Girl of Myth and Legend

by Giselle Simlett

  Three pieces of glass extend from the floor and create a cage around me. Though they don’t look much, not even I would be able to break the glass.

  ‘Remember that when you leave, we will be watching. Prove yourself to the Imperium.’ These are standard words said to all kytaen, but the way Della is looking at me makes me think she’s putting more meaning into those words than any she ever has before.

  As she leaves, the door closing behind her, a resolution forms in my mind, a promise to myself, and it keeps me from trying to escape this fate; it keeps me from getting myself killed.

  No matter how long it takes, be it years or centuries, I will make the Chosen suffer for what they have done. I will watch them as they cry and beg and burn.

  For all the ones I killed in the arena, I swear this.

  LEONIE

  THE LAST

  The small yacht sways as rolling waves crash against the cluster of rocks nearby. Dark clouds hang in the sky, intermittently hiding the pale moon. I take in the cool, misty smell of the sea as the breeze entangles itself in my hair. Above me I hear the welcoming cries of seagulls, whose open wings glide on the air. This is my first time at sea, and despite the lack of good weather, I’ve enjoyed it so far. Pegasus is using the rails to stand himself up on two legs, and I pat his head, thankful for familiar company.

  I take my backpack off and pull out a Polaroid camera. I’ve never been much of a fan of digital cameras; I like to hold the picture as soon as I’ve taken it. I hold up the camera and take a shot of the dark-blue sea. The picture comes out and is completely black. Stupid Polaroid camera.

  It’s only been a day since routine waved bye-bye. In its place it left a new, inexplicable reality. Just as I can’t deny I was afraid of this new world, I also can’t deny that I was fascinated by it. Routine has been the only ordinary, human way of coping with my lostness; now routine has been replaced by something far more profound, something that has completely enveloped my life, and forever will—magic.

  Getting to that new life isn’t as easy as snapping your fingers and arriving in a new world, though. We’re heading to Agerath Island where, O’Sah says, there’s a portal that will take us to Duwyn. Apparently there are portals all over the human realm, and Chosen set up bases there so that no one unwanted stumbles across them.

  We’ve been on the boat for a few hours now, and though I’m enjoying it, it’s not exactly thrilling when you can hear your dad throwing up most of his food.

  ‘We’ll reach the harbour soon,’ I hear Dad say, and turn around to face him.

  ‘Good thing, too,’ I say. ‘Sounds like you’ve been vomiting out the whole of China for the past hour.’

  He clears his throat. ‘Our family has always lacked sea legs.’

  ‘Guess I’m extremely adaptable.’ I tilt my head to the side. ‘You OK? Feel better?’

  ‘I’ll survive… I think.’

  ‘I’m counting on it. God knows I don’t want to be stuck alone with O’Sah.’

  Dad smiles. ‘He is intense; having a newly awakened magical teenager under your keeping does tend to do that to you.’

  ‘Oh, come on. I’m not causing him much trouble.’

  ‘I don’t know why Harriad left him in charge of you.’

  ‘He’s not “in charge of me”,’ I say.

  ‘You know what I mean. Anyway, he’ll relax when we get to the Imperium. Probably. Well, at least a little.’

  ‘When we get to the Imperium, huh?’

  ‘Come on. We’ll get there eventually.’

  ‘Eventually.’

  ‘You’ll like the Temples of Elswyr.’

  ‘It’s not like I’m not looking forward to it. I just don’t get why I can’t go straight to the Imperium. I want to see that.’

  ‘It’s all about tradition; every Chosen that awakens, even ones born in Duwyn, travel to the Temples of Elswyr, like a sort of coming-of-age pilgrimage. You’ll only be there for a few days.’

  I turn back to the impenetrable black, our destination. ‘Couldn’t we at least have done the poof thing to get here?’ I complain.

  ‘What?’ Dad says.

  ‘Y’know, teleportation. Actually, why can’t we just go straight to Duwyn?’

  ‘You can’t teleport to different realms; that’s what the portals are for, and as for teleporting here, transporting devices won’t work if the distance is great, and even if it could, I don’t think you’re ready for that.’

  He stands beside me, his fingers curling over the rails and his knuckles turning white. We stand silent for a few minutes, listening to the water splashing against the boat.

  ‘Dad?’

  ‘Yes?’

  ‘Why did you never tell me what I am, that I’m Chosen?’

  He doesn’t look at me, his expression dark. ‘It’s very… complicated.’

  I sigh. ‘Why do you have to be like this? I just don’t see why you can’t, y’know, like, let me in. I wouldn’t judge you or anything. I thought we were a team.’

  ‘You really think of us that way?’

  ‘Duh! You’re my dad, and through this whole thing we… we… oh! Oh. Is that the island? We’re here?’

  ‘What? Ah. Yes, it looks like it.’

  The island is half shrouded by darkness, but from what I can tell there’s no defining features about it.

  ‘Hmm.’

  ‘What’s wrong?’ Dad asks.

  ‘Nothing.’

  ‘Come on. I know that look.’

  ‘What look?’

  ‘Your Christmas present look. Your “this isn’t what I was expecting” look.’

  ‘I don’t have a look like that.’

  ‘You thought the island would be different?’

  ‘I mean, I guess. I thought there’d be, I don’t know, like, flying creatures, tall buildings, all that kind of stuff. Look at it, though—it’s deserted. It could at least be shrouded in mist or something.’

  He laughs. ‘It’s not supposed to be anything special. If normal humans saw skyscrapers and mythical creatures swooping from the sky, then our kind would be on the front of every newspaper in the world.’

  ‘I thought you said the island was protected by Chosen.’

  ‘It is, but only insofar as they guard it, steer people away if they happen to approach it.’

  O’Sah comes onto the deck and bows his head at me. I wish he hadn’t. ‘My Lady,’ he says.

  I smile, to be polite, but I hate it when he calls me that.

  ‘Orin, I received a message from the Imperium,’ he says. ‘After debating on the information they received from Harriad, the Head of the Council has absolved you for your, as he calls it, oversight.’ The way he says it makes me think that if it were up to him, he wouldn’t have pardoned Dad at all.

  Dad closes his eyes and lets out a breath. ‘That’s… thank you, O’Sah. Please send my thanks to the Council for their decision.’

  O’Sah nods. ‘I can only imagine the appreciation you harbour for Sebastian Crato. If not for him, you wouldn’t have been offered a gracious pardon for hiding such a… significant Chosen, and all without a trial.’

  Dad’s lips thin. Talk about me having a look. That’s his trademark ‘Oh, really?’ expression, that I know means he’s irritated. I guess he doesn’t like to feel that he’s indebted to anyone.

  O’Sah turns to me. I hate it when he smiles at me. It’s a snake’s smile, sly and shrewd. ‘We have a rather tiring day tomorrow, my Lady, so I suggest that once we dock and set up camp, you have some sleep.’

  ‘Wait,’ I say, ‘what d’you mean set up camp? I thought we were going through the portal to Duwyn tonight.’

  ‘Not tonight, my Lady,’ he says. ‘The tide is too high.’

  ‘And that matters because…?’

  ‘The portal is located in a cove. It’ll be flooded with water right now, considering the weather.’

  Great. The last thing I want to do is take a camping trip with O’Sah, roasting marshmallows as we tell
scary stories.

  ‘Is there anything I can do for you once we’ve arrived?’ he continues. ‘There’s a food storage at the harbour. It’s very small but it should have enough there for tonight. Would you like me to bring you something to eat?’

  ‘A KFC would be so good right now,’ I say.

  ‘KFC?’

  Oh, right. I doubt this place has any delicious, fattening fast-food places, and maybe the Imperium doesn’t either. Yup, no McDonald’s, no Burger King, no Gino’s Pizza… Dear God, have I made a mistake coming here? I may be of small stature, but make no mistake: I am a glutton. On the other hand—possible franchise opportunity?

  ‘Never mind. I’m good, thanks,’ I reply in a small voice.

  Once O’Sah goes below, I turn to Dad and say, ‘Y’know, I only just noticed, but why doesn’t anyone else have eyes like mine? I mean, am I different or something?’

  The boat heaves to the side and we stumble slightly. I jump out of the way when Dad makes for the railing, bowing his head over it.

  ‘F-false alarm,’ he mutters. I pat his back and give him a few minutes to regain himself. Then, he looks at me, and without answering my earlier question, says, ‘O’Sah is right about one thing: you need to sleep when we get to the island. You’ve got a busy day tomorrow.’

  ‘About one thing? So you think he’s full of crap most of the time, too, hmm?’

  ‘I wouldn’t put it like that.’ He shuffles. ‘…But yes, most of the time.’

  We share a smile.

  ‘I saw your look,’ I tell him.

  He frowns. ‘What look? I don’t have a look…’

  When Dad, O’Sah, Pegasus and I get off the boat and onto the harbour, I look around and see nothing outstanding, just a large shed and more boats. It’s too dark to see into the distance, but I’m hoping that I’ll see something of wonder.

  ‘Shall I take that for you?’ O’Sah asks, pointing to my suitcase.

  ‘I can carry it.’

  ‘You don’t need to bother yourself with—’

  ‘I said I can carry it. Thank you.’

  As we walk through the night, the moon lighting our way, I see the outline of three men, crimson cloaks billowing in the wind, standing around a campfire. They don’t move, waiting for us to approach. My pace slows. There’s something about their darkened stares that causes me to shiver. When we get to them, I notice each one of them wears a golden pin that is luminous against the flickering fire. One of the men limps forward. He’s an elderly man with long, white hair.

  ‘My Lady,’ he says, and takes my hand and kisses it. ‘I never thought I’d live to see this day.’ He sounds as if he’s about to cry.

  ‘Um?’ I say.

  With obvious struggle, he gets onto one knee and bows his head against my hand. I have to purse my lips together to stop a laugh from escaping me.

  Then, the men behind him do the same.

  ‘Wh-what’s going on?’ I say. I thought being called ‘my Lady’ was just a way of being polite, and I assumed all the head bowing had been just a weird habit these otherworldly people had, but seeing this, with everyone on one knee—even O’Sah and…

  ‘Dad?’ I say.

  He doesn’t meet my gaze.

  ‘We were going to wait until you went to Duwyn, but…’ O’Sah shoots a dirty look at the old man in front of me, although his head is bowed so he doesn’t see.

  ‘I don’t understand,’ I say.

  ‘Do you know of the legend of the Pulsar?’ the elderly man asks me.

  ‘…No.’

  ‘Their numbers were once bountiful,’ he says, his voice low and expression dark, ‘their magic godly. Once, they dedicated their lives to serving and protecting the Imperium. Devout, dedicated, transcendent. But two hundred years ago each one of them were hunted down and slaughtered by a mad man who now rots beneath the soil and dirt. He killed all the Pulsar, the old, the young, even their infants, who might not even have become Pulsar. Those who sought to help them also shared their fate. They all perished under his darkness. No Pulsar survived.’

  I glance from him to Dad and back again. This holds no significance to me, but my heart is beating unsteadily as if it knows what’s coming.

  ‘The Imperium made a solemn vow that if another Pulsar were to be born into our world,’ he continues, ‘that they would protect them at all costs in the hopes that a legend would arise again.’

  ‘My Lady,’ says O’Sah, and I turn my gaze back to him. ‘We don’t give so much consideration to every Chosen who awakens in the human realm as we have to you. In fact, we’re not usually the ones who come to your home. We Chosen have much more important things to do then greet newcomers and bring them back to Duwyn.’

  ‘Then,’ I say, ‘why are you?’

  ‘You are not just any Chosen, my Lady,’ he says, and he meets my gaze with unflinching intensity. ‘The reason why your awakening of magic was so great, the reason why your eyes are red and no one else’s are… you are the heir to an ageless legacy, the heir of a slaughtered race. You are the last Pulsar, and we have been waiting for you for two hundred years.’

  LEONIE

  A NEW AGE

  I sit with O’Sah, Dad, Pegasus, and the three Chosen around the campfire, watching the flames flicker and burn. While the others are talking animatedly about my arrival, my thoughts remain on the last Pulsar and how everyone had knelt before me.

  The implication of the moment was lost to me. I mean, I didn’t even know what a Pulsar was. O’Sah explained to me that there are four categories of Chosen, each more powerful than the last. First are Zeros, Chosen who possess barely any magic. Second are Phobien, Chosen who have a reasonable amount of magic. Then, there are Thrones, considered powerful and holding many influential positions across Duwyn. And last, the Pulsar, the strongest of Chosen, revered as almost god-like beings.

  I didn’t really understand. I still don’t understand. So Pulsar are powerful? Well, why is that so important? If I’m classed as a Pulsar, then I’m only one person. Compared to hundreds, even thousands of Thrones, I’m pretty sure even one Pulsar would pale in comparison, especially one who is just a kid and doesn’t have any powers to speak of yet.

  But by how everyone had knelt down in front of me, I’m guessing there’s more significance to being a Pulsar than I yet understand.

  ‘If I’m a Pulsar,’ I say, coming out of my thoughts and turning to O’Sah, ‘then what are you?’

  ‘We’re Thrones, my Lady, as is your father. Most Thrones adorn a crimson cloak, like the one I’m wearing.’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘A telling of status. It’s tradition.’ He points his chin out importantly. ‘But in addition to being a Throne, I’m also a members of the Imperium Council. This pin here is only worn by Council members.’

  I lean forward to inspect it, never having had the chance to look at it in detail before. It’s small and golden with strange symbols linked together that remind me of a crop circle.

  ‘Cool,’ I say, but with the snarly look O’Sah gives me I’m guessing that wasn’t the response he was after.

  ‘Are you not on the Council then?’ I ask Dad.

  ‘Certainly not,’ says O’Sah, and Dad smiles.

  ‘I don’t get it,’ I say to Dad. ‘If I’m a Pulsar, how come you’re a Throne?’

  ‘It’s not a genetic trait. Just because I’m a Throne doesn’t mean you’ll be. You could have been a Zero, a Phobien or a Throne.’

  O’Sah takes out his small silver disk, a holographic mes-sage appearing. ‘Excuse me, my Lady,’ he says, and he stands up and walks a little away from us.

  ‘So,’ I begin, turning to Dad, ‘if I’m the last of the Pulsar, does that mean I have to do anything… special?’

  ‘Not right now, no,’ he says.

  ‘But when?’

  Dad’s always been reluctant to tell me about this new world, so it doesn’t surprise me when he hesitates. ‘Your magic’s only just awoken. Your powers haven’t even shown
themselves yet. Until then you haven’t got much of a responsibility.’

  ‘And when they do show up, my powers? What then?’

  ‘I suppose you’ll have to train.’

  ‘Don’t look so gloomy,’ I comment.

  ‘I’m not.’

  ‘Sure, you’re the picture of happiness.’

  I watch the Thrones across from us talking to one another.

  ‘Did you know?’ I begin in a whisper, so no one can hear us. ‘Did you know I’d be a Pulsar?’

  It takes a moment, but he nods.

  ‘I wish you’d have told me,’ I say. ‘I don’t know why you didn’t, why Harriad and O’Sah didn’t.’

  ‘I didn’t tell you because… I suppose because I wanted to pretend for a little longer you were just normal. As for Harriad and O’Sah, who knows? I thought they’d tell you at the cottage, but maybe they thought you’d not want to come to Duwyn if you’d known.’

  ‘That’s not true. It’s not a big deal. “Pulsar” is just a title.’

  ‘Of course you’d think that. You don’t understand the burden of being a Pulsar.’

  ‘Why do you have to say that?’ I say, eyes narrowed. ‘You keep doing this. Why are you trying to scare me?’

  He looks at me. ‘You think I’m trying to scare you?’

  ‘Ever since I realised what I am you’ve acted as if it’s the worst thing to ever happen. I’m already overwhelmed and with you acting like this it makes me feel… well, afraid.’

  ‘Leonie, I’m not… I don’t mean… I’m sorry.’ He brushes a hand through his hair. ‘You’re right. I really am sorry. There’s nothing to be afraid of, Leonie. Really. I’m just being paranoid.’

  ‘But you said—’

  ‘Ignore what I said. A Pulsar has a great responsibility, that’s true. Their duty is to defend the Imperium. It’s a great task. But one they can handle.’