by J. B. North
Roland gave the impression that he knew where he was going. After a while, we finally reached a red and yellow tent set up in the center of the city square. Unfortunately, it seemed to be the destination of the whole city. People were cramming into the tent like bees in a hive. I felt like fleeing, but Roland grabbed my arm and tugged me along behind him, pushing past people rudely until were were in the tent. I felt like apologizing to the those that we'd left in our wake.
Inside, a blazing fire was burning in a smooth silver barrel on the stage, making the tent smell like smoke and sweat. Roland had dragged me to the other side of the tent, away from the entry and the fresh air. The heat felt good to me, but as we waited, I saw sweat start to bead on Roland's forehead.
Finally, the curtain opened, unveiling a single person that stood in the middle of the stage. I assumed that he wasn't one of the dancers by his girth and his tight tuxedo. “Ahem! Ladies and gentlemen!”
The crowd quieted.
“We are about to begin. If you would all step farther from the stage, it would be much appreciated.”
The crowd pressed closer together. I could feel someone's breath on my neck.
Somehow, a few people got between Roland and me. I felt uneasy about it, but then a dancer came out on the stage wearing a stunning red dress, causing me to forget any discomfort I'd previously had. The tent entry closed, making the light of the flame flicker across people's faces.
The dancer lit the ends of her fire-staff and held it horizontally in her hands, waiting for the violinist on the other side of the stage to begin playing. The song started on an impossibly high, clear note and drew out into a beautiful melody. The dancer's steps matched the song perfectly as she spun and flung the staff high in the air before catching it again. She danced without flaw, silencing the audience with her grace and beauty.
Another dancer, a man, appeared beside her. The dance between them showed their love for each other.
Then, another man came from behind the curtain, wearing black, his face hidden in the shadow of his hood. His dance was quick and aggressive, and the song picked up to match it. He shoved the woman away and began to duel with the man. Finally, the duel was ended when the evil man kicked the good man to the ground and held both his and the other man's staff up in victory.
Then, both staffs were doused in water and the men disappeared from the stage, allowing the attention of the crowd to switch back to the girl. The tune melted into a sad song, and my heart broke for the girl, who danced alone until the song ended. The crowd clapped and whistled once the dance was finished, and the girl smiled, reminding me that it had only been a performance.
The crowd cheered even louder as another song started up, this one with a much more lively tune, flooding the stage with dancers. They spun the fire-staffs so fast that it was just a blur of light and heat. As they did so, they weaved in and out of one another. Unexpectedly, half of them handed their staff to the other half. They spun them with both hands and moved back into a line, while the other half started doing flips. The staffs stopped spinning and were formed into squares. I stood in fascination as they each took turns back-flipping through the provided space.
I noticed Roland looking over at me for a reaction and I smiled at him. Even though we were packed in tight I was glad that I came. I’d never seen anything like this.
However, in the second that I looked away from the dancers, something horrible happened. One of the dancers, a woman, landed wrong with her flip, and sent one of the fiery poles flying toward the tent wall.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Most of the people in the crowd had noticed the accident, and we were all pushing for the exits. Roland and I were the farthest from them. The fire dancers doused their staffs in water buckets and tried to douse the fire as well, but it was spreading too fast. The whole back wall was aflame.
I was convinced that the whole place would be engulfed by the time we reached the exit, and I knew what I had to do. In first form, I didn't have a blade of my own, but I did when I was in half-form. It didn’t take too long to think about light and heat. There was so much of it surrounding me already, but I had to remember to cut it off at the last second.
As soon as I changed, I unsheathed the sword and slashed at the fabric of the tent. People noticed what I was doing, and they clambered for a place at the wall, hurling me to the ground once I’d gotten my section ripped open. In their panic, many people escaped from the hole I’d created and barely noticed that they were trampling me.
I tried to get up, but there were too many. Someone smashed their foot into the back of my head, causing my nose to ram into the ground and start bleeding.
Finally Roland found my arm and pulled me out of the way. His eyes showed apology and pity. I glared at him, trying to focus on anger rather than pain. This was exactly what I feared would happen. We were pushed farther away from the scene by the mob of people still trying to escape. By the time the entire tent was aflame, everyone had escaped from the blaze. People had given up trying to put out the fire, and were now standing back, waiting for the tent to go out by itself.
Roland was still staring up at the flames when I walked away from the scene. I was angry and embarrassed, and I didn't want to see or speak to him right then. I wiped at my nose and hoped that he hadn't noticed me slip away. He did, of course.
I had no idea where I was going, and I soon ended up in a dark alley.
“Ivy, wait!” shouted Roland.
I ignored him.
“I'm sorry,” he said, catching my arm, and turning me around to face him. “I didn't know that would happen.”
I could see the compassion in his eyes, but it only made me feel more embarrassed. I looked down.
Roland pulled out a handkerchief, and wiped at my nose, making it sting. I took the cloth from him and turned away, continuing to walk in the direction I'd been headed.
I noticed my skin glowing for the first time and changed back into first form before emerging from the alley. It had led us to the clay huts of the slums.
I squinted in the sudden brightness. Nearby, a mother was scrubbing laundry while her daughter sat next to her, fiddling with a ragged doll. They were both as skinny as a rail. Two scrawny boys raced through the clutter of huts. A man rolled a rusty wheelbarrow towards the base of a hut in the progress of being built.
Roland appeared beside me. “This is the part of the city called Westside. It’s where the poor live.”
I didn’t reply, but turned back the way that I came. I felt like I was intruding on their lives.
“Roland!” someone shouted.
I groaned inwardly. Did everyone in the city know Roland?
“Matilda!” Roland greeted. Matilda had long, graying brown hair and a weathered face, but her eyes sparkled as if she were still a youth. “To think that I’ve run into you and your husband both in the same day,” said Roland.
“Oh, you have, have you?” she asked, her hands on her hips. “And why hasn’t the useless lump come home?”
Roland shrugged. “I couldn’t say.”
She sighed and smiled. “Well, why don’t you come in? Sit down and have a talk with me. It's been a long time.”
Roland looked back at me. Matilda followed his gaze and looked at me curiously. “Oh, dear. She can come too, if she wants. It looks as if she could use some patching up.”
“Thank you, Matilda, but I don’t want to intrude—”
“Nonsense. We have more money than ever since Burton was given charge of his own ship. Burton has even been thinking about buying a house near the docks so that he won’t have to walk so far to get home.”
Roland looked back at me again in question. I nodded. It would be nice to wash the blood and dirt off my face.
“Good,” said Matilda. She turned and started walking. “This way.”
Outside, their hut looked like everyone else’s—a dusty orange color—but inside there were patterned rugs, a decent wooden table with chairs that matched, and
curtains draping around a single window.
“I like what you’ve done with the place,” Roland said.
“Do you?” Matilda asked. “I like it too. I think this is the most comfortable I’ve ever lived.”
“Even more than your city home?”
Matilda nodded. “Much more.”
I wondered how Roland knew so much about her.
Matilda grabbed a pot and pumped some water into it, setting it on the stove to boil. “I’ll clean your wound up in a little bit,” she said to me. “I want the water to be warm first.”
“Okay,” I answered her.
She squinted her eyes at me. “You look familiar. Have we met before?”
I shook my head. “I don’t think so. I’m from Forlander.” I realized that many people might not know about my hometown. “It's located on the northernmost island,” I clarified.
“Hmm… Maybe you just have one of those faces.” She paused. “What’s your name?”
“Ivy,” I answered.
I noticed a look of shock on Matilda’s face, but it was quickly overtaken by a blank expression. “Doesn’t ring a bell,” she said as she turned around.
I watched her suspiciously before looking at Roland. He apparently hadn’t noticed anything out of the ordinary. He was looking around the hut still.
The woman glanced back at me and smiled. “Something the matter, dear?” she asked.
I shook my head. “No. Of course not.”
She sliced up some bread and cheese and put them on the table along with two glasses of water. “That’s the only drink we have. Trying to save up money,” she said apologetically.
Roland sat at the table and I sat next to him, taking some of the bread and nibbling on it. I watched as Matilda dipped her finger in the water that was on the stove. “That should be warm enough,” she said. She poured some out into a bowl and grabbed a rag out of a drawer.
Then, she sat in the chair next to me and tilted my head toward her. I put the bread down for the time being.
She dabbed at my nose and my forehead. I hadn't realized that I'd had a cut there in all the commotion. She studied my eyes with that same knowing look she had earlier. It made me think that she knew something about my past that she didn’t want to say. I opened my mouth to ask her something, but she covered it with her own words.
“So, Roland…how did you run into this lovely girl? And why is she hurt?” Matilda said, her gaze flicking over to him.
I couldn’t see Roland, but I could hear that his mouth was full as he spoke. “She went to the conservatory with me.”
Matilda’s expression hardened. “Did she? How long has she been there?”
“About six months.”
Matilda raised her eyebrows. “And she’s already on a quest?”
“Mmhmm,” Roland said, swallowing. “It's possible that she’ll beat my record.”
Matilda smiled, but her eyes didn’t reflect the smile.
Once Matilda was done washing away the blood and dirt on my face, I turned back to the plate to find the single piece of bread that I'd nibbled, but nothing else. I glared at Roland. “Thanks a lot,” I said.
He shrugged. “I’ve told you—”
“—Yes, I know. You have a big appetite.”
He nodded and smiled. “One big enough for a sea monster.”
I tilted my head. “Does that affect how much you eat? Your second form?”
“It depends. I don’t actually eat as much as a sea serpent would, but I think it definitely makes me eat more,” he said.
“Or that’s just your excuse,” Matilda piped from the stove.
“You try being a fifty ton fish. It isn’t so easy,” Roland called to her.
She rolled her eyes at him. “You try being as big as a mouse. It isn’t so easy, either.”
“True,” Roland said as he stood. “You win.”
“Are you headed somewhere?” asked Matilda.
“I don’t want to encroach on your time, and I was hoping to show Ivy some more of the city.”
Matilda looked at my reluctant expression, and then back at Roland. “By the looks of it, I don’t think it turned out very well last time.”
“I know, but that was a strange occurrence. Nothing like that would happen again.”
Matilda looked at me, trying to make up her mind about something. “Okay,” she said. She smiled at me apologetically. I had the feeling that she wanted me to go before I asked any questions. “Try to have fun.”
I stood up and followed Roland, peering around at Matilda before I closed the door. “I know you know something,” I said on a whim. “I’ll leave it up to you whether or not you should tell me.” I saw her expression fall before I shut the door. Roland was headed for the alley again, and I started to follow.
The door squeaked open loudly and Matilda’s voice shouted, “Wait!”
Both Roland and I turned back around.
“Roland, go see whatever it is you want. I want to talk to Ivy for a few minutes.”
Roland seemed taken aback, but Matilda didn’t wait long before grabbing my sleeve and pulling me back into her house, slamming the door behind her.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Matilda stared at me for a second with her back pressed against the door. I stared back, my heart beating loudly, anticipating what she was going to say.
She came a few steps from the door and wiped her palms on her dress. “I knew your mother,” she whispered finally. “We were best friends for the longest time.”
I waited for her to continue, barely able to hear anything with the rushing in my ears.
“Our birthdays were two days apart, but I was younger. She was there for my trial even though she broke the rules of the conservatory.” So my mother had gone to the same school that I went to. “We married at the same time and had children at the same time, both boys. Kuris and Christopher were so cute together… But then Christopher got sick and died at the age of three. Kuris didn’t really understand at that point what death really was. We told him that Christopher was gone, and he assumed that Christopher didn’t want to play with him anymore.” Matilda smiled sadly. “Sometimes I wished that I were unaware of Christopher’s death like he was, but as a mother and a wife, it was my duty to know and work through it with my husband. Soon after that I had a miscarriage and then I had Jane. Jane…so sweet and so innocent. She grew up to be a polar bear—” Matilda chuckled. “Sweet, innocent Jane didn’t have such a sweet, innocent second form. When she was in the arena, however, the wizard sensed magical talent in her and sent her to the conservatory.” Her eyes welled up. “I went with her the first day, although that’s not permitted anymore. I recognized Kuris, who went by Kurt. It surprised me, because I’d thought…well, never mind what I thought. I’ll tell you soon enough.
“I paid for her to have him as a trainer. Little did I know that the headmaster had taken Kuris under his wing as his own son. He allowed Jane to have him as her trainer, and when Jane showed promise, he sent her on a quest—”
“The same one I’m on right now,” I broke in in horror.
She nodded. “Yes. Don’t believe a word of what that man says. Where you are going…it’s a death trap. You should turn back around right now. Although…you might have a better chance with Roland. Poor Jane went by herself.” Matilda swallowed hard. “And she didn’t come back.”
I felt really sorry for Matilda, but I was anxious to know about my mother. “And what of—”
“Your mother…of course. I’m sorry. I’ve not told anyone about Jane for a long time.”
I nodded in sympathy.
“Your mother had you four years after I had Jane. You got along pretty well, but Jane was too old for you. Burton took up a job as a worker on a ship, and we moved here, to Achron. I was sorry to leave Olivia and Burton was sorry to leave Garrett.” The names echoed through my mind. “The next thing we heard, you all died in a fire. That was why I was so surprised to see Kuris. And that is why I’m so sur
prised to see you.”
My hope was doused like a flame under a stream of water. “So my mother and father are dead for certain?” I asked.
She nodded. “I’m almost certain of it. If they weren’t, they would have come and told us. They would have kept sending us letters. They would have found you.”
I went to the table and sat down, resting my elbows on the table and lifting my hands to cover my face. Despite my best efforts, tears streamed through my fingers. Matilda came along and hugged me. It comforted me, especially when I felt her own tears drip on my head.
I dropped my hands and took a few deep breaths. She stopped hugging me to look at my face.
I tried to come up with a different topic. “And how do you know Roland?” I asked.
She smiled, and wiped her tears away with shaking hands. “It was a few years ago…perhaps two. Burton took him to and from Kislow. It takes a while to get there, but the first time they crossed together, Roland disappeared. They ran into each other when Roland was on his way back, and Burton asked about it. Roland told him the truth: that he was a sea serpent and had been in a hurry. Anyway, Burton said he would take him back, and on the way, Roland fell sick. We took him in until he got better, and we formed a sort of relationship...not replacing the son we'd lost, but family all the same.”
I smiled, glad that there was something positive to talk about.
Matilda sighed. “But life is getting easier as time passes. Perhaps not for you yet…but it will eventually.”
I nodded, and took in a deep breath. “What were their second forms?” I asked.
She looked into the distance as she answered, “Olivia was a Pegasus. Your father was a griffin like Kuris. They both quested for the kingdom, and Garrett even got raised to captain before he died.”
She looked over at me. “Now I'm curious. What is your second form?”
“A phoenix,” I replied.
“Hm,” she said. “Must be pretty rare. I've never heard of the thing. What does it look like?”
“Well...it's a bird with feathers the color of fire,” I said.