by Clayton Wood
“Wait,” Kalibar blurted out, taking a step forward. “What are you going to do?”
The old man turned in mid-air to face Kalibar, flashing another grotesque smile.
“Our business here will have to wait,” he answered. “Apparently I have an old friend to deal with first.” He pointed his cane at Kalibar. “I'll finish with you later.” He lowered his cane, the corner of his lips curling into a smirk. “Your victory here is impressive, Kalibar. Enjoy it while you can.”
With that, the old man shot up into the sky, a loud boom echoing through the night air. He vanished into the darkness, and within moments there was silence.
Kalibar stared up at the sky, his mouth agape.
“Well then,” he heard Owens say. He glanced at the Battle-Weaver, then turned to check up on Kyle, who looked dazed.
“You okay?” Kalibar asked. Kyle nodded mutely. Kalibar turned to Ariana, walking up to her and scooping her up in his arms. Then he glanced at Kyle. “Do you have any magic?”
“Yeah,” Kyle answered. Kalibar shook his head, marveling at his son's growing abilities. He had no magic yet himself. Kyle walked up to Ariana without having to be asked, streaming magic to her. Her eyes opened almost immediately, and she stiffened in Kalibar's arms, looking up at him, then at Kyle.
“Where am I?” she asked. Then she gazed outward at the remains of the Void Behemoth, and at the Runics gathered all around them. “What happened?”
“It's over,” Kalibar answered, giving her a weary smile. He set her down on her feet. Owens walked up to her, wrapping an arm around her slender shoulders.
“We're safe now,” he said, giving her a squeeze. Kalibar turned to stare at the remains of the Behemoth, then at the Southwest Quarter, entire city blocks still smoldering from the Behemoth's deadly attack.
“Not all of us,” he muttered. “We need to organize a rescue effort for the portions of the city that were attacked.” He turned to Urson. “I want you to return to the Tower, organize scouting parties to do a fly-over of the city. Look for any remaining enemies, search for survivors. Coordinate with our troops on the ground.”
“Yes sire,” Urson replied. He rounded up the few surviving Battle-Weavers, and they flew up into the sky, making their way toward the Tower.
“Councilman,” Kalibar stated, facing Goran. “We've won this battle, but it's going to take a lot of work to recover from it...especially the Southwest Quarter. I'm going to have the military help with the repairs and rescue efforts.”
“Wait,” Goran retorted. “Bringing the military into the city was bad enough...but keeping them here? That's a clear violation of...”
“Relax,” Kalibar interrupted. “I'm decommissioning one contingent. They'll lay down their weapons, and the remainder of the legion will leave the city. I need military engineers and lots of hands if I'm going to rebuild this city.”
“Whose contingent are you decommissioning?” Goran asked, stiffening slightly. Kalibar chuckled.
“Not yours,” he replied. “But I do believe Ibicus's replacement on the Council would be more than happy to lend his troops – and his bankroll – to the effort.”
“Indeed,” Goran agreed, visibly relaxing.
“In the meantime,” Kalibar continued, turning away from the remains of the Behemoth and beginning a slow walk toward the Great Tower in the distance, “...we need to reconvene the Council, and prepare a strategy for how to approach the public about everything that's happened.”
“Agreed,” Goran replied. “But how are we going to explain all of this...” he added, gesturing toward the Behemoth and the Southwest Quarter beyond, “...without causing a panic?”
“Leave that to me,” Kalibar stated. “In the meantime, I would appreciate it if you'd return to the Tower and oversee the return of the Council. Arrange for a meeting in the War room in an hour or so.”
“Yes, Grand Weaver,” Goran replied, saluting Kalibar sharply. He paused, then reached out to Kalibar with his right hand. Kalibar grasped it, and they shook once. Goran smiled, the expression looking decidedly odd on the dour man's face. “You're a good man, Kalibar,” he stated. Kalibar smiled.
“As are you,” he replied. He let go of Goran's hand then. “I would count you among my friends,” he added. Goran raised one eyebrow.
“Don't expect me to agree with you very often.”
“I look forward to our future disagreements,” Kalibar said with a grin. Goran nodded, then stepped backward, rising up into the air. A moment later, the Councilman was shooting through the sky toward the Tower. Kalibar watched him go, then turned back to stare at the massive pile of dust in the distance. He paused, then lowered himself down to the ground, sitting on the scarred, blackened lawn. He ran a hand through his short white hair, then shook his head slowly, a chuckle escaping his lips. Then his shoulders began to shake, laughter erupting from him.
“We made it,” Ariana exclaimed, lowering herself to the ground next to Kalibar and putting one slender arm around his shoulders. Kyle sat down on Kalibar's other side, leaning on his shoulder. Kalibar wrapped his arm around each of his children, holding them close.
“I'm proud of you guys,” he stated, giving them a squeeze. Moisture blurred his eyes, and he blinked back tears. Pride filled his heart...pride in his brave, wonderful children.
“Thanks,” he heard Kyle mumble.
“I love you two, you know that?”
Kyle and Ariana smiled, giving Kalibar a squeeze. Kalibar was thankful that Ariana didn't squeeze him too hard.
“We love you too, dad,” Ariana replied.
“Ditto,” Kyle agreed.
Kalibar sat there with his children, staring off into the starry sky, the dark clouds high above already starting to dissipate. A warm breeze blew through his hair, and he closed his eyes, feeling Kyle's warmth and Ariana's cool embrace. He smiled, feeling as if a great weight had been lifted from his shoulders.
He'd done everything he could to protect his children...and his people. Risked his career and his life...and the lives of his children. And in the end, against impossible odds, with their world seeming to crumble all around him, they'd managed to succeed.
At long last, they were finally safe!
Chapter 28
Kyle walked down the pink and gray cobblestone path, his gravity boots clicking on the sun-warmed stone below, Ariana at his side. The path was one of many winding its way through the campus of the Secula Magna – and just happened to be on the opposite side of the campus from where the Behemoth had been only a day ago. Just as conveniently, the Southwest Quarter of the city was hidden by the rolling hills of the outer campus, and by the stately Great Tower less than a mile from where they walked. From here, they couldn't hear the sounds of metal on metal, the shouts of workers laboring to rebuild the devastated portions of the city. Though several city blocks had been destroyed, the vast majority of their occupants had been mysteriously evacuated before the Behemoth had struck. All stated that they'd simply found themselves in their homes one moment, then found themselves outside of the city the next. It was a miracle, they claimed...and Kyle knew that was closer to the truth than they'd ever realize. Not just that an immortal Ancient had almost certainly teleported them to safety, but that he'd chosen to help them at all.
Kyle sighed, enjoying the feeling of the sun's warmth on his face, a soft breeze running its cool fingers through his hair. There was no one else around the immediate area; in fact, they hadn't seen anyone but the campus gardeners, busily working to reseed the burnt sections of the lawn, and that had been ten minutes or so ago. He glanced at Ariana, walking quietly at his side, her hand in his. There was something extraordinarily serene about this moment, hand-in-hand with Ariana, the sound of birds chirping from the scattered trees close by. The half-hour they'd spent in the sun had warmed Ariana's skin significantly; her hand felt almost normal in his, only slightly cool to the touch. He stared at her, marveling at her pale beauty; slender and tomboyish, she was not possessed of the
impressive proportions Kyle had found so utterly fascinating in Desiree, his onetime crush on Earth, but in this moment she was impossibly lovely to him anyway. Her eyes were on the cobblestone path before them, but her mind was clearly miles away.
“You okay?” Kyle asked, squeezing her hand. She jerked her head up, staring into his eyes. Then she smiled.
“Yeah,” she answered. “Well, no,” she added, lowering her gaze again. “I'm still trying to get used to not sleeping.”
“Oh,” Kyle replied. He didn't know what else to say; Ariana hadn't had a minute of sleep since she'd been revived, and not for lack of trying. It seemed that her need for sleep had been lost. She'd spent most of last night pacing back and forth in room, waiting to feel tired. For some reason, not needing sleep had been more alarming to her than her enormous strength, or her ability to sense nearby Chosen. Kyle couldn't imagine what it would be like not to sleep...to have each day come and go in one unbroken stream, with never a break in-between.
“Darius came to visit last night,” Ariana stated, lifting her gaze upward toward the sun and closing her eyes. Her alabaster skin was nearly blindingly bright with reflected sunlight.
“Oh yeah?” Kyle asked. “What did you guys talk about?” Ariana opened her eyes, lowering her gaze and shrugging.
“Not much,” she admitted. “He asked how I was doing, then stayed with me for a few hours. We didn't talk much, but it was nice to have someone there. I thought I was going to go crazy before he came, not being able to sleep.”
“He is a nice guy,” Kyle agreed. “Sometimes.” Ariana smiled.
“Sometimes,” she agreed. “I wonder what's going on inside his head,” she added. Kyle shrugged, suddenly wishing that he could tell her about Darius, about who the bodyguard really was. It was terrible to have a secret he couldn't tell anyone, but it was even more painful to keep one from her. After all, she had no problem confiding in him. It didn't seem fair to not be able to return the favor...to have someone he could share everything with.
You know, a girlfriend.
“What are you thinking?” Ariana asked. Kyle blushed, and he turned his face away quickly, staring at the Tower to their left. He felt her nudge him gently with her shoulder. “Come on,” she insisted. “You can tell me.”
“Nothing,” he mumbled.
“Liar,” Ariana retorted playfully. She squeezed his hand gently but firmly. “Tell me what you were thinking just then.”
“I dunno,” Kyle mumbled, not knowing what else to say. Ariana raised an eyebrow.
“Was it about me?” she asked. Kyle felt his cheeks flush, and Ariana laughed. “It was!” she exclaimed, clearly delighted by his chagrin. As lovely as she was, Ariana clearly had been well-schooled in the art of torturing boys. It was, Kyle's father had noted long ago, all part of a massive conspiracy to keep men preoccupied and hopelessly confused, so that women would maintain their rightful role as the dominant sex.
“Tell me,” Ariana continued, clearly fascinated by his growing terror. She stopped walking then, turning his shoulders with her hands, so that he had no choice but to face her. He didn't even bother trying to resist, knowing that she had more than enough strength to force him if she wanted to. She smiled then, gazing at him with those big almond-shaped eyes. “Please?”
“Uh, I was just thinking,” Kyle stammered, taking one step back, his mind turning to mush. “It's nice walking with you.”
“How nice?” Ariana pressed, a strange smile on her lips. Kyle shrugged.
“Really nice, I guess.” Ariana's eyebrows rose.
“You guess?” she exclaimed. Kyle froze, staring at her like a deer caught in the headlights of an oncoming tractor trailer. But she only laughed. “It's really nice to be with you too,” she admitted. Then she turned quiet again, staring down at her shoes.
“What's wrong?” he asked.
“Oh nothing,” she replied, then shook her head. “I was just wondering if you had...” She paused then, biting her lip rather fetchingly.
“Had what?”
“A...girlfriend back home,” she answered. “You know, back on Urth.”
“No!” Kyle exclaimed, shaking his head vigorously. Then he realized he'd shouted it out far too loudly, and he cleared his throat nervously. “No, I've never, uh...nope,” he mumbled, wondering if it was possible to die from embarrassment. To his surprise, Ariana looked relieved.
“Good,” she replied. Then she cocked her head to one side, staring at him curiously. “Never?” she pressed.
“I'm, uh,” Kyle began, and then he gave up, shrugging helplessly. “Nope,” he admitted.
“But you're so kind,” she exclaimed, putting a hand on his shoulder. To his alarm, she seemed, well, alarmed by his admission.
“I'm shy.”
“That's true,” Ariana agreed, for some reason seeming quite relieved by that answer. They resumed their walk forward on the cobblestone path. A flying insect of some sort buzzed around Kyle's head, and her hand shot out disturbingly fast, moving so quickly he could barely register the motion. The insect buzzed no more. “If you ever go back to Urth, you should just try talking to them, like you did with me in the Arena,” she counseled. “Just be yourself, and you'll have a girlfriend in no time.”
“I don't want one,” Kyle blurted out, causing Ariana to stop in her tracks. She gave him a funny look, then her eyes widened, and she put her hand to her mouth. “Wait, no!” he cried. “I mean, I do, but not on Earth.” Then his cheeks flushed furiously, and he had the sudden urge to disappear. But Ariana seemed to relax a bit.
“You want a girlfriend here?” she asked, staring at him with those hypnotic eyes. He winced, realizing he'd trapped himself.
“Uh, yeah,” he mumbled, breaking her gaze and staring down at his gravity boots. He briefly...but seriously...entertained activating those boots, and flying as far away from this conversation as he could.
“Anyone in particular?” Ariana pressed, leaning in a bit. Kyle shrugged, looking at anything but her. He tried to gather his thoughts, to no avail.
“I dunno,” was all he could manage.
“You are shy,” Ariana proclaimed. But her tone was hardly judgmental. She smiled, leaning in close, then kissing him on the cheek. Her hair smelled faintly of flowers, her lips cool but soft. She pulled away, and Kyle put a hand to his cheek, his skin there tingling pleasantly. “It's okay,” she added, patting him on the shoulder. Then she removed her hand, her expression becoming serious. She stiffened slightly, lowering her eyes, then staring back into his. “Would you ever want a girlfriend that couldn't sleep?”
Kyle stared at her, his jaw slack. Then he realized she was waiting for an answer. Despite every bone in his body screaming for him to keep his mouth shut, he didn't. The word just came out.
“Definitely.”
Ariana broke into a smile, leaning in and giving him a big hug. Too big, in fact; Kyle gasped as the air was crushed from his lungs, his arms flailing helplessly as spots began to appear in his vision. Ariana let go of him, and he nearly dropped to the ground, managing to hold himself up by putting his hands on his knees. He gasped for air.
“Sorry!” Ariana blurted out, clearly mortified. Kyle stood up, a pained smile on his face.
“No problem,” he squeaked, holding his bruised ribs with one hand.
“Even if she could break your ribs?” Ariana asked with grin. Kyle paused, then shrugged.
“I guess.”
“You guess?” she shot back, putting one arm around his shoulders. He flinched reflexively, but her touch was gentle this time. She walked forward then, bringing Kyle with her. “Well I'll try not to,” she conceded.
“Gee, thanks,” he replied.
“You'd better not get me mad then,” Ariana warned. “For your own good.”
“I'll keep that in mind.”
Ariana laughed, brushing her long brown hair back, the wind rustling her tresses. Then she gave him a slight squeeze. “Thanks,” she said, leaning her head on
his shoulder. Soft hair tickled his neck, the smell of flowers intoxicating him.
“For what?”
“For being you,” she replied. Kyle raised an eyebrow.
“What, a wimpy Runic?” he pressed. She laughed.
“You’re my wimpy Runic,” she countered.
“I did cripple the Behemoth, you know,” Kyle stated. “While you were taking a nap.” Ariana rolled her eyes.
“Uh huh.”
“Thanks for saving me, by the way,” Kyle added, giving her a squeeze. She smiled at him.
“That,” she replied, “...is what girlfriends are for.”
* * *
After their walk, Kyle and Ariana returned to the Tower. They'd both wanted to travel outside of the campus to watch the – quite literal – army of engineers and Runics as they rebuilt the city, but Kalibar had forbid them from passing the repaired gate surrounding the Secula Magna. Master Owens had suspended Ariana's lessons, and Kyle had not yet been given a replacement for the late Master Banar, so each of them ended up with a lot of time on their hands, and little to do with it. So they mostly hung around while everyone else in the Tower buzzed about busily, observing the organized chaos around them.
Neither of them had seen much of Kalibar – or Erasmus, who had apparently made a remarkably quick recovery from his near-fatal wounds – since the Behemoth had been defeated. Kalibar had his hands full in restoring order to the city, having already delivered a speech to the public in Stridon Square. Kyle hadn't been able to witness the speech, but it had apparently gone well enough. Other than a short-lived riot in the Southwest Quarter (followed by rampant looting), the city had maintained order throughout. The massive influx of decommissioned military types might have had something to do with it; even without runic weapons, the trained soldiers were a formidable deterrent to crime.
After the speech, Kalibar and Erasmus had been pulled into a series of meetings with the Council, with short breaks in between. All that Kyle knew was that some of the meetings had been about the two men using the Right of Dictatorship. Kyle had feared that the Council would try to prosecute Kalibar and Erasmus for invoking the Right, and there was no doubt that some of the Council members wanted to. But to his relief, Kalibar had proven awfully popular with the citizens of Stridon after heroically leading the attack against the Void Behemoth, not to mention helping to invent the weapons that had finished off the thing. And Goran himself had moved to exonerate Kalibar and Erasmus, much to Kyle's surprise. As a result, the Council had formally endorsed the Right of Dictatorship, safeguarding the Grand Runic and Grand Weaver from future prosecution.