. I understand we’ve had a rough life, especially since Sui’s gone to war. My mother and father went through the very same thing that we’re going through. When I was a teenager, my father explained it to me.”

  I listened to the story my wife told me about her parents and I couldn’t help but remember meeting the old man with the life-support gear and the wheelchair he could move with his mind. Azki Wizti was a very profound man with a great history about him. Sellina shared a tale about him that she never let me in on before.