by Moira Murphy
***
“Won’t the Lavocs find us out here?” Niko looked up at the clear sky from the base of the Stone City.
“Not today. Nathayre has sent them all to walk the wall.” Mooney replied with a huff as he threw down a large heavy duffle bag.
“Looking for Cami?”
“No, today they are searching for those of us trying to get to the water. Tomorrow they will back to their regular day of hunting Cami.” He unzipped the bag, revealing a plethora of silver, gold, and jeweled weaponry.
“What will they do if they find any?” Tuck asked.
“Stop them.” Mooney was not too keen to go into more detail.
“What are we doing?” Tucker gestured toward the bag of goodies Mooney was now unloading.
“Well, since we have you for a day, I thought we might have a day to get familiar with—with how we defend ourselves here.” He splayed the various tools in a neat line.
“Against what exactly?”
“I believe you’ve met Crawford and a few of the other Lavocs.” He placed the last weapon at the end of the row, sat up, and collected his dread locks into a ponytail. Tucker and Niko nodded in acknowledgement. “There are a fair few more than three of them. Vanya, the first Lavoc, had four sons, and those four sons had sons, and they had sons, too.” He sighed. “I am one of those sons. I am still a Lavoc, but more than that I am a Renegade. I have grown apart from my pack, but those Lavocs-- 8 I am willing to fight.”
“Are you the only one?” Tucker asked.
“I am the only Lavoc in the Renegades, but I have my suspicions that others will follow if provoked. So, I’d like to get you all familiar with how to defend yourselves. So, this is a sword.” Mooney picked up a large silver sword with a blade in the shape of a feather.
“We know what a sword is.” Niko laughed.
“Ah, great. That’ll move things along!” Mooney enthusiastically tossed the sword to Niko, who almost fell at the weight of it. Mooney quickly pulled out his own sword and drove it into the one Niko was now feebly attempting to hold. Niko’s hands vibrated at the crash. He flung the sword from his hands; it crashed to the ground.
“Woah! Woah! I didn’t say I knew how to use it!”
“My apologies.” Mooney grinned. “So, this is a sword.” He began again, picking up the sword from the dirt and placing it back into the row. “This is a bow and arrow, a halberd, a crossbow, a war hammer,” He glided his hands over each of the weapons. A deep voice came from behind Mooney,
“Dat’s a machete. Me favorite.” Theo smiled smugly, resting his right hand on the hull of his own machete. Mooney quickly grabbed the sword from the ground and spun around.
“Pirates!” he shouted.
“Just one pirate.” Theo kept his composure.
“No! Wait!” Tucker put himself in front of Mooney. “He knows Cami, he helped us.”
“Is this true, pirate?” Mooney furrowed his eyebrows.
“Aye.” He winked.
“Who are you?” Mooney lowered his sword.
“Me name is Cutthroat Theo.”
“And why are you here, Cutthroat Theo?” Mooney asked, facetiously.
“I be here to tell you…” He nodded his head to Niko, “about yer father.”
“My father?” Niko asked.
“Yer father.” Theo shifted his weight to the other hip. “Brace yerself, lad. Yer in for a treat.”
Chapter 14
Thornen, the last Herapher, was at his usual post on the day that everything changed. He sat with his feet up on the bulwark of his ship, PennyLane, watching the clouds pass overhead. It had rained that morning, leaving dew all around his brown leather boots. The waves lapped against the wood of the stern. The air smelled of salt and fish; a scent he had grown so accustomed to. He had lived every day of his life on this very boat. It was passed down to him from his father, who had inherited it from his father.
The Heraphers had always created small families, not of choice, but by nature. Thornen had no aunts or uncles, and no brothers or sisters. His father died of old age a few years prior, and his mother soon followed. He was completely alone and yet not lonely. He knew what his life would be when he reached the age of eighteen. He knew what had to be and he was comfortable alone on his ship. And now, six years later, the suns warmed his face as he quietly sang the song his mother sang to him as he grew up,
Eyes can see
What needs to be
Eyes can see
Who should be
Eyes—
*THUD*
A loud bang came from the bottom of the boat. Thornen sat up quickly, flinging his feet from the bulwark. He looked over the edge. It was silent. There was nothing in the water. He ran to the other side of the ship; a yellow hat slushed against PennyLane. A strange anomaly. But an even stranger anomaly followed the yellow hat. Large wooden boxes filled with unknown storage began bobbing to the surface all around the ship. A large bubble came to the surface and popped, drawing Thornen’s attention away from the hundreds of boxes beginning to float to the surface.
A hand quickly followed the bubble; neon yellow nail polish adorned each fingernail. A thin arm bobbed to the top, and then a body. A woman. Thornen gasped, and immediately threw himself over the side of the ship. The water was as warm and as delightful as always, but Thornen was not concerned with the temperature of the water at this point. He found the woman quickly, flipping her face upward and out of the water. He wasn’t sure if she was alive or dead. Her dark hair covered her face. He swam over to the rope ladder and pulled her aboard the ship. She wore a navy and polka dot dress with thin straps on her shoulders. He put her ear to her chest and listened… nothing. No breath. No heart beat.
Thornen pumped her chest with his palms for a full minute before she coughed up water. It spurted out of her mouth as he rolled her on her side. Her wet hair flopped to the wood planks. She gasped and coughed again, and yet she remained unconscious.
He looked around to see where she could have come from. There was no one around. She must have been human, after all her hair was a peculiar color. She must have made it through the Crypsis spell and come up through the portal, straight into the bottom of his ship. Thornen didn’t think she looked dangerous, she seemed pretty harmless to him. She was very pale and small; she surely couldn’t inflict much harm. However, he knew what his job was; he was to blind her memories and what she’d seen already and leave her with the Crypsis, who would send her back home. However, she seemed in no condition to travel, but if the Lavocs discovered her there would be hell to pay. He had to send her back—eventually. For now, he decided to wait for her to wake up.
***
June awoke in a room she’d never seen before. She felt dizzy amd unstable. She stood up. Was the room moving? She wobbled and fell against the wall. It was definitely moving.
“Hello?” she called out. She made an effort to recall her last memory. She remembered fighting with her teacher at the university and storming out. She must have been in an accident. She must be at a hospital. Although, this didn’t look like a hospital.
“Hello?” She noticed her left leg felt a bit heavy. She looked down to see a very rudimentary cast starting just below her knee. Yes, she was injured.
“Hello?”
She heard running footsteps above her head, and then a thundering down a flight of stairs. She whipped her head around in search of some sort of makeshift weapon. She found a fishing hook on the table to her left. She gripped it in her left hand and held it behind her back.
“Hi!” Thornen said excitedly.
“Hi?” she said quizzically.
“How are you feeling?”
“Where am I?” June ignored his question.
"You're... you're..." Thornen was unsure of how much to tell her. Would the Queen be upset with her knowing the truth? He decided to tell her only part of the truth.
"You're on my boat."
"A boat?"
"Yes."
"Ho
w did I get on a boat?" she asked herself.
"You… floated."
"Where am I?" June grew uneasy. "Who are you?" She clenched the hook behind her back.
"You’re on a boat. I’m… I’m…"
"Are you a doctor?" she said, pulling the hook from behind her back.
"A doctor... no." He put his hands up in defense.
"I need to leave." She lugged her heavy calf toward the door, keeping her newly found weapon in front of her body.
"Umm... you can't," Thornen said nervously.
"What do you mean I can't?" She shoved him out of the way.
"I mean... physically, you can't."
"Watch me," she said defiantly, stepping through the doorway out into the sunlight. She was blinded almost immediately. The sun was incredibly bright, and it was intensely reflecting off the water. Water. All around her; water. Everywhere. There was no sign of land except for a few miles off to the East.
"How in the..." She spun around and stopped, facing East. "There. I want to go there. Take me there." She pointed.
"That's not a good idea."
"Why not?"
"It's not safe for you," Thornen said with an exaggeratedly soothing voice.
"Excuse me?" She glared at him.
"You're not supposed to be here."
"Well, I don't want to be here, so... that's perfect. Let me go."
"I can't."
"Yes, you can," she urged.
"I can't."
"You can." The argument came to a standstill. Neither side would cave; she was stubborn and he wanted to keep her safe.
"What's your name?" he asked her.
"What's your name?” she said aggressively.
“Thornen,” he said with a smile.
June paused and looked him up and down. His hair was a stark yellow; almost neon. She thought of her hat and touched her head, it was not there. She sighed, knowing she’d probably lost it for good; a gift from her grandmother in Italy.
“I’m June,” she said begrudgingly. Thornen’s lack of composure charmed her. He was nervous and clearly flying by the seat of his pants in planning; it was endearing. He was harmless.
“June.” He confirmed. He found her immensely attractive. She had extremely dark curly hair, and her skin was pale. The contrast intrigued him. And her reluctance to smile, he found motivating. “A-are you hungry?”
“Uh… yeah. I could eat,” she said, maintaining her distance.
“Great!” He turned around, and jaunted up three steps to another deck. Fish, fish, and fish. “Fish?” He called down.
“No… thank you. Do you have water?”
“Absolutely.”
He ran under deck. June stretched her back and looked about the boat. While she was confused about her location, she didn’t feel as if she were in danger. This strange man with strange hair seemed sincere enough. She looked over her shoulder toward the land off in the distance, just in time to see a small row boat approaching. One man sat inside it, his forehead dewed with sweat underneath a brown fishing hat.
“Uh… someone’s coming!” she shouted down the stairs.“Thorton!”
Thornen peaked his head around the corner, “It’s Thornen.” He corrected her.
“Right… well, someone’s coming.” She pointed toward the man in the row boat.
“What?” He put the glass of water in her hand and jogged to the side of the ship. Shielding his eyes out, he peered out. “Right… um.. it’s Hari.” He began nudging June back down under deck.
“He already saw me.” She pushed him back. “Who is Hari?”
“He’s the Crypsis. He’s a friend, but you… he’ll…” Thornen grumbled, exasperated.
“He’ll what?” she continued resisting his gentle shoves.
“It will take too long to explain.” He got her through the doorway.
“Thornen!” A voice came from over the edge of the rope ladder. “Throw down your rope!”
“Yeah, Thornen. Throw down your rope.” She gave him one final shove. Thornen wrestled himself in thought before huffing over to the side of the ship. He leaned his arm down over the rope ladder and clasped the arm of the other man.
“Thank you, Thornen.” The man said brushing off his pants. “One of my spells was broken, so I came to see if something had come through, I see I was correct. Hello, I’m Hari.” The man removed his hat and placed it against his chest. Purple hair tumbled down to his ears. “I am here to help you get home.”
“Great,” June said, ready to go.
“Well, w-wait. She is in no condition to swim.” Thornen gestured toward her leg. Hari looked down at the cast.
“Well, who did this?” Hari laughed quietly.
“I-I did my best,” Thornen said timidly.
“Is it broken, Thornen?”
“I think so.”
“Why don’t I take a look,” Hari offered. June allowed him, as he seemed to have more control over the situation than either of them. He examined her leg, gently. “It is not broken, but Thornen is correct, you won’t be able to swim.” He stood up.
“I’m sorry, but there are two perfectly capable boats right here, why is it that we are only mentioning swimming as an option?”
“To get back to where you came from, you’ll have to swim.” Hari smiled.
“I’m dead, aren’t I? I drown and this is my hell, is that it?” June asked incensed.
“You’re not dead! You’re in W-“ Thornen began, but Hari quickly cut him off.
“Thornen, why don’t you let me and Ms.-“
“June.” Thornen informed him.
“-Ms. June and I talk alone.” Hari turned to June and calmly continued, “As I’ve had more experience with such things.”
***
“However, this is no place for you to heal… I think you should come stay with me for awhile. You’ll be more comfortable.” Hari had just finished explaining as much as he knew of Wiklow and the other world to June.
“You are insane. You are both crazy.” She was not accepting this fairytale she had just been told. It was completely ridiculous.
“I know this may be hard to understand right now. I know you’re confused, but this is happening.” Hari was collected in thoughts and emotions. The exact opposite of Thornen. He was a bit older than June, most likely in his early 30’s. June found this all to be way too much to be true. She attempted to remain as calm and collected as Hari was. She focused on her breathing.
“How—how can I know that what you’re saying is true?” She breathed in heavily.
“The suns! Right, Hari?” Thornen shouted, almost giddy. “You said their world only has one!”
“Yes, Thornen.” Hari reminded June of a school teacher she had as a young girl, he was kind while soothing excited students.
“What does that mean?”
“We have three!” Thornen said, “Come!” He pulled her towards the top deck. Hari allowed it. He believed it to be the only thing that might convince her.
“Oh, God. I am dead.” She leaned over the side of the ship, and watched the water lick the dark wood of the ship.
“You’re not dead.” Thornen held her shoulders. “You’re in Wiklow.”
“I want to go home.” June was surprised at herself for allowing Thornen’s hands on her.
“You can. As soon as you can swim.” He tried to assure her.
“It shouldn’t be more than a few days.” Hari came onto the deck, trying to be hopeful. She didn’t answer. She felt nauseous; she couldn’t discern whether it was sea sickness or the thought of what was happening to her. Hari continued, “I have a wife and a daughter. You’ll like them. My wife is quite the baker. And I’m sure you must be hungry.”
June still didn’t answer. Hari reached into his breast pocket and pulled a piece of paper out; he placed it in June’s open hand. She turned it over to see the face of a child in sepia tones. She couldn’t have been more than two years old. Her smile was wide , eyes shut, and nose scrunched.
It was Hari’s daughter.
“What’s her name?” June asked, quietly.
“That is Bindy.” Hari said proudly. June looked up at Thornen, who was eager to see her smile. He was determined to see it before she had to go.
“Will you come with me?” she asked him.
“Try and stop me.” He grinned.
Theo shifted his weight to the other leg and nodded his head, confidently. Niko, Tucker, and Mooney stared at him, waiting for him to finish. Theo continued bobbing his head, as if he’d just made the most significant speech in all of Wiklowian history.
“…And?” Niko threw his hands up.
“And?” Theo asked, shocked that they had not come to the proper conclusion.
“Are you saying that… June was…” Mooney attempted to finish the story for Niko.
“Aye.” Theo nodded.
“June was what?” Niko still didn’t understand.
“June was your mother,” Tucker said, waiting for Niko to react.
“How do you know that?” Niko asked Theo.
“Rumors were that Thornen and June became close while she was here. Very close.” Theo raised his eyebrows. “A few weeks later Thornen asked me to take her to the portal. I knew that I’d be dead if I hid a human from Crawford,” Theo explained. “But, Thornen was so… desperate… that he traded me PennyLane for doing him a favor. I couldn’t say no to a new ship.”
“You’re saying she was pregnant?” Tucker asked.
“I don’t know for sure, but on the ride back to the portal she chucked overboard a couple times. And you,” He looked directly to Niko, “look just like Thornen.”
“If you’re Thornen’s son, that means—you’re a Herapher.” Mooney turned to Niko.
Chapter 15
“I’m very clearly not getting this.” Niko said, distraught.
“You will.” Bindy said for what seemed to be the thousandth time. They had been at work for two hours, attempting to kick start Niko’s inner Herapher. “Do you want a break?” She asked, kindly.