by Sean Watman
“I can't understand you,” I said to them. They then stared at me—well, it looked as if they were staring at me—and they began whispering to each other. When they faced me again, they tried once again to communicate with me by making hand gestures. I still couldn't understand them, so I shook my head and said, “I can't understand you.” Their shoulders slumped somewhat, but then one of them pointed to the pot. The second one waddled over to the pot, took a spoon out of his sleeve and dipped it in the pot. It emerged with a glob of soup dripping over the sides. He then waddled back to me like a penguin.
As the spoon approached my bed, I could see the steam floating off of the red liquid. He then gestured for me to open my mouth and eat it. I was hesitant at first—who knows what could be in that soup? But the smell was too appealing, and I gobbled it down graciously. That was a mistake because the moment I ate it, my head started to feel woozy and I blacked out. Mental note: do not eat that food again.
When I awoke I was in my mental realm. This time it was a little different. It was not like when Glace invaded my subconscious, but I could feel a presence that was not my own in there.
“So, you have awakened,” older me's voice called out. I turned around and saw him sitting on a pillar of fire. “You called on my power yet again, and you have not even learned my name. I have to say I do not know whether I am ashamed or amazed.” We stared at each other for a while until the question I had wanted to ask for so long compelled me to speak.
“Who are you?” I blurted out. “You have been guiding me since the beginning but haven't given me a single straight answer!”
“It's obvious who I am. I am you,” he replied. “And yet, you do not know me. This is the form I have taken until you have finally decided who you are.”
“I know who I am!” I shouted at him. “My name is Jack. I am sixteen years old and …”
“Yes, yes, we both know all of your physical traits,” he interrupted impatiently. “What I am referring to is your deepest nature.”
“What does that mean?” I roared. “Every time you do this to me, I can't take it. Don't leave me like this!” By the time I finished, I was sobbing. All of my anger had turned to grief and fear. Perhaps that was what I had been bottling up since I had arrived on Pyrus.
“Why choose me? I haven't done anything wrong! I was living perfectly fine back home,” I whispered through my sobs. All of my emotions exploded, and like a fountain, they were just running down. Older me jumped down from the pillar, landed in front of me, and gave me a hug. Not one of those awkward ones between males, but a sincere hug. He then looked at me right in the eyes.
“I chose you because I know you can do this,” he said to me.
“I'm not so sure I can …” I sighed. Then after thinking about it, I said, “Hey, wait a minute! What exactly am I supposed to do?”
“The answer will come soon enough. Do not lose yourself to your fear. Remember: I believe in you!” he replied, fading away. The blinding flash began again, and I needed to shield my eyes.
“Wait! Please tell me more! I need your help. I need you!” I screamed, but it took me a few seconds to realize I was awake, sweating on my bed. My two Pyrian friends—I guessed they were my friends—paid me another visit later that day, but I barely noticed them, I was too busy thinking about my dream. They fed me another glob of the soup, and I was knocked unconscious again.
The next day they visited me again; this time, however, they did not feed me any of the “sleeping soup.” Instead they brought with them a chalkboard and red chalk. The one who tried to talk to me pointed at me, and then pointed at his ear, indicating for me to listen. He then tried to speak with me again.
“” he said. After that, his companion wrote it down. He then said it again pointed at me to repeat it. As I did, I tried to memorize the word. It was on the twenty-sixth word when he made a stop signal with his hands. Then he and his friend left me alone. I then started to recount what I had learned: . It felt rather silly for me not to know any letters and only words. It was only then that I realized how important those twenty-six words were. Every language had to start somewhere, and I had just learned the alphabet of the Pyrian language. The language itself is extremely easy to learn, every letter is pronounced when you speak. So when you say hello, you are actually saying the letters h, e, l, l, and o.
Later on that day, the Pyrians visited me again. They didn't bring the chalkboard with them this time, however. Since they were teaching me the language of their country, I felt like I needed to show them I was willing to learn. Using the letters I knew, I tried to say hello.
“!” I greeted them. The Pyrians turned to each other and then clapped their hands together. I began to feel truly proud of my accomplishment. They then attempted to speak to me, but they spoke slower than usual. As they spoke, my brain began translating the words I heard to English “We are very impressed that you were able to learn our language so fast,” the first one began. “You still have a little way to go, though, and your pronunciation is a little off.”
“That sounds great. There is always room for improvement. Could you release me though? These chains are beginning to hurt my wrists,” I asked him.
“That, we cannot do just yet,” the second one replied. “Your magii is still unstable, and if we release these chains, your body will overflow with the natural magii in the atmosphere of our town.”
“So I'm stuck here basically; but for how long?” I continued questioning. The two Pyrians laughed, and then the first one spoke.
“Patience, young one, you will be released from the restraining chains once your magii has been returned to normal. To be more specific, your magii chambers have been scarred internally. Right now you are in no condition to be using magic, and every time you attempt to, the magii in our town will seep into your chambers and compress your magii to the point where you end up destroying yourself.”
“Okay … so what is the point of the sleeping soup?” I asked after mentally translating the answer to my question.
The second one answered my question. “The soup is just rumbleberries. We added some medicinal herbs to try and accelerate the healing process of your magii chambers. We have discovered that magii chambers heal quicker when you are either threatened or sleeping. We regret having to do this to you, but it is for your own good.”
I didn't speak for a while. The conversation took me longer than I expected to translate, but it was a lot of information to take in. When I finally resumed speaking, it was with a more relaxed tone.
“Very well, if that's what needs to be done in order for me to recover, then so be it. Also, thank you for spending the time to help me. Before you knock me out, though, can you at least tell me your names?”
“My name is Frizzle,” the first one said.
“And my name is Flizzle,” the second one said. “Goodnight, sir, we will check on you in the morning before we leave.” When he finished, I picked the spoon from the pot, and I ate the rumbleberry soup without question, hoping that I could recover as quickly as possible. My thoughts turned to Lyra, wondering if she had to go through the same thing somewhere in her country of Cyclos. Then I realized that she may still be here somewhere. As I was pondering this possibility, my eyes began to fail me, and the thoughts became jumbled. Then they all faded to an endless black.
Chapter 14: The Pursuit
Two weeks I stayed in that bed, eating nothing but rumbleberry soup. Flizzle and Frizzle visited me often, but we did not speak that much. Every time they visited, they cast nervous glances continuously at the door—almost as if they were not supposed to visit me during the day. I spent most of the days practicing speaking Pyrian, by talking aloud, and I became fluent rather quickly. My thoughts began to turn toward being released as the days progressed, and once I was freed, I would ask my friends questions until I couldn't speak. There was so much I wanted to know, and my gut was telling me they knew a lot of the answers.
I was shaken awake on the morning of the
fourteenth day. Well, you can't really consider it morning, for it was during the time when Pyre and Pyro were halfway between setting and rising, so the place was still bright, but not as illuminated as before.
“Hi, guys!” I mumbled groggily. “What are you doing?”
“Sh!” Flizzle hissed, or it could have been Frizzle, “We are going to see if you can be released from the restraining chains”
“Why so early?” I responded rather loudly, for I was still half asleep. “Couldn't you just wait until I'm much more awake?”
“We need you to be quiet!” Frizzle or Flizzle said. “The reason we need to release you now is that they are coming, and we cannot let them find you.” Both of them began to mutter some words, completely focused. When they both finished and raised their heads, I heard a quick clink and then it was quiet again. I scratched my head, and then I realized I was free. Not even ten seconds later, I felt a sudden surge of power overflow me. It was so shocking that I fell to the floor.
I guess this is what they meant by the town's natural magii. I can't believe I didn't notice how much it affected me when I was browsing the shops. I tried to bring myself to my feet, but my legs felt like they had one hundred pound weights strapped to them. Come on you can do this. Don't fight the magii, I thought. That gave me an idea. I closed my eyes and focused all of my energy into opening my magii chambers.
I found that I could easily stand after I opened my magii chambers. The magii around me entered my chambers and exited through my core—similar to the way we breathe. It was all filtration by using my body, but the goal was now maintain it. The good news was that in this town, I could probably push past my natural magii limit.
“Can you walk?” One of them asked me. I nodded in response. “Good! Quickly put this on; it will hide you from them when they do the search.” He handed me a robe that looked exactly like their own, except mine had sleeves that were trimmed with gold. I was about to thank them, but I was quickly rushed outside of the room.
Up until that point, I had never set foot outside of my room, and it turns out that the house wasn't very big. My guess was that I was in one of the buildings behind the merchant stalls. It also seems as if I had occupied the only room in the house, because as I was being rushed down what seemed like an endless hallway, I saw no other rooms, just red chandeliers with candles illuminating walls. As I was being pushed, I quickly fumbled with my robe, and I finally managed to get them on right when we exited.
Pyro was beginning to rise, and I was greeted with a blinding light after being trapped inside that room for so long. I hid my eyes from the light with my robe. The house I had been in was in one of the back alleyways that led to the central plaza. Frizzle and Flizzle rushed ahead of me and quickly made a motion with their hands to follow. Up until now, I had never really paid attention to their hands, but they both possessed a black tattoo of a flame on their right palms.
As I followed them, I quickly glanced back at the house, and it turns out we left not a moment too soon. For my two black-armored friends entered the house. Chances are they were searching for me; they were going to have a big surprise when they didn't find me. I shifted my gaze in front of me, and Frizzle and Flizzle had disappeared—they were really in a hurry. Making sure my chambers were open, I began to jog to try and catch up with the two Pyrians. The plaza was deserted at the moment, but I assumed they were near the other end of the plaza. When I reached them they had emerged out of one of the side streets and motioned for me to continue following them.
“Who are those two?” I asked them when I finally caught up with them.
“They are the Shinso,” Frizzle replied. I knew that was Frizzle too, because I had noticed a pattern. Frizzle always spoke first, and Flizzle would speak second. It was almost as if they were communicating telepathically between each other.
“There are supposedly two Shinso in every country,” Flizzle explained. “They are the royal guards to the king or queen, though I suppose they are not guards anymore. Now they are just the royal enforcers who ransack the villages. They used to wear the royal colors of Pyrus: gold and red. But now that armor has changed, and so has their name. We call them Shadow Riders because they always appear randomly and without any noise, like a ghost.”
“Oh … how did they become this way?” I asked, breathing heavily from the sprint I had to make to catch up with them. “Wouldn't the king still have authority over them?”
“Who knows?” Frizzle responded. “Some say it occurred when Flayre, our previous Kreydur, was murdered and King Sol went into a mindless rage.”
“Why would the death of the Kreydur affect the king's decisions?” I asked, puzzled. I understood that the Kreydur was kind of like the ambassador for the country, but why would the death impact the king to the point of rage? Flizzle hesitated before he spoke again, and when he spoke, his voice was a whisper.
“Flayre was the son of King Sol and next in line to lead Pyrus. When his body was returned to the castle, King Sol locked himself away. He lost his influence over the country, so I guess the guards began to abuse their power.” I believed otherwise. Something doesn't make sense. Why would the guards betray who they were supposed to protect?
I didn't have time to analyze the situation, however, because I heard the sound of hooves colliding on the stone walkway behind me. The Shinso must have realized I wasn't home and were probably pursuing me to kill me.
“Quick! They are upon us. Follow us!” Frizzle shouted, and they began to run. I marvelled at how fast those two could run, they could make a race horse look like its running at the speed of a turtle in comparison. I needed to use magii in order to keep up with them, but I was afraid of the risks. Would my body be able to handle me using my magii chambers again? It's been two weeks since I've used magic, not to mention the fact that my magii chambers were wrecked.
“Well, now's not the time to start being overly cautious,” I muttered under my breath. I began to tune out everything around me. My heartbeat began to slow down, and my eyes began to close as I pictured the faucet overflowing with water. When I opened my eyes, I knew that I could begin channelling again. There was no sign from my chambers, just a gut feeling. And now, I thought, it's time to test my theory to see if I can rely on the village for my power!
I became oblivious to the sound of the shadow rider's hooves as I focused on using the town's atmospheric magii to power my legs. There was just one word pulsing in my head, keeping time like a continuous drum beat: run. Flizzle and Frizzle had disappeared from my sight when I began to use the magii, but I knew if I could just keep running, I could escape the Shinso. A magii compression cramp began to form in my thighs, but I wasn't far enough away to have a chance at escape. If I stopped now, they would catch me and probably kill me or take me to the king and have him kill me—and living was something I needed to do.
My legs were burning and aching from the effort, but I continued to push myself. A little farther, come on, and I began to feel the effects of aging occur. I was at my limit, but as I was nearing the plaza exit, I was grabbed by the hood and pulled into an alleyway that looked completely identical to the one where the house I had stayed at was. I ended up crashing into Flizzle and Frizzle and knocked them both over. Their hoods went flying upon impact, and I glanced at Flizzle's and Frizzle's faces, and I was horrified.
They had greenish blue spiked hair, piercing orange eyes, and crimson skin. It was like looking into a mirror when you looked at both of them side by side. Frizzle had a scar right from his left eye etching down his face, while Flizzle had the same scar on the right side of his face. The other side of their faces was a tattoo of some kind, etched in black ink. When they both realized I could see their faces, they quickly put up their hoods, but the image remained carved in my mind.
“Now is the time when we should move.” Frizzle spoke, ignoring the fact that he had been de-hooded. “The Shinso will begin to realize you are in the alleyways, and they will hunt you.”
“Why ar
e they chasing me?” I questioned. “Up until two weeks ago, we didn't even know the other existed!” Frizzle and Flizzle were both silent. I knew I should have asked the question again, but something told me that they would not answer. Either that or give me a riddle. Just a reminder to myself: I despise that whenever someone chooses to avoid an answer to my question, they give me a riddle. Maybe it's so they can clear their conscience of not having actually answered me.
“The Shinso have many reasons to seek you out,” Flizzle replied, interrupting my thoughts. “One of them would be your interruption of their tax collection. You saved Fitz from a painful, torturous death, but they never forget a face. You have branded yourself in Pyrus, Jack, and they will hunt you until you are caught or killed.” I didn't respond to his statement and retreated into my own private thoughts. I'm on the run! I thought grimly.
“You must flee! There is a ladder behind the house a few alley corridors to the left of here. You can use the rooftops to escape before they catch you,” Frizzle whispered.
“But what about you two?” I asked them. “I can't just leave you here.”
“We will distract the Shinso until you have left the village,” Flizzle replied. “Hurry now! I can hear the hooves of their steeds approaching.” They then turned away from me and began to walk to the opening of the alley. I gave those two brave twins one final look and then sprinted in the opposite direction. I knew I would probably not see them again, and my heart longed to fight alongside them, but I decided to respect their wish and try to escape.