Aisling

by Nicole Delacour

  Jess scoffed sending a large bubble out to dissipate as she dove deeper. “Yeah, fish.”

  He swam a bit ahead forcing her to look at him. “I thought the knife was lost in transition.”

  “Nothing was lost,” Jess replied. “Let’s keep moving.”

  “This is important.” He held a hand to stop her, but she flipped smoothly through the water over his head and then downwards.

  “I will do whatever I can to make this quick.” Her voice held the coldness of a January sea. “I would appreciate it if you’d do the same.”

  Kilpeni closed his eyes drifting backwards. After a moment, he nodded and took the lead stretching forth towards the stone. “Okay.”

  “Good.”

  Chapter Nine

  Darkness spread out below them. The water which had once been clear grew murky with small flickers of light flashing in and out on the bodies and heads of the inhabitants of the deeper edges of the seemingly infinite ocean. As the pressure had grown thunderous in their heads, a spark caught Kilpeni’s eye in the dark. While it should have kept falling, the stone remained fast to where it laid in the dark. Jess swam closer until she realized that she could not go further down. Her hands traced the solid for where the stone had made its stand.

  The stone glowed in the darkness below them. “How is that possible?” Jess asked softly, turning to stand upon the darkness. “You said there was no land.”

  “This can’t be land.” Kilpeni swam along the solid form beneath them. “This must be some animal or plant.”

  Jess crouched down and touched the stone as her Aisling circled the area for clues regarding in what the stone was implanted. The stone did not move though she tried to pull it from its crevice. Though the tiny indescribable piece rocked back and forth at her touch, the stone simply burrowed deeper into the form. While it dug, a bellowing roar echoed from one end as the entire form shook where it had once floated along in the edgeless ocean. Jess stared upwards watching in awe as the murk cleared. Sea creatures darted away as fast as they could. A shark, which she had not even noticed on the way down, fled right past her causing her to flatten herself against the flat surface. Tiny spots glimmered in the distance – more Castes that had come to see the threat only to turn and run for cover as the ocean quaked with another mighty roar.

  Kilpeni reached out as he found the edge of a gigantic turtle’s shell only to grab hold tightly and cling in hopes of not being left behind. The creature rocked forwards and backwards before surging upwards from the depth. Jess floundered in search of anything to hold on to, but for a time, the rushing of the water and the upwards force kept her pinned. Drawing nearer, the empty heavens bloomed as clouds parted with nothing but darkness behind them. In the depths of that ocean, the great turtle rose from the depths with two small flesh beings riding upon its back. Kilpeni reached for her and held her tightly to the evergreen shelf when Jess’s hands slipped. On the turtle’s shell, the stone remained out of reach. A pulsing crash of air broke the strain against their backs though both slid towards the edge where the creature’s shell met the water. There in the darkness of the third dimension’s night, they stood upon a giant turtle’s shell staring at a starless sky.

  “I’m never coming back from this, am I?” The question was whispered, and Kilpeni knew better than to answer this time. He remained quiet while Jess ascended to the peak. Though she had been certain her clothing had been soaked beneath the water, she was completely dry. Kilpeni was equally untouched by the water. A new quirk that Jess didn’t honestly have the energy to ponder. “There is a story that says all the land back home rides upon a turtle’s back. A sky woman fell from her home – was pushed some say– and a turtle caught her with the help of other animals. She danced and spread the earth until she had a new home.”

  Kneeling beside the stone, Kilpeni ran his fingers around the comparatively small wound where it had buried itself. The stone had not even reached flesh. “There’s no earth here.”

  “Decaying plants – if there isn’t something eating it, decaying plants could become ground. The stones are fundamentally changing the divergences between the other dimensions and the core world. The further we go, the closer they will be to succeeding.” Jess sat upon the turtle’s back beside him. “How are you not seeing this?”

  “I’m not an author. I don’t imagine possibilities. I manage the singular reality presented to me.” He sighed when the stone would not be moved.

  “That’s not being an author. That’s being human,” Jess mumbled before pulling out her pocket knife. Flicking it open to the nail file, she stuck it down into the crack and flipped up the stone with only a slight groan from the beast.“Two down. Fourth dimension?”

  “No, there’s another here somewhere.”

  She placed the second stone with the first back in the pink pouch that remained around her neck. Slipping it underneath her shirt, she sighed. “Kilpeni…” everything save his name drifted away on her tongue.

  “What?” He stood; she followed suit.

  Upon the turtle’s back, the ocean seemed truly endless. There was no sun, though clouds drifted past showing an empty blue sky. No birds broke the stillness. The only sound was of the waves crashing against the sides of the turtle’s shell. Salt air brushed over her face like a memory. Jess hadn’t gone back to the harbor since Gram died. That summer had hung over her head for four years. All the months spent with sand, sea breezes, and the rush of the ocean had been stolen then. That summer was stuffed down in her soul where neither she nor her mother would accidentally find it. Gram’s pride had never faltered even in the end. She had whispered about ghosts and grandchildren – always about Jack -- leaving the granddaughter beside her aware of what a black mark dark-skinned blood can be to an old world matriarch. The ocean was a sanctuary and a reminder of the harbor that was further away than she could ever measure.

  “You’ve been with me through everything. Right?” Jess watched as Kilpeni nodded slowly. “I can be with you for a few more stones.”

  She didn’t truly have a choice, but he was kind enough to not point out that reality. From the edge of the turtle’s shell, she dove back into the water with her shadow a solid form by her side. This was no more his world than it was hers. They remained close together tearing through the vast emptiness that once more loomed before them. The turtle shrouded them in darkness for a time, but soon even that giant reptile would be nothing but a speck in the distance. The blues of the sea grew into cold grays as a storm that had been distant moved overhead as the pair pushed further onwards. A third stone called to Kilpeni from a great distance. With each passing league they swam, his tawny eyes flicked sideways at her; she did not express exhaustion though she should have passed out from exhaustion or even drowned by this point. The drumming of rain upon the ocean’s surface echoed into the deep. Whatever graces were lent to those of the core world would only last so long when faced with constant exertion.

  “Jess?” He glanced around for a better idea of how to protect her and allow her to rest without delaying their quest. “I could stretch myself to form a sled or some sort of capsule for you if you’re tired.”

  “I’m not tired,” Jess replied quickly; then the words rewound in her mind. “How long have we been traveling core world time? I don’t feel tired at all.”

  “Not long,” Kilpeni lied, regretting bringing up the inconsistency. He could only hope that she would credit her energy to the same source that allowed her to breathe underwater.

  Jess watched Kilpeni. She had no way of knowing how Kilpeni sounded when he lied. They had never spoken to her knowledge before the shower incident, which she had no desire to think about at length, but there was something strange. Darkness loomed before them; however, it was not the same murky uncertainty where they had found the turtle. A floating forest of large seaweed and brightly colored twirling tendrils reached downwards from their anchors that floated on the surface. Giant green pads glided on the water creating a jungle with th
eir roots. Other plants clung to the roots and bottom of the pads stretching downwards. From still a while off, Jess could see buildings tethered to the roots that disappeared into the forest above. Doorways and stairs and every aspect she had not believed possible without stable ground rocked back and forth in the traveling woods.

  “Whose house is that exactly?” Jess asked, trying to estimate the size and length of the city that spiraled up a root thicker than her arms could encircle.

  “Don’t worry, it isn’t what you killed. It’s a Phalopod mating city. These are only used during the mating season. They raise their young here. The Senate is around somewhere in a highly defended city like this; however, we’ve gotten off lucky. It’s empty, and I’m rather certain the stone is in there,” Kilpeni informed her. His eyes traced the city for any sign that it was currently inhabited.

  They didn’t notice the glimmers in the twining weeds and roots. Dozens of eyes followed their descent below the long reach of the forest and ascension into the lowest hanging doorway of the hatching city. Chattering in the shadows, the Castes drew closer waiting for an opportunity to attack. The pair ascended into the underwater citadel where the smooth spiraling corridors led upwards into large rooms and further straight tunnels into rooms of various sizes guarded from the tide though the whims of the wave vanished within the dense growths. The stone was higher up than it had originally felt.

  “It’s moving,” Kilpeni whispered, swimming faster upwards and darting through tunnels to other sections of the city.

  Jess chuckled. Her soft laughter warmed a bit of the coldness between them. “Maybe it decided to bury itself in a shrimp and run away. Maybe the stones are awake. Maybe they don’t want to be found.”

  Light refracted through the stones from beneath and above where sparse light was multiplied to create a glow throughout the city. In its center – close to the surface, a large octagonal room stood well stocked though there were little furnishings about the rest. Where the rest of the city was painted in calm shades of green, this room was flush with pinks and reds. Small dots of purple were around as if the painter was desperate for color, but the dyes for their designs were too rare to spare anywhere but within this room. Phalopods danced across the ceiling with other vague forms covering the walls and cases of crudely carved and twisted toys.

  “It’s here – somewhere. I can feel it’s nearby, but I don’t know where.” He swam the circumference of the room before growing close to the ceiling before moving low to move the large broad rectangles and trapezoids formed from seaweed and roots. “It has to be here.”

  “Does it ever startle you how popular Echo’s story has become?” Jess asked moving outwards to search another room.

  “What do you mean?” He overturned a few more of what he could only assume were beds hanging partially attached to the ceiling.

  Opening a latch in the wall, small toys fell out floating and sinking in turns as she said, “You know, the huge effect that self-love, or what you’d call Aisling-Human romance, has shaped and been shaped by the assumptions of the core world. Oscar Wilde wrote a story surrounding that sort of narcissism – Dorian Gray. Plus, all those characters directly named after him!”

  A single black eyebrow rose in disbelief. “You’re referencing that wizard boy again, aren’t you?”

  “Always.” She grinned before huffing in frustration when she couldn’t get all the blocks and oddly shaped toys back into the wall. “What is this building even made out of?”

  “Old roots turned into a sort of lumber.” Kilpeni tapped the wall. “Bones.”

  “I’m in a corpse city – a true necropolis. These are truly the adventures I dreamed of as a child,” Jess sardonically grumbled.

  He chuckled, and she couldn’t help but join him. None of this was even close to what either of them had planned for her supposedly unimportant life. While the two attempted to retrieve the stone that lay hiding somewhere in the large circular room, the Castes crept through the side tunnels and laid in wait. Whispers passed between them in the water as they bided their time. The feathers upon their heads twirled in the water before flattening to their heads.

  “I never meant any of this for you, Jess.” He smiled forlornly pressing his hands along the walls. He could not bear to face her. “I want nothing but the best for you, and every single day that you suffered because of me was torture. You reached for more than was assigned to you. I never dreamed of such things when I was your age. I believed that I would live a single life – be a tree or part of a mountain. Maybe stretched and fading as a cloud, but I never wanted more. If the world were fair, I would have my peace, and you – you would have your glory.”

  Jess’s voice was almost too soft to hear when she answered. “It isn’t glory.”

  “Then what is it?” Kilpeni asked leaning his forehead against the wall furthest from where she floated.

  “Purpose – I want to do something meaningful before I die. Writing has purpose. People value books. They read the stories and sympathize with the characters. Empathy – a girl’s true love – books can help form the basis of cultural ideology. I just wanted to be a part of something that would live even after I’m gone. I don’t exactly have great faith in anything after death.” Her lips pressed together as if to fight against a frown. The thoughts always had an almost paralyzing effect. Death – the chill ran down her spine. There was too great a risk that there was nothingness there.

  “I wish I could tell you what happens when humans die, but you are not like Aislings who live in a world without ending. We change and adapt to continue eternally. Our world, however, will end when the core ends. Everything ends.” He spun to face her when a glimmer caught the corner of his eye. Glancing from one tunnel to the next two, he internally cursed himself for not realizing sooner. He swam closer to her, “I do not know if you have a God like we do. The Compass – they are much more involved than your deities.”

  “Yeah, I don’t think I’ve heard of any of them that write on people’s skin in telegrams,” Jess joked looking up when he drew near.

  “I believe I know where the stone is.”

  She grinned, “Fantastic. I’m done with swimming.”

  Pulling her close, he whispered in her ear. “Draw your knife. They won’t be so unprepared this time.”

  Her hand slid to her pocket drawing her pocket knife out once more. Flipping the blade open, she glanced down at the shimmering creatures waiting within the tunnels. The echo of her blade switching open sent the Castes into motion. They flooded the room from the three tunnels and crowded Kilpeni and Jess up into the ceiling where they backed to avoid being completely surrounded though within water that meant little. Snatching clawed fingers swiped through the water only to be met by a blade Kilpeni drew forth from the flesh at his side. Jess surged forward alongside her shadow, and the flood of the underwater creatures continued. For every one that Jess killed, three more came forth. Though her eyes were better than the Phalopods at perceiving the translucent forms of the Castes, Jess found one blending into another due to proximity.

  “This isn’t going to end well!” Jess growled, slicing another Caste. A brave one leapt forward wrapping itself around the arm with the knife. Claws dragged down her arm causing her to shriek and snap the Caste’s neck. Blood stained the water while Jess shifted the blade to her left hand. The bodies collected floating upwards against the ceiling. “Kilpeni! Now would be the right time to get the stone and get out!”

  The Castes overwhelmed them surrounding the two in a storm of claws and gnashing jaws. Kilpeni stretched himself and scaled wings swept up around bent at odd angles to send thunderous waves through the room while knocking away the Castes that had thrown themselves at Jess clawing and tearing until the blade dropped from her hand. As the wings enclosed around her, her right hand darted out instinctually to grab the blade. A Caste reached out with two hands tearing up her arm further before Kilpeni hid her completely from view.

  Kilpeni’s body ached. The
transformation was a far greater stretching than he had ever needed to perform. His body was not created to bend without reflecting, and with each transformation, he felt the threads that held him together grow looser. Though the present was not an appropriate time to consider such, he could not help but fear the inevitable collapse when he stretched himself too far. However, the alternative – not protecting Jess – was unthinkable. Surging upwards to the ceiling, he cracked through the bones and flew upwards into the air throwing Jess upwards into the air. His wings, which had bent backwards, rotated to send him soaring after her. The interwoven plants formed a large pallet beneath them, but the Castes could not follow them out of the water. Catching Jess, Kilpeni held her close as he glided towards the floating island of flora. His eyes searched for a sign that the stone was near. A few feet from where he had torn through the building and the forest, a small island of sand lay. A small tree stretched upwards in protest to the plans of all. Within its branches, a bright star glowed sending away the storms that should have been coming down overhead.

  “Compass?” Kilpeni called. “We need a portal.”

  “Can he even hear you from here?” Jess grumbled trying to stop her arm from bleeding further without letting go of Kilpeni.

  “He can always hear me. Now, grab the stone.”

  Jess snatched the stone from the tree when they drew close and tucked it in the pouch before Kilpeni surged upwards into the sky. Long black feathers grew where the scales had once been giving him a hallowed, winged visage. Jess observed him carefully. This must be where angels came from, she thought. In the clouds above them, dark lines scattered into bolts of violet lightning before pulling apart to reveal a clear blue sky cut into jagged pieces. Stray bolts of lightning scattered close to them sending them tumbling through the air grasping for purchase and falling through the portal though it was above them. Screaming, a thrumming deeper than any sound filled the void, and the air grew thick as feathers fell away.