by N.D. Bailey
The riders were amazed at the rock men that now stood before them. They knew it had to have been Windsor but they didn’t see him anywhere and neither could they find Navi. They turned their attention to the people.
The scene before them was nothing more than a village of rag tags all used up by their enemies. Dirty and withered, they looked like broken people, no hope in their eyes. They were now free, but it had yet to show in their eyes. It was clear that they were wondering what these people wanted with them.
It was Gilmanza who first became concerned for Windsor and Navi when he couldn’t find them anywhere. He knew they would both be right in the midst of the action and they weren’t. He also knew that this powerful display of magic could be deadly for his friend. So he mounted his stelleto and scoped out the area from the vantage point of the sky. With a seemingly endless supply of energy and strength, his stelleto mounted the open air with ease.
After making a single pass along the tree-lines of the adjoining mountains, Gilmanza spotted the dragons. He knew something was wrong. Neither Windsor nor Navi were moving.
The stelleto had hardly landed on the cliff when Gilmanza leapt off it. Windsor and Navi were both laid over Moridar’s torso and both dragons were visibly agitated. He checked on Windsor first. His eyes were closed and his mouth partially opened. Seeing no signs of life, he shook him and called out his name. But Windsor was lifeless. He sat his friend’s body on the ground and shook his again. The only signs that emerged were signs of death. Anxiety raced through his body but he had no time yet to feel the grief. Denial overshadowed it. He couldn’t believe Windsor was dead.
Relief flooded his soul when he saw his hand move.
“Windsor,” Gilmanza said, shaking him.
Finally, Windsor came to. He was limp, trembling with weakness and unable to speak.
“Just lay back down, my friend. I’m gonna check on Navi.”
Gilmanza grabbed Navi off Inka and placed him on the ground. He was dead weight; luckily, he was not a big man. He shook his failing body but got nothing in return. There was not a hint of life in the wizard. His face was the shade of death, unflattering for one once so full of life.
As Windsor began to emerge out of his languishing state, he remembered what had happened. It was foggy but slowly, it became clear. He heard Gilmanza call out Navi’s name. He looked over at his friend and it now became most obvious: Navi had risked his life for him.
Navi.
Gilmanza knew all the ropes of the wizards so he had an idea of what had happened too: that Navi used his power to prevent Windsor from dying, a true act of self-sacrifice. Mustering up a measure of strength, Windsor rose up to his knees and saw that Navi was lifeless. His wrinkled face suddenly took on even more wrinkles as a look of the utmost concern washed his face flush.
Gilmanza shook him; but, Navi didn’t respond. Then, hope arose as Navi gasped in a breath of life.
Eager to make sure that Navi was going to be okay, Gilmanza sat him straight up and put the rim of his water container to his lips. After a swig of water, Navi lay back down, worn out from the power that had moved through his body.
“Thanks,” Windsor said to Navi, leaning over his friend, both still on the ground.
Navi nodded, too tired to say anything. A hint of anger boiled in his blood for the aged wizard. Why had he done that? He knew this was too many dark riders for a curse of that magnitude. Didn’t he know that they needed him, his leadership, his skills, his wisdom. He sat there gathering his thoughts along with his strength. He would deal with this later, just the two of them he told himself. But he just couldn’t convince himself to wait. He mustered up the energy and lit into Windsor.
Grabbing his shirt collar, Navi pulled the aged wizard down to his level and gave him a piece of his mind. “What’d you do that for? You knew that was too much powah and too many dahk ridahs. What are you doin? Beggin for death?” He turned his collar loose and shoved him back and Navi fell back to the ground.
Windsor was certain that this would be his moment, his moment of passing, when he felt the power arise within him to perform the miracle. It seemed like a great and noble way to die, even though he knew that the blind potter indicated a different scenario. Now, death seemed to preoccupy his thinking like never before. And so did the concern of yet another friend betraying him and another one dying in front of him. He didn’t know who to trust.
Concerned for his friends, Binko joined them on the cliff. When Navi gathered his strength, he and Gilmanza helped him and Windsor up. Navi climbed aboard Inka and flew off the cliff, too weak to hardly stay on his mount but too angry to stay back at the cliff.