by Kyle West
Don’t be discouraged, the voice said. My protection goes with you. I have a memory that will keep you safe. If you bathe in the ichor upon waking, I can assure you that your blade will sing in harmony with the xen. It will be your shield, protecting you from harm.
You’re going to teach me how to fight like Anna.
Yes. Before, the memories could only be transmitted in bursts, imperfectly. But soon, you will be capable of far, far more.
What about Isaru? Can he gain the same memories?
The Voice hesitated. The effects would be…uncertain. His potential is not the same as yours. He has potential, yes...but of a different kind. One thing is clear: the Prophecy — your Prophecy — must be found.
The darkness swirled, the shining lights went black, and the silver streams faded to nothing.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
WHEN I AWOKE, THE DAY was already bright and I could discern the blue of the sky through the parted treetops. The sun cast translucent pink shadows on the forest glade. I turned on my side to see Isaru still asleep.
Through the twisted spiral trunks, gleaming silver in the morning light, was the ichor of the pool. I rose, being careful not to disturb Isaru. I left the glade and walked slowly on the silver shore. Jorla was gone from the pool, and in the daylight, its surface shimmered like colored glass.
I remembered Isaru’s warning: ichor was dangerous to touch. Only, the voice in my dream had told me to enter this pool. If I was truly going to enter the Red Bastion, then I felt as if I had no choice in the matter.
So first, I knelt at the pool’s edge, lowering my hand and allowing it to break the surface. The ichor wrapped around my hand, slipping through my fingers as I raised it above the surface. It didn’t hurt, though it did make my skin tingle.
It was enough proof for me. I took off my boots and socks, but left the rest of my clothes on. I placed one bare foot in the ichor to test it. It wrapped around my foot and was warm to the touch, giving the same tingling sensation it had given my hand. I put the other foot in, and the thick liquid gave way easily, almost seeming to part for me. I walked forward until it was up to my torso.
I drew a deep breath, allowing myself to sink below the surface. Immediately, a rush of images entered my mind, seemingly transmitted by the surrounding ichor. I saw strange colors, flying dragons, the connection and harmony of all Elekai. I was a part of something ancient and wonderful.
I moved to return to the surface, but I remained frozen in place. This didn’t panic me; instead, I felt strangely calm. When my lungs began to burn, I simply breathed in the ichor, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
I don’t know how long I remained below the surface, in stasis, but there was one thing I was sure of: I wasn’t entirely myself. Whatever of Anna that was in me came to the fore, dominating the entirety of my consciousness. I wasn’t in the present era; I felt as if I had gone back in time four hundred years, and I could remember everything from her life clearly. I could still feel myself — Shanti — buried somewhere deep. And perhaps the most unsettling thing of all, this change didn’t alarm me.
Alex? I thought.
Within the Xenofold, as deep as one’s thoughts could reach, I thought I felt something stir. Or perhaps someone. Someone powerful, someone ancient, someone who would overwhelm me had I been my former self.
The surrounding ichor seemed to fade, until there was a sudden brightening. I stood on a shimmering white surface, and a dark sky filled with stars spread above. In the distance stood a figure, obscured by shadow.
I knew it was him.
Anna…you’re back.
My chest tightened as an intense longing permeated my entire being. It was a voice I hadn’t heard in what felt ages.
I never left.
I walked forward, but suddenly felt compelled to stop.
I’m sorry, he said. I can’t allow you to come any closer. It…might kill you.
What?
You’re no longer of the Xenofold. Not completely. Even this connection can only last a moment. I just…wanted to feel your presence.
Alex…
I wanted to tell him that I wanted to be in his arms, even if it killed me. Instead, all I could manage to say was something entirely insufficient.
How have you been?
He was quiet for a long while, as if the question were too large to answer. I’m happy, now…if that’s what you mean. Whether we’ll survive the coming storm, who can say? But I believe in you. I believe you can do what you set out to do.
Just as you did.
I could, only because you were with me. It pains me that I can’t do the same for you. Only know that I am with you, always. I will protect you, always, Anna.
At the mention of that name, I felt Shanti’s consciousness stir within me. Not yet. Give me more time with him.
Do you remember any of the visions I gave you?
I fought to remember, but there was nothing. No. It’s all been eroded. She…wrote down some of them, but even she fights to remember.
I’ve tried to restore the Sea of Creation, he said. But there is no power left…even for me.
Don’t say that, I said. We always have power if we decide to act. We will save the Xenofold, and we will save the world. I just can’t remember what it is I’m supposed to do, or when Xenofall is coming…
Xenofall. Where had that word come from? It sounded familiar, but I couldn’t remember where I’d heard it.
The Prince of Haven and Shanti are on their way to Colonia now, I said. We hope to find the Prophecy…and Shanti’s parents. I like her, but she’s young. It’s hard to believe we were both like that.
Will you have to overcome her?
I don’t know the answer to that. We’ll have to see. It would be as good as death for her. But if it means the salvation of the planet…I have to do what I came for.
Let’s hope that it doesn’t come to that. Perhaps her being overcome is impossible to stop, but we should do all we can to preserve her memory. What happened was…unfortunate. It was never meant to work like this.
The stars above and the bright floor below were fading.
Alex?
I can’t stay any longer. I’ll always be with you. Always.
I tried to say goodbye, but I already found myself under the pool’s surface. I wondered at what had just happened, and then, it was all gone…everything.
* * *
Now free to move, I broke the surface of the ichor. The cool air felt strange, and I coughed out the liquid in my lungs while drinking the air in huge gulps. I blinked a few times, feeling more shocked than I had ever been. Anna’s presence felt stronger than ever, but even now, she was receding deep inside my mind, until all that was left was me.
“Shanti!”
I turned to see that Isaru had shouted from the shoreline. I couldn’t remember how I’d come to be inside the pool.
“I’ve searched all over for you, and you were in there the whole time?”
He took off his boots and socks and waded into the ichor, but he had only made it to his shins when he screamed.
“Isaru!”
He rushed out of the ichor, sprawling on the shore and grabbing at his feet.
I pushed through the ichor toward him, and when I emerged, the ichor slid off my skin to rejoin the pool. I knelt beside Isaru, whose eyes winced in terrible pain. His shins and feet were red and covered with boils that were still expanding so quickly that I could hardly believe my eyes. Isaru watched, his eyes wide with disbelief.
On impulse, I placed my hands on either of his feet. He yowled in pain — but only for a moment. His face calmed, and he looked up at me with surprise.
“The pain is going away…”
My own eyes widened as I watched his boiling skin transform before me. The wounds faded, the angry red softening to marble clearness, until, after a moment, not a spot was left.
His chest rose and fell, as if he were still panicked. I lifted my hands, watching th
em shake in front of me.
“What...what did you do?”
I blinked. “I don’t know. It just happened.”
We just sat quietly for a while, trying to process the situation.
“I’ve see no one heal like that before, with such skill,” Isaru said, looking at me. “No one. How…”
“I don’t know, Isaru. I think I had a vision in that pool, but I don’t remember any of it. I can’t even remember why I went in there.”
“Ichor is dangerous,” Isaru said, after a moment. “Normally, one can’t just enter like you did without any ill effects. When I saw you in there…I assumed it was safe.”
“Wait,” I said, remembering. “I had a dream last night. There was this voice. It said it was a collection of Anna’s memories in the Xenofold that’s been trying to communicate with me, and…” I shook my head. “It’s all so confusing.”
I explained that dream as best as I could. If anything, Isaru seemed to make more sense of it than me.
“Yes, that does explain where all your dreams are coming from,” Isaru said. “It makes sense that the Xenofold would try to teach you about the past. And it makes even more sense that it can speak to you more directly when the power of ichor is involved.”
“It told me to go in the pool,” I said. “It said it would give me Anna’s ability to fight, but I don’t feel any different…and I remember nothing. There’s only a blank space between my going in and coming out.”
“The toxin,” Isaru said. “Though I’ve never heard of it working so quickly. Perhaps you were not meant to remember…”
Isaru was interrupted when Jorla flew from above the trees, spreading her wings and gliding to land on the shoreline. She flapped her wings a couple of times to steady herself before addressing us both.
The way is clear, she said. We had best be on our way.
Isaru and I looked at each other, as if each of us were wondering whether we needed to work this out more.
“I’m all right, if you are,” I said.
Isaru nodded. “Not all questions have answers. And we do need to get moving if we’re to reach Colonia. We should be there by late afternoon.”
CHAPTER THIRTY
IT WAS AN HOUR INTO our journey that I felt a sharp pang of hunger. I hadn’t eaten or had a drink since the night before, so we stopped for water when Jorla spied a bubbling spring among the xen-covered rocks. Her eyes were far sharper than ours. From time to time, she would change course for no clear reason. It was as if she were plotting her way across the Red Wild by sighting landmarks.
Isaru and I had decided it would be best to approach Colonia from the north, since it was likely the city would keep more of a watch on its eastern side, given that was the most direct way to the Red Wild. Circling around to the north would also mean we could add a few more hours to our time, meaning we wouldn’t arrive in Colonia too early. We needed the night to mask our approach.
As morning passed into afternoon, I wondered when, or if, we were ever going to eat. I knew there were far more important things than food, but not being properly energized for tonight could be our downfall. Jorla must have felt my unease, because she shifted toward the right, where a large stand of xenotrees grew on the banks of a winding stream. As we approached, I saw that there were small huts rising from a xen-covered island around which a rushing stream split. The colors of those huts blended in so well with the surrounding terrain that I would have never seen it without Jorla.
“A village,” I said.
“A Wilder village,” Isaru said. “I suppose this is where we’ll find dinner.”
“How do we know they’re friendly?”
Isaru shrugged. “I guess there’s only one way to find out.”
“That’s comforting.”
As we lowered to the ground, I could make out people moving between the huts. Some were lounging and chatting, others still walking in the web of trees that lined either side of the stream, though the island itself was kept mostly clear. If one thing was clear, it was that Wilder Elekai lived much differently from people in Haven, Nava Village, or the Sanctum. The village was so remote that likely they rarely, if ever, saw people from more civilized lands.
Several of the villagers, at last, spied Jorla, signified by their pointing upward. They seemed to be excited, some of them jumping up and down; apparently, dragons were a rare sight around here. I wondered how they knew the difference between her and a Mindless dragon. Soon, a large space was cleared for Jorla’s landing, right in the center of the village. She alighted softly on the xen-covered earth, right in the middle of the surrounding huts situated in the shape of a circle.
“They seem friendly to me,” Isaru said.
Indeed, the villagers were talking excitedly as we dismounted, but I couldn’t understand a word they said. The Red Wild was so impassable that villages separated by a mere twenty miles could speak entirely different languages, and they’d had centuries to evolve. These people, for the most part, were tall, fair-skinned, and men went bare-chested while the women wore tunics of a fine weave, though the cut was much shorter than decency would have allowed in Haven. Their hair was dark, almost black, and their eyes were a similar color. One of the men stepped forward, wearing a wide smile set on a similarly wide face. He said something to us that I couldn’t understand. I looked to Isaru for help, but he was just as confused.
“Hmm,” Isaru said. “Let’s try this.”
Isaru mimicked the act of eating and rubbed his belly, and the man laughed, saying something to the gathering of villagers behind him. They laughed at his joke, and presently, he gestured for us to follow him.
As we followed the man, I felt a bit overwhelmed with the fifty or so people that had gathered around us. There was no reason to think they meant us harm, but I was very aware of the fact that we were outnumbered. At least some of them must have felt the same way, because some of the Wilders’ eyes quickly scanned our swords. The man leading us took note of our weapons, but didn’t seem as nervous as the others.
He gestured toward one of the houses, beckoning us to enter, but only after he motioned us, curtly, to leave our weapons outside. Once we had left our sheathed blades on the xen outside, we followed the man inside.
The hut was surprisingly spacious. Its floor had been hollowed out to provide more room, and several wooden steps led down to it. The hut was composed of one wide, circular room, and a large rug woven of plants covered almost the entirety of the floor. Four bunk beds had been built into the wall, each with a plump mattress and sheets woven from the same material as the rug. Two women were inside, kneeling across from each other and weaving fabric using a loom. One was older and the other younger, and both were pretty. I immediately guessed the older one was the man’s wife while the younger one was his daughter.
They both looked up, and at their surprise at seeing us, the man said something to them quickly in his language. In short order, both of the women offered us welcoming smiles. The older woman motioned Isaru and me to sit across from them on the floor.
“What do you think they’re saying?” I asked Isaru.
They quieted at my voice, and then spoke with each other quickly. The man nodded, gave us an encouraging smile as if to say, “stay here,” and was out the door again.
“I don’t know,” Isaru said.
We were only sitting there a moment when another man, balding and with a ring of white hair, quickly ducked into the hut. He looked a lot different from anyone else we had seen in the village, so much so that I was surprised I didn’t notice him outside. He had a long, white beard and sharp blue eyes. His eyes widened upon seeing us.
“So, you’ve finally come,” he said, sitting down in front of Isaru and me.
I blinked, a bit shocked to hear him speaking my own language. “What do you mean? You speak Espan?”
“Speak it?” The man laughed, his cheeks rosy. “I grew up in Haven, Child, so of course I speak it. I was wondering when, or if, the Sanctum would send
anyone out here, but I was not expecting ones so young. I guess they’re letting anyone become a Seeker now, eh? I predicted it years ago, and how they had laughed at me!”
Isaru and exchanged a glance, confused. “You’re a Seeker, then?”
The man laughed again, before shaking his head. “Once, I might have called myself that. A Cleric, I was, sent to minister to the Western Wild. I had a hard time at that, too! Things became much easier when I decided to settle here and stop cramming our ideas down their throats. When I did that, learning the ways of the Avakai people became so much easier.” He chuckled. “Especially when I became one myself.”
Isaru frowned. “We aren’t Seekers. We were simply looking for something to eat on our way...well, I guess I shouldn’t say where we’re going.”
The man looked at Isaru, incredulous. “Food? You came all the way here for food?” He translated to the man who had led us in here, and he had a good laugh at that, along with the two women. He said something else, making the Cleric laugh as well.
“What’s so funny?” I asked.
“He said that he knew someday tales of his wife’s cooking would make it to the Settled Folk.” The Cleric paused. “That’s what they call you, you know. Settled Folk.”
The mother put away her weaving, reaching into a nearby pot that seemed to be filled with a globular, purple fruit. She took a sharp, glass-like knife, and began to slice the fruit into pieces. The daughter took on an argumentative tone, but the older woman wasn’t hearing any of it, and gave the daughter a strict command. The younger woman fell into silence. She stood stiffly, and I watched as she went outside the hut.
“They’re preparing you a meal,” the old man said.
“Thank you,” Isaru said. “We merely expressed to Jorla our desire to eat. We had no idea that she was going to drop us here.”
The Cleric chuckled. “No worries. Avekai, Settled Folk, it matters not. We Elekai always take care of our own.” He held out a hand. “My name is Borek. It’s been years since I’ve spoken to a Havenite.”
