by B. T. Narro
Skyfire and ash, good shot.
Siki stood ten meters away with another arrow ready. Andar didn’t have to see her shoot again to know that the first hit was not a fluke. She had a confident stance as she stared down her enemies, daring them to try something. Her level of comfort with the bow made it appear like an appendage of her body.
One of them was stupid enough to reach for a fallen sword. Siki put an arrow in this man’s arm. He screamed as he fell on his ass.
The barbarians spoke in anger as they stared at her. The one most recently shot sounded to be cursing as he yelled at her.
She walked toward him as she aimed another arrow, and he quickly shut up.
“They can keep one sword,” Siki told Andar. “We get everything else.”
Andar nodded to show his agreement. He picked up the two blades, then tossed one down the hill. He and Siki held their new weapons up and ready as Andar searched the men’s pockets. Most had a few copper coins. Andar let them keep their money. When he found a water pouch in one man’s pocket, however, he gladly took it.
“Go,” Andar said as he pushed one of them.
The man started down the hill with a worried look over his shoulder. Andar gestured for him and the others to leave.
The two with arrows in their arms grimaced and groaned as all three started down the hill. Andar could see the fourth man at the base, shouting something at his comrades. They shouted back. He didn’t seem to like what he heard, picking up a rock and throwing it hard against a tree.
Andar and Siki watched them from the hill for the better part of an hour, ensuring they walked all the way to the distant hills near their town, where Andar lost sight of them beneath the horizon.
Andar shared a weary look with the princess. He could see she was just as exhausted and thirsty as him, but there was something different about her gaze now. She looked confident, like this was her land and she wouldn’t let anyone trespass.
It was the bow, Andar realized. He noticed the same feeling in himself as he got used to the weight of his new sword.
Andar saw now that Siki was a fighter. He’d had no idea just how much he could rely on her.
Andar didn’t know what words could express his gratitude for her bravery. Rather than speaking, he found himself putting his hand on her shoulder and leaning down to place his forehead against hers. She put her hand around his back and pulled him closer.
His trust in her came as a feeling of warmth down his body. He could see a small smile of pride upon her lips. Perhaps she hadn’t known how much she could rely on herself as well, for she had never been in such a situation before.
“You did well,” Andar said.
“So did you.”
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Rygen enjoyed the days she was able to spend entirely on her own. She couldn’t remember the last time in Jatn that she’d gone a day without seeing another person. It was comforting to walk across the grassland without a care as to how she looked or behaved. She could sing, skip, or even dance if she was so inclined, not that she ever was. But she could do it if she wanted to, and that’s the part she liked.
The nights were cold, but with her warm blanket and a fire going, she slept through most nights without waking. Jin stayed by her side as she slept when he wasn’t out hunting. He often brought back furry little creatures. Sometimes she’d get up to cook one. Other times, she’d let Jin eat it all. She had plenty of dried food, and she was making good time, at least she thought so. She had lost track of the days a while ago and couldn’t really determine how close she was to her destination. So long as she kept going east, she would reach Analyte territory eventually. There, someone could point her in the right direction to the capital.
Rygen opted for Jin to return to his realm during daylight to keep up his stamina. With no one to distract her, she spent nearly every moment trying to connect to another beast in the dark realm. She had felt the presence of many creatures in the dark realm over the last few years, but she didn’t share a connection with them like she did with Jin.
As much as she loved Jin, he was relatively small. He was fierce and protective, a treasured ally, but Rygen knew there were bigger beasts out there. She wanted to do everything she could to help Leo and his family, and she could do more with a stronger creature.
There was one in particular, a confident and aggressive beast, that Rygen had been speaking to across the realms shortly after her trip had begun. She focused her full attention on this one, for she had a feeling it was very strong. She didn’t know what it looked like or what to call it. All she could gather was that it was not afraid of much, which said a lot, considering it lived in the dark realm, where many creatures were dangerous.
From what Miqu had told Rygen about creatures in the dark realm, they all had some level of fear. Rygen could feel this was certainly true of Jin. As brave as he was, there were plenty of animals in his realm that made him run. She could feel every time this happened. It was through one such moment that she had connected to the mind of one of these fearsome beasts, the one chasing her poor Jin.
Connecting to the dark realm was like experiencing a memory. The more powerful the memory, the easier to recall, like when Leo had visited. She felt flashes of emotions like wanting him to stay, feeling his lips on hers, and the flaring passion between them. She recalled his arms holding her close as they embraced, and how she had felt so safe, so treasured. But she had to strain to remember pieces of their conversations.
It was similar when trying to communicate with this beast. She could feel flashes of its confidence and aggression, but she had to strain to tell it anything. She couldn’t speak to it yet, though. With Jin, she could tell him many things, like to come here or that she was in danger. It became even easier to communicate with him once he was in the same realm with her. But speaking with this other beast was like trying to communicate with someone who didn’t speak her language. She had only understood one message, and it was sent back to her repeatedly.
“Are you strong?” the creature asked.
“Yes I am,” Rygen tried to answer.
She had made some progress since this began, for their messages had become slightly clearer. But she was eager to bring him through to her realm without further delay. She didn’t know when she might encounter danger and need the aid of a bigger beast.
Rygen had tried making rifts for the creature many times, but it never wanted to come through. It was scared of the loud and ominous rift in its realm, not knowing what it was. She tried to tell it that the rift was safe and that it would allow them to be close, but the creature wasn’t interested in her enough to face its fear.
As she went farther east, she started to notice something changing in the air. It wasn’t just the temperature, though it was getting warmer at night. This was a different kind of change, like how the atmosphere of a room changes when a threat enters. Rygen sensed Esitry, but it was unlike the blue energy she was used to. This Esitry in the air was thick and disturbing, unmovable. She figured it was coming from the rift and took out her spyglass for a look ahead, to the east.
Rygen thought she noticed a blue tint at the bottom of the horizon. It was difficult to tell, for the Analyte mountaintops blocked most of it. She had to trust her feeling more than her sight. She needed to veer south somewhat to keep a direct course.
◆◆◆
Rygen didn’t know how many weeks had gone by since she first felt the rift. She noticed an enormous group of people. They were quite a few miles east of her, heading in her direction.
Who could they be besides the human army? But if it’s Mavrim Orello’s troops, why would they be returning? She knew that the rift in Analyte land was not yet destroyed. She had lost sight of its apex as she’d traveled downhill, but she could feel it disrupting the air.
They must’ve heard about the barbarians, she realized. They gave up on the rift in order to take back their cities. But they came all this way for the rift. It isn’t right for them t
o turn back now…unless the rift is impossible to destroy? Rygen’s heart sank at the thought.
But perhaps that meant Leo was with this army. Her excitement to see him kept her head up.
If she did not locate him, though, could Rygen trust the army? She had heard stories of them stealing from the people of Jatn, and tales of them arresting men and women for very little cause. An individual soldier was more frightening than a normal thief, for he had the law on his side. But soldiers in groups were usually just. She didn’t know why that was, but it was an observation she had made during her time in Jatn.
She figured she would be safe approaching them, given their vast numbers. As she walked closer, she could see that there were many thousands. She wondered just how many, their uniforms darkening the green earth.
A fear she couldn’t explain told her to stop short of them and stand out of their path as they approached. She went up a small nearby hill as she waited; their many boots signaled power. There were too many rows of them for everyone to see her, even if they all looked her way, but those who did notice her stared with confusion.
She watched the two front men as they started past her a ways down the hill. One wore a crown, but he was too young to be the king, Mavrim Orello.
He must be Prince Gavval.
Next to him was a man equally young. He didn’t have the most distinguishable features, but she soon recognized him as the commander of the army, Jarrel Marks. The king had probably never gone on the trip to Analyte land and still resided in his castle. Rygen wondered if the barbarians had taken it. They might’ve even killed him. Considering the terrible things Mavrim had done to Leo’s family, this did not make Rygen fret. What did was how she was going to find Leo among tens of thousands of men.
She wondered if many of them had heard of Leo, for he would certainly be one of the youngest soldiers based on the many older faces Rygen could see. Most of these men were even old enough to be her father. Occasionally, she caught sight of a face of a young man who might’ve been around Andar’s age, but never did she see one younger.
She yelled out, “Leo? Leo? Does anyone know Leo Litxer?”
She was surprised when she noticed Jarrel Marks turning and pushing through his men. He seemed to be heading to Rygen. He must know where Leo was, but he was not the kind of man to put in so much effort to tell Rygen.
She didn’t trust his intentions, hurrying away from him as she continued to call for Leo.
A man rushed through the ranks and walked to her in a hurry. He looked to be in his twenties, his round and friendly face full of worry.
“Rygen Nexi, is that you?”
Her spirit soared. She would find Leo soon with the help of this man; she just knew it.
But as she started to answer him, Jarrel Marks yelled out, “Stop! Say nothing to each other.”
Rygen froze, unsure what exactly she was scared of but still terrified. Jarrel had a mean glint in his eyes as he glared at her.
“Papers. Now.”
She handed over her papers that told him her name was Rygen and her birthplace was Jatn. It also said her birthdate, indicating she was fourteen, but she didn’t think that was important here. She tried desperately to figure out why he wanted to know her identity. She thought it had to do with him stopping her from speaking with this young man. And this young man must know Leo.
Does that mean Leo is in trouble?
“How do you know Leo Litxer?” Jarrel asked.
Rygen looked to the young man for help. Jarrel turned her head back to him with a hard grab to her chin. “Don’t look at him. Look at me. How do you know Leo?”
Leo was in trouble, she realized, and this man wanted Leo to stay that way. Rygen had to play innocent. She had to pretend she was not of value to him.
“I was in Jatn when the barbarians attacked.” She didn’t have to strain to make her eyes glisten with tears. “They killed everyone I know. I barely made it out. Leo is the only friend I have left, but we haven’t seen each other in years. I’m not sure if he’ll even remember who I am, but I couldn’t stay there or they would’ve done terrible things to me. Will you help me?”
She knew this was the easiest way to get soldiers to leave her alone, to ask for their help. Jarrel made a sour face as if he didn’t believe her. He pointed at the nervous man waiting behind him.
“How do you know this man?” Jarrel asked.
“I don’t,” Rygen answered.
Jarrel had a hint of a smile. “Then it must be through Leo that this man recognized you. Tell me the truth. Just how well do you know Leo?”
His intentions were painfully obvious now. But why did he let them show so clearly?
He doesn’t need to hide them, Rygen realized with terror. He has all the control here. If he wanted, he could arrest Rygen and use her as leverage against Leo. The only thing stopping him was the chance that he was wrong, which would cause him to burden his troops with holding Rygen captive for nothing.
What had Leo gotten into?
There was only one way out of this, but she needed the help of this stranger. She gave him a perplexed look. “The last time I spoke to Leo was six years ago,” she lied. “He wouldn’t have told anyone about me.”
Please understand what I’m going for.
“Rygen, we met a long time ago in Jatn,” the soldier explained. “You were very young, so you might not remember. My name is—”
“Stop!” Jarrel interrupted. “Do not say one more word.” He leaned over Rygen. “Let me explain something to you. Leo Litxer has gone against my orders. If you are close with him, then I will have you stay with us until we meet him again. Then you can help me talk some sense into him.”
You mean convince him to give up whatever he’s doing and surrender to you.
“I’m not close with Leo. Truly, I’m not.”
“For me to believe that, you would have to prove that you’ve met this man before.” Jarrel pointed at the soldier, whose look of worry persisted. “Otherwise, I’ll have no doubt that Leo spoke of you to him and that’s how he recognized you.”
She lost her breath as not a single idea came to mind. How could she prove she’d met someone who she had never met, never even heard of?
No, no! She couldn’t have come all this way just to be captured and used against Leo. She wanted to help him, to be close with him again. She would rather die than be used for his demise.
She thought of summoning Jin. She had a dagger and had already killed three people with Jin’s help. She had confidence that with a bit of surprise, she and Jin had a decent chance to kill this army commander. But Jarrel would see her either opening a rift or pulling up her pant leg for the dagger. She might never complete the task. Was it still worth the attempt, though?
Suddenly, she felt a small cluster of Esitry pulled here from the other realm. It hovered around the soldier before dissipating a breath later.
Rygen’s mouth dropped open. He had given her the answer she needed. A quick story formed in her mind.
“I remember him now! I never learned his name, but he came to Jatn because of the rift. We met briefly in the market. He was a summoner in training looking to buy a rift stone, but I told him none was ever sold in Jatn. I bet he’s a summoner now.”
Jarrel grumbled something as he walked off. The young man beamed at her. She smiled back in relief. He gestured for her to walk with him as they headed away from the marching army for some privacy.
“Thank you,” she told him.
“No, don’t thank me,” he said with a laugh. “I should’ve thought of bringing Esitry here earlier. Leo told me you were a summoner. It was the obvious solution. I’m thankful you knew what to do with the information that I was a summoner, too.” He lifted a finger at her. “I figured you would. Leo told me how smart you are. I’m Edward.”
Rygen was brimming with joy. She wanted to hear everything Leo had told Edward about her and find out everything Edward knew of Leo…but now was not the time.
“Is Leo all right?”
Edward sighed. “I wish I could say he was, but I’m not sure.”
“What happened?” she asked, dread straining her voice. “Wait, first tell me where we are. I have seen no cities so far. Am I close to the palace?”
“We are deep in Analyte territory, but you are still a ways from the palace.” Edward looked back in Jarrel’s direction. The commander no longer seemed interested. “I have something for you that I think you should read first.” He handed her a note.
She opened it and gasped as she recognized Leo’s handwriting. He’d always had neat penmanship.
Dear Rygen,
I made a terrible mistake. Andar’s gone, and it’s our fault. I don’t know where he is or if he’s even still alive. I’m here in Analyte land with half of Mavrim’s army. We came here to destroy the rift. Everything seemed like it would be fine when Mavrim revealed himself and declared peace with the rebels. It was so we could all fight an enormous beast that lives in the rift, but KRenn Trange came back and everything has gone wrong since.
I can’t tell if any of this makes sense. There’s no time to explain better.
I don’t know what’s happening in Jatn during this time, but I’ve heard of terrible things. If you cannot come here where you will be safe, then I will find you as soon as possible, but first I have to find my brother.
--- Leo Quim
“What?” Rygen’s brow furrowed in confusion.
“I know,” Edward said. “I’ve read it a few times, and I still can’t figure out what caused this to happen.”
“Caused what to happen? What does he mean Andar is gone? And where is he now? This is not like Leo, to be vague.”
“He was in a rush because he saw our army marching away, and he must’ve been caught in the middle of something. Through speaking with others, I’ve found out since then that the situation is even worse than Leo made it sound in his letter. He planned for me to find you in Jatn. At least you’re here already. I think you’ll be safe in the Analyte palace for now. Oh, I can see I’m only causing more confusion. I’m terribly sorry.” He let out his breath.
