Eloy's Legacy

by Kara Timmins

  He looked down into her eyes and saw the knowing in them. She blinked up at him and turned her head, expectant. Eloy reached up with his free hand and ran the tip of his pointer finger over the round of her little head. Her fur was just as soft as he thought it would be. The soft under-fluff of her hair was like down feathers on a baby bird, but the longer black-tipped hairs were somehow just as soft. She closed her eyes and pushed her head back against his touch.

  After three passes, she opened her eyes, cooed at him, and jumped back down to the ground to run to Timyr.

  The other three were smiling at Eloy, watching the connection.

  Eloy smiled. “Does that mean I have her approval?”

  “It would seem so,” Timyr said.

  42

  Eloy awoke the next morning when the treetop-dwelling birds were still calling out their raucous song. He looked around the rumpled furs and strewn dry grass and found Neasa already gone, Malatic still sleeping. Eloy pulled himself away from the soft furs and rubbed his eyes. The sleep in the corners felt sharp as his fingers prodded and kneaded. He stood and stretched his arms over his head, reveling in the cracks and pops that started in his shoulders and moved down his spine. He didn’t remember his body making so many announcements before. Then again, the creaky stiffness in his joints and muscles upon waking was becoming new and frequent too.

  Eloy looked down at the still-snoring Malatic, the absence of Neasa a void in his outstretched arms.

  Eloy walked into the house, where heat was already blooming. The morning sun danced through the prisms cut into the ceiling and cast spots of colors over the array of leaves, flowers, and water. The plants looked different already, from the first time they’d walked into Timyr’s strange and beautiful home. Eloy wanted to be able to marvel at it the way Neasa did, but every new blossom only added to his anxiety. He wanted to move. Every new growth represented his stagnation. They accused him of being no different than them: planted in place, unmoving.

  Voices came from the other side of the house, and he walked toward the doorway leading to the fire pit. Neasa and Timyr were talking to each other, their backs to the entrance and their attention turned to mounds of wrapped leaves laid evenly out on the ground.

  “Morning,” Eloy said.

  The two looked over their shoulders.

  “Good morning,” Neasa said. “How did you sleep?”

  “Fine. Malatic is still sleeping,” Eloy said.

  “Not surprising. Did he seem okay?” Neasa asked.

  “Loud, so normal as always, I guess. Why?”

  “No reason.” She looked back down at the packages on the ground.

  “What are you doing?” Eloy asked.

  “Finishing up the packing,” Timyr said.

  Eloy perked up. “Finishing up? What did you pack?”

  “Food, mostly,” Neasa said. “This’ll make things a whole lot easier as we go. No more scouring the forest. It’ll save us a lot of time.”

  “That’s good news,” Eloy said. “What do we have?”

  Timyr pointed to the wrapped leaves lined up in the far left row. “Mostly nuts and seeds over here. These are all safe to eat. Not all of them taste great, but it doesn’t take many to get you through the day. In the middle here we have some dried meat, and over here at the end some vegetables that will keep. This should work for a while. I don’t go west toward the rock much, even before I had a good enough reason not to. I don’t know what still grows there or what we can trust, so this’ll have to do. If we run out, we’ll figure it out.”

  “When will you be ready to go?” Eloy asked.

  “The four of us can get everything packed up before early evening,” Timyr said, “but that’s a late start. I’ll leave that decision up to you. This is your trip. I’m just here to help.”

  Eloy bit at his lower lip. “We’ll go tomorrow morning so that we have the day to travel. That way we won’t be rushed, and we can be sure we’re as prepared as we can be.”

  “Sounds good,” Neasa said.

  Timyr nodded. “One last night of comfortable sleep will do us all some good.”

  “I’ll go get the bags,” Eloy said. “Let’s get started.”

  Malatic woke sometime between late morning and early midday and joined the hustle of preparation by the fire pit. “Oh no,” he said sarcastically, “you should have told me there was a lot of work to do. I would have loved to help.” He smiled and popped a piece of fruit in his mouth.

  “Don’t worry,” Neasa said. “Timyr saved pulling the pine root for you.” She pinched Malatic’s side as she walked by.

  “Hey!” Malatic folded sideways against her pinch. “The stuff with the thorns?”

  “That’s the stuff,” she said over her shoulder as she walked into the house.

  “Yeah,” Malatic said to Eloy, still chewing, “I’m not doing that.”

  Eloy manipulated the packets of food into a bag. “Right, of all the things you’ll do for her, that’s where you’ll draw the line. Not crossing a sea and rummaging around a hot, sticky, dangerous forest, but pulling a poky root.”

  Malatic dropped his chin toward his chest. “You’re right. You think she slipped me some magic from the get-go that made me so powerless?”

  Eloy looked up at Malatic and smiled. “No.”

  “No,” Malatic agreed.

  The four moved around in a flurry of purpose for the rest of the afternoon. The sun was turning the golden shade of evening as they finally stood over their bulging packs and bags.

  Malatic yawned into the crook of his arm. “What time are we leaving?”

  “Early,” Neasa said.

  “Don’t know why I asked,” Malatic said. “What’s for dinner?”

  43

  They ate their meal at the fire pit and turned in early, the consistent hum of the forest bugs running through their nightly song all around them. Malatic added his deep nasal hum to the mix almost immediately, and Neasa followed with her deep huffs soon after. Eloy couldn’t fall asleep.

  Timyr hadn’t slept with them for most of the time they’d been staying with him, saying that he preferred sleeping in the natural canopies of the trees this time of the year. Still, Eloy wasn’t surprised to hear him come into the sleeping area and sit next to him, and Timyr didn’t seem surprised that Eloy was still awake.

  “You know,” Timyr whispered, “those packs will get us through a trip back south just as well as it can west. A plan doesn’t mean you’re somehow required to follow it through.”

  Eloy sat up. “You don’t have to come. I won’t fault you for changing your plan, either.”

  “I’m not a young man. Going south, going west, staying here doesn’t make much of a difference to me. You and them, you’ve got more at stake.”

  “Are you telling me you don’t think you have anything to lose? I can’t say that’s a good trait for someone who’s going towards something so dangerous.”

  “You don’t think so? Seems to me a man with nothing to lose can be a good man to have at your back. But no, that’s not what I’m saying. It’s not that I’m looking for an end, not by a long way. It’s just different.”

  “What do you want?” Eloy asked.

  “What do I want out of going with you?”

  “No. What do you want?”

  Timyr turned and looked through the dark shades and shadows of the doorway to his house. “I haven’t thought about it much.” He paused. “No, that’s not true. I stop myself from thinking about it. Not much good in wanting when there’s no hope of getting it.”

  “But you wanted something once.”

  “I did,” Timyr admitted.

  “You wanted something so much that you crossed a boundary and went into a place that was more dangerous than the one you were leaving.”

  “I did.”

  Eloy looked i
nto Timyr’s eyes. “This is what I want. This is what I’ve always wanted, from the time I knew there was something more to want than what someone else wanted for me. I want to know what’s waiting for me. I want to know why I’m here at all. I want to know if I’m capable of seeing this thing through. It’s all I want. At this point, it’s almost all that I am.

  “I’ve left almost everything behind. I appreciate that you want to save me from having to experience whatever it is that’s ahead, but it isn’t the first thing that’s gotten in my way, and there’s no way I’m giving up now. I mean it when I say I’m not going to fault you for staying back. We’ve just met. You don’t need to take a risk for the things I want.

  “But there’s something in this that involves you, even more than Neasa and Malatic. Of all the people who could have come across your path, why me? Of all the people I could have come across, why you? Don’t you want to know? Ask yourself honestly, and let yourself wonder. If you don’t want to know why, not even a little bit, then I think it would be best if Neasa, Malatic, and I go on and meet you back here, if we can.”

  Timyr sat unmoving for a while. “I do want to know.”

  “We’re connected in that, then.” Eloy felt tired. He looked at the sleeping shadowed forms of Neasa and Malatic. “Did you put the choice of going back south to Neasa and Malatic too?”

  “I did.”

  “Good. You did what I wasn’t strong enough to.”

  “I’m beginning to understand why they’re determined to go with you.”

  “If you get a good hold on their reason, be sure to let me know.”

  “I doubt you’d want to sit down for that conversation.”

  Eloy yawned. “You’re probably right. We’re at a disadvantage, you and me. We’ve had time and experience enough to doubt each other’s motives. We could detour down to the eels and make each other’s intentions clear enough, but doing that would sour the way things are supposed to work with people. I don’t want to think about all those who said they were one thing when they weren’t. I’m no Seer. I want to be someone who doesn’t put the fault of bad men on those who don’t deserve it. But it’s hard.”

  “It is.”

  “Has what I’ve said made you feel more at ease about my choice to go?”

  “I still wish you wouldn’t, but I have a better understanding of where you’re coming from.”

  “Know that I’m not going to change my mind.”

  “Yes, that’s clear.”

  “You know . . .” Eloy lay back and looked up at the swaying dense leaves above. “I’ve tried to image the kinds of things this journey will present, both good and bad, but I never imagined I would’ve gotten the chance to meet you. I’m glad for it. I’m grateful I’m getting the chance to get to know another part of such a great family.”

  Timyr laid down on the fourth stack of furs. “I stopped imagining the possibility of something new a long time ago. You can’t know the strangeness to have it here again.”

  After a few moments, Eloy heard the soft rumble of Timyr sleeping, a new addition to the night song.

  44

  Neasa, Timyr, and Eloy were up at dawn, rolling their sleeping furs up while the morning birds were just starting their daybreak call.

  Neasa caught Eloy by the arm as he walked toward Malatic. “Let’s let him sleep.”

  “Neasa,” Eloy said. “Is he okay? You have to tell me if he’s not.”

  “He’ll be fine. He’s still healing.”

  “It’s been quite a while since you treated him.”

  She dropped her hand from his arm. “And not everything heals to fit your time frame.”

  “I’m not bringing it up because I want to get moving. You know that.”

  “He’s fine. He just needs to sleep.”

  Eloy wasn’t sure if he was reading her right, but it sounded like she was losing her conviction. “You’ll tell me if he’s not, right?” he said, softer.

  She nodded. “I’ll tell you.”

  Neasa roused Malatic as the light started to creep into the forest. He was sluggish, but Eloy couldn’t tell if it was just normal morning grogginess or not. He had to trust Neasa to know what was best for him. Eloy turned away and focused his attention on the last tasks that needed to be done. He welcomed the mindlessness.

  Before he knew it, he was standing with Timyr, Neasa, and Malatic next to the fire pit, all four weighed down with bags and packs, their weapons secured at their backs. Even Timyr had a rough-looking broad sword, which he assured Malatic was still sharp enough to do its job. Eloy dropped his hand to the well-worn bag at his side. He hadn’t anticipated how reassuring it would feel to have it back on him, like an old friend.

  Eloy turned to Timyr. “You know, Midash made this for me.” He looked down at the bag.

  “Did he?” Timyr raised his bushy eyebrows. “He’s improved. He used to stitch things together that looked worse than animals caught under fallen trees.”

  The four laughed, and an air of hope lifted in Eloy’s chest. This is a better way to start, he thought.

  “Everyone ready?” Eloy asked.

  Timyr cupped the rounded bottom of the sling and patted what Eloy suspected was Vivene’s rounded back. She rotated at his touch. “Got everything I need.”

  “Got way more than I had coming in,” Malatic said.

  Eloy stepped forward. “Let’s go.”

  He walked through the group and into the glass house. The path through was familiar, but the beauty of the light, colors, and growth hadn’t diminished. Eloy took it in with appreciation, the kind of appreciation that came with knowing he was walking away from it. The rush was as familiar to him now as the change of a season, and he lusted for the sense of renewal with equal regard.

  Eloy heard Neasa talk a few strides behind him. “You’re okay with leaving all this behind?” she asked.

  “I’ll be back,” Timyr said. “It’s not going anywhere.”

  Eloy tried not to imagine the vines and bushes growing up and around the wooden pillars and the glass walls, pushing against the panes in chaos. He didn’t want to think about what time would do to this house, constructed with care and competence, if the man who had cultivated it never made it back.

  He led the way out of the front entryway and didn’t hesitate as he walked back out into the untamed forest.

  45

  The day got hot fast. Eloy could feel the sweat collecting in his beard. The days spent lounging around had made the quick step of travel that he was once used to more difficult than he remembered. He tried to get control of his huffs of exertion, but thinking about it only made it worse.

  “The tree I climbed when I saw Timyr’s house isn’t much farther ahead,” Neasa said.

  “Then we turn west,” Malatic said.

  Neasa nodded. “How much farther is this thing you sense, Timyr?”

  “It’s a ways away still.” Timyr crouched down and sat cross-legged, the foliage reaching up to his chest, and he closed his eyes.

  Eloy, Neasa, and Malatic stood around and looked down at Timyr, and they waited. Eloy glanced over the wash of the forest green, not really taking any of it in.

  Timyr jumped back up. “Whatever the danger is, it’s still in that area. Definitely directly toward where we need to be going to get to this black rock. While having whatever it is out there isn’t ideal, it’ll make it easy to navigate the way. Shall we?”

  “Ready,” Neasa said.

  Eloy took the first step west, and the other three followed.

  When they got into a territory they had never been in before, Neasa started looking at things they passed with more interest.

  Eloy slowed his gait to accommodate her, but also to fall in step with Timyr. “How familiar are you with the things that live out here?”

  “Pretty familiar,” Timyr said. “I try
to stay to my area because I know it best and I brought most of what I need to the house, but I venture out from time to time. There’s danger all over this forest. Survival in nature is violent.”

  “Then we need to be more careful than we’re being now,” Eloy said.

  “Maybe, but slinking around sends its own message. Everything living and watching, keeping an eye out, reads actions differently. We should be fine for now. I didn’t sense much disruption earlier. There’s something roaming around to the north of us, but nothing that would take much interest. It doesn’t have a taste for people.”

  Eloy held out his opened water bladder. “Here’s to being bitter.”

  Timyr grabbed his water canister dangling at his side, opened it, and lifted it toward Eloy. “To being bitter.”

  The two took a drink together and continued on.

  With Timyr’s help and guidance, they made good time by early evening. Neasa ran up behind Eloy. “How much farther did you want to go for the day?”

  “There’s still enough light left to go on a little longer,” Eloy said.

  “It would be a good idea if we set up camp,” Neasa said.

  Eloy stopped walking and turned to face her.

  She held his gaze with a strange squint of defiance.

  “Everything okay, Neas?” Eloy asked.

  She softened. “Everything’s fine.”

  “You’re right,” Eloy said, “we should probably make camp early. Wouldn’t want to push it too much and be too sore tomorrow after all the time we’ve spent lounging around.”

  “Exactly what I was thinking.” Neasa turned and walked back to Malatic.

  Eloy glanced at Timyr, who was on his haunches next to a tree chewing on something from his pack. “We stopping?” Timyr asked, his mouth still half full.

  “Yeah,” Eloy said. “We just have to look for a good spot.”

  “There’s a big rock up ahead. That’ll work. And that way we don’t have to sleep in the vines.”

  “Lead the way,” Eloy said.