The Bones of Titans

by B. T. Narro

  She tried to calm herself enough to sleep, for it was the best way to move time along. But instead, she lay awake and petted Jin as he cuddled beside her in bed. Eventually, she made another rift for Jin so he wouldn’t have to stay in this realm all night.

  She had fallen asleep when a voice roused her. “Rygen? Rygen Nexi?”

  “Yes, I’m Rygen.”

  She sat up and tried to see whose graceful voice this belonged to, but the lamplight made the woman only a silhouette.

  The woman let her arm down so the lamp no longer obscured her face. “Forgive me for the light. If I’m walking into a man’s room by mistake at night, I’d rather disorient him than let him think I’m here for a certain purpose.”

  The woman spoke like an aristocrat, though common tongue had to be her second language, for she was an Analyte, with dark eyes. Not a single freckle or blemish stained her cream-colored cheeks. Her hair was parted as it hung down, thick and wavy. She was beautiful in an elegant way, matching her voice.

  “Erisena?” Rygen hoped.

  “Yes. I have a little time before I sleep. Is it all right I woke you?”

  “Of course!” Rygen stood as a wave of excitement erased her grogginess. “I have so many questions for you.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  “I’m sure you do,” Erisena said, “but first let’s address what you know about Siki and Andar’s disappearance.” She walked around Rygen and sat on her bed. Then she slumped over as if relaxing after a long day.

  Rygen stood in front of her thinking it a bit strange and funny. She would never walk into someone else’s room and sit on their bed in such a way after first meeting them. But Erisena looked comfortable here as she stretched her back and then rubbed her neck.

  “Forgive me,” Erisena said. “I should’ve asked. May I sit on your bed?”

  “Of course you can.”

  “Thank you. I read over the note Leo wrote to you. I couldn’t ascertain anything from it. Do you have any thoughts regarding what happened to Siki and Andar?”

  Fortunately, Rygen had spent most of the day wondering about them. “The note that Leo left me was vague and repetitive, two things that Leo is not usually.” At least the old Leo wasn’t. “It’s clear that he was in a mad rush to return to the palace when he handed it off to Edward, who was leaving with the army. I think we can assume a few things from these facts. Leo felt that Andar was in danger and needed to be rescued immediately, and Leo seemed to have put the responsibility of rescuing Andar on himself. I’d take that to mean that Andar and Siki did not leave the palace by choice. They probably didn’t even leave on foot.”

  Erisena hummed. “You’ve certainly thought a lot about this. What else?”

  “I believe that an experiment went wrong. A rift was opened, a gateway, and Andar and Siki were sucked into it. Leo needed to make another to get them back, but he couldn’t.”

  “Why not?”

  “He couldn’t recreate it because he was lacking something or it was just too difficult to recreate. He might’ve run out of time when he saw Jarrel’s army coming, so he and KRenn fled. They certainly plan to return as soon as they can, so they can create another gateway for Andar and Siki.”

  Erisena thought for a long while. “That is the strongest theory I’ve heard so far. You are a very smart young woman. How old are you?”

  “Fourteen,” Rygen answered proudly. “So you agree with everything?”

  “I believe I do. Unfortunately, however, your theory brings up many concerns. If Andar and Siki really did take a gateway, then they are in the other realm. It is dangerous there. If Andar cannot keep up a shield of Artistry around the two of them, they will die. Then there are the creatures to worry about. As a summoner I can tell you that—”

  “The creatures are far bigger and more dangerous than they are here. I know. I am a summoner as well. It is the other reason I wanted to speak with you.”

  Erisena sat upright. “Oh?”

  Rygen opened a rift and mentally called for Jin. He jumped through and surprised Rygen by walking right up to Erisena and licking her outstretched hand. Rygen got a little jealous when he paid no attention to her, even as she called for him to come.

  “A marvelous kloxy,” Erisena commented. “And that was some rift you opened. What did you name your creature?”

  “Jin.”

  “Ah, from A Summoner’s Life?”

  “Yes. It was an important book to me as a child.”

  “It was to me as well.”

  Rygen had allowed the rift to close, but it remained open. Erisena must’ve held it. Out jumped a creature somewhat larger than Jin, a beast Rygen was sure she had seen somewhere before but couldn’t remember where. It was shaped like a large cat, though it had the snout and eyes of a dog. It looked friendly as it and Jin sniffed each other, though this creature could probably destroy Jin if it wanted.

  Suddenly she remembered. This was the beast that had sparked her interest in summoned creatures when it had jumped on her roof years ago.

  “This is Ravitch,” Erisena said. “Though I believe the two of you have already met.”

  “He can tell you a complicated message such as that?”

  “Certainly. I’m sure one day Jin will be able to speak with you in the same way.”

  “How can you be sure?”

  “The same way I was sure of Andar and Leo one day becoming Ascendants. I knew a lot about the three of you when you were children. I conducted tests that all of you passed.”

  “Andar was supposed to steal your testing stone at the market?”

  “No, I wouldn’t say that. I had brought it to Jatn in hopes of discovering someone young with an innate ability. After Andar took it, he led me to you and Leo. Ravitch here was the first one to tell me that you could one day be a summoner. I watched the three of you. I learned about your families. I was overjoyed to find out that the father of Leo and Andar was not who he pretended to be.”

  When Rygen thought back to her childhood with Leo, it felt as if her memories belonged to a different girl. She was not someone who would ever have to kill. She was just a small girl interested in summoned creatures, but she thought all she would amount to was a bookbinder. Erisena’s story made young Rygen sound different. The girl Erisena described was much like the girl Rygen thought herself to be now. She was intertwined with the Quim family, and great power awaited all of them. It was astonishing that Erisena had seen this potential in them so early.

  “How did you find out about Darren?” Rygen asked.

  “I had visited many cities looking not only for young mages but specifically for him. DVend had been freed from prison by a woman who had used the royal family’s trust against them. King Mavrim had men hunting for DVend and his sister. I had a feeling he might be in Jatn, for many wanted men were in hiding there. But to find out that he was the father of the young mages I’d discovered, and neighbor to a burgeoning summoner, well it felt like fate. I was following him one day waiting for a good time to finally speak to him, only he must’ve noticed me following him. He hid on a roof and pounced on top of me in an alley.” Erisena chuckled. “I learned a lot from DVend in the few times I spoke with him, before the king’s army came to Jatn. I tried to recruit him, but he told me I was foolish. He said I would get myself and my rebels killed. I was foolish, but I was right about one thing. I needed a commander like DVend.”

  Erisena set her hand on Ravitch’s back as the creature leaned against the bed. Jin sat on Rygen’s feet.

  “I know DVend regrets speaking with me. I know it pains him to have spent so many years apart from his children. But we needed him more than the three of you did. I can tell after meeting you. I would not be here today if it wasn’t for him, yet you, Leo, and Andar turned out strong…and managed to stay alive. I want you to know, however, that I did not plan to take him away from you. I realize your lives must’ve been very difficult. I still believe that everything would’ve been better if all of you had joined
me before the attack on Jatn. I would’ve ensured you would all be kept safe and you would all be trained. DVend and I have argued about this since then. He believes my recruitment of the three of you would’ve put you in greater danger. I disagree, but we are in agreement in regard to everything else. Which brings me to Leo, Andar, and the rift. I didn’t just come here to speak about earlier times.”

  Rygen had lost herself to memories listening to Erisena’s side of the tale. Earlier times, easier times. But did easier necessarily mean better? It was intriguing to Rygen that she had never once blamed Erisena for all that had happened, yet it truly was her fault. If Erisena hadn’t come to Jatn with her rebels, all of this would’ve been different, easier. But then Rygen wouldn’t be the same woman that she was now. She didn’t know who she would be, though her mother would still be alive.

  Despair gripped her heart for a breath. She looked at Erisena, a woman she could hold responsible for her mother being taken. But this confident leader was a woman who knew what sacrifice felt like and had accepted long ago that she would suffer from it. There was no room for blame in this situation. Erisena would still be herself no matter how bad Rygen might make her feel. Erisena would still fight for her cause, and Rygen admired the woman for that.

  If Rygen truly had to pick someone to blame, she didn’t know who she would choose. Erisena’s involvement in the death of Rygen’s mother was indirect. It was King Mavrim who had ordered the attack, but he had since changed, now siding with the rebels.

  The only woman Rygen could blame was Celia, the summoner who had brought the incenfiend to Jatn. She was dead now, and Rygen was proud of herself for being the one to take her life.

  “You look like you want to say something,” Erisena commented.

  “It feels as if there will never be an end to fighting.” And there will never be an end to losing.

  She wondered if Erisena understood her dark outlook on their future. The Analyte stood from the bed and gazed down at Rygen with motherly eyes.

  “There will be an end to all of this. I will make sure of it.”

  “What’s the plan?” Rygen asked with anticipation.

  But Erisena sat with a sigh. “Unfortunately, the best course of action right now is to wait.”

  “We just wait?”

  “Yes,” Erisena confirmed. “When KRenn returns with Leo and Andar, we can destroy the rift and the beast that lives within it.”

  Rygen still didn’t understand what this beast was or how it lived within a rift, but she had other questions that were more important. “There must be something we can do as we wait.”

  “There is plenty we can do, but I think you are asking if we can attack the beast or attempt to destroy the rift?”

  “Yes.”

  “I have spoken with the other leaders and we are all in agreement that both are a bad idea at this point in time. We need all our troops alive for when Jarrel attacks again. He is no doubt waiting until we are vulnerable or until he can confirm we will not be vulnerable in the foreseeable future. We are planning for the latter.”

  So everyone expects a loss of life without the help of Leo and the others. It turned out Rygen and Darren wouldn’t be the only ones devastated if Leo didn’t come back in one piece.

  She wanted to ask if Erisena knew something they could do to help them return safely, but Darren had been adamant that he was doing everything he could. Rygen had told herself she would start to trust him completely, and she would stick with that promise.

  “I want to speak about you, Rygen,” Erisena said. “I’m not sure of your experience with Esitry, but I assume it’s similar to mine when I was a child. I can’t imagine becoming the summoner I am today without guidance.”

  Rygen opened her ears. “Please tell me everything.”

  Erisena laughed tiredly. “I will tell you what’s important right now, but save us some time by first telling me what you understand about Esitry.”

  Rygen figured she would speak well into the night if she told Erisena everything she knew, but the more she thought about how she would explain her knowledge to an expert, the more she realized just how little she actually knew.

  “Oh,” she said as she came to realize this sad truth. “I suppose not very much.”

  Erisena grew a smile. “I was hoping you would say that. Many young summoners think they understand the blue energy. They can become stubborn in their arrogance. We must start with something, however, so please go on.”

  “I have felt Esitry for years. One day I realized I could move it. Oh, before that I felt a presence. I thought it was either my imagination or a spirit. I should’ve started with that. Of course it turned out to be Jin.” She rubbed her neck. She didn’t realize just how much she had wanted to impress Erisena until she sounded like the uneducated, poor girl that she wished she wasn’t.

  “Anything else?” Erisena asked.

  “I want to understand how it all works.”

  “Don’t we all?” Erisena smirked sympathetically. “KRenn has explained it best through his written teachings, though keep in mind that his words are theories, not facts. I have been looking forward to speaking with him since he returned from the rift. None of us has heard anything yet about his experience there, or how his theories might’ve changed. He came out, explained how the rift worked in a way that most of us did not fully understand, then swept up Leo and Andar because of their stalwart link and took off to the palace. Long before he first disappeared the first time, however, he wrote about the energies. He says Esitry can do much more than we realize.”

  “Can it do as much as Artistry?”

  “Yes and no. Artistry has the power to link almost anything we can think of, and Esitry is similar. Although Esitry has almost no strength in linking objects in our realm, it does have the power to reach across the realms and create a link.”

  Rygen asked, “So what I’m feeling between my creature and myself is a link?”

  “Yes. Because you are a summoner and your creature is an Esitren, a link can be formed between the two of you that can transfer thoughts and emotions. This link also develops a bond.”

  “I’m sorry. Esitren?”

  “Any creature that can make a connection through Esitry. Not all summoned creatures have this ability.”

  Rygen had many more questions, such as how anyone could ever find that out. Perhaps a master summoner could communicate so deeply with their creature that their Esitren could convey this? But she let Erisena go on without another interruption, for it was already very late, and the poor woman seemed tired.

  “We are still learning everything Esitry can do, but apparently it can form a rift solely on its own—without Artistry or anything else. We do not believe Artistry can do that. Esitry has more, yesiwex, how should I say it in common tongue? Emm. Its personality is more complicated than Artistry’s, which only cares about connecting similar objects. Esitry’s will is harder to bend, especially because we don’t know what it wants.”

  “Does it have to want something?”

  “Everything wants something. For most things, it’s just the right mixture of water and sun. However, it gets more complicated the smaller the scale. Everything is composed of pieces too small for our eyes to see. These pieces interact with each other in ways we do not know. They move, they connect, they disconnect. Everything they do matters. The way that Esitry interacts with these tiny things holds all the answers, but we cannot see closely enough to determine how everything behaves on a small scale. We can only experiment. KRenn has led both humans and Analytes toward what I believe will soon be a great discovery. This rift has been destructive, terrible, a true nightmare to so many Analytes, and it will be to humans as well. But I believe it holds answers that KRenn might’ve found while he was in there.”

  Erisena leaned forward. “It is imperative that he and Leo return safely, not only to aid us in the destruction of this rift but because I believe these answers will be needed to defend ourselves.”

 
She stood from the bed. Rygen feared she would be leaving any moment.

  “That is all there is to say about that for now,” Erisena whispered as she went over and shut the door to the room. “I have not come here to theorize about Esitry with you, dear. I came to hear your thoughts on Leo, more importantly, so we might one day help each other. I’m now also here to help you improve your summoning skills, if that is something you desire?” Her tone made it clear she knew Rygen’s answer.

  “Absolutely!”

  “It’s late so I just want to share a tip—”

  “I’ve made a connection with a powerful creature, but I can’t convince him or her to enter my rift.”

  Erisena blinked a few times.

  “I’m sorry to interrupt,” Rygen added.

  “And how do you know this creature is powerful?” Erisena asked, her tone implying the question was a test.

  “I can feel its confidence, its lack of fear. It’s always hunting. It’s not running, not afraid of anything but the rift. I don’t understand why it would scare the creature, though, if nothing else does.”

  “First of all, you must not have made a connection to this creature for very long. Every creature is afraid of another, given time. There are massive, dangerous beasts roaming on the other side, so I really do hope Andar and Siki are safe. This creature you’ve connected with is not as afraid of the rift as it is about trusting you. You have not proven anything to this creature. You have to improve your confidence and strength, and then it will trust you.”

  “I am quite confident,” Rygen said. “I don’t mean to sound arrogant; I just really want to summon this creature.”

  “Why?”

  “Excuse me?” It was the last question Rygen expected from a fellow summoner.

  “What do you plan to do with this creature?”

  No, not her as well. Even Erisena’s going to tell me not to help? “I thought you would understand my position.”