by B. T. Narro
“Of course,” he said as he remembered KRenn’s plan.
“What?” Siki asked. The whooshing of the rift was almost too loud for him to understand her.
He finished his thought loudly enough for her to hear, “KRenn thinks that with a strong enough link, I’ll be able to enter the rift without passing through the doorway.”
“What doorway?”
“Don’t you remember KRenn’s explanation in the capital?”
“Andar, I can’t concentrate this close to the rift. It makes me nervous.”
Andar turned to face it. The energy was a translucent screen. He could see the fuzzy outline of black shapes that he did not recognize. They could’ve been terrain or creatures, he had no way to tell.
“I think I can walk inside this thing.”
“What? Did you say you want to walk inside this rift? Andar, don’t be insane.”
Don’t be insane. He chuckled. As if it is a choice.
He took her hand and led her away from the rift where they could speak where the wind wasn’t howling quite so loud. Andar didn’t know why he felt so calm. Perhaps it was the realization that this accidental trip had led him here, to this very spot. This was an opportunity that he knew he could not pass up, no matter the risk.
Andar did not share the same thought that many of the religious folk did. He did not believe the gods crafted a fate for everyone. He did not believe in destiny. What he did believe was that mankind could find a way to overcome any obstacle so long as the people with power used it in the right way. Andar was one of those people.
He could turn back right now. He could walk with Siki all the way back to the spot where they were transported here and wait for Leo to bring them back. Doing so would be easy. It would be without risk. He would certainly live to see tomorrow.
The alternative might mean an early death, but he had a responsibility to do everything he could to destroy the rift that would one day envelop all of Aathon. He knew Siki felt the same way.
“I’m going inside this rift, Siki,” Andar said.
“Even if you can somehow stay alive while you’re in there, you will be killed by the dangerous creatures there. The only reason KRenn was able to live there so long was because he’s an exceptional summoner. He has control over them.”
“I’m not going into the dark realm. I will pass through the rift while staying in our realm.”
“How?”
“With your help.”
She looked into the rift before gazing back at him. “What could I do?”
“I need to make a link between us, and I’ll need your help with that. The link has to be as strong as possible. According to KRenn, it’s the only way I can keep from transporting through to the dark realm when I walk into the rift.”
“What are you saying will happen?”
“If everything goes well, then nothing should happen. I will simply walk forward. I will be within the rift, but I will not have used it as a doorway. This is the only way to reach the center while remaining in our realm, where something is making Esitry.”
“If it were that simple for someone to enter the rift, my father would’ve figured it out by now.”
Andar tried to think of how best to explain this. KRenn had described everything quickly, but Andar had understood it in the end.
“It was supposed to be me and my brother—a link between us would keep me grounded in our realm. So the link I make between you and me has to be just as strong.”
She shook her head. “I’m certain Analyte mages have tried something like this.”
“But none of them are me.”
She looked at him skeptically. “Are you saying you’re better than every other mage?”
“Not better, different. It’s the reason KRenn chose me and Leo.”
“He chose you because of the link between the two of you.”
“Perhaps at first. But I’m sure KRenn has realized there’s more to us than a stalwart link. The same thing happened to us when we joined the army as trainees. My time here with you has made me believe that we can create a link strong enough for this to work. Even if you don’t believe me, you have to at least try for the sake of your people. This is for them.”
She was nodding as he finished. “I do believe you are more than just the stalwart link between you and your brother, if I said that right.”
Andar nodded. “But?”
“But I don’t see how a link can be made between us that is that strong.”
He was disappointed to hear her speak like this. He had hoped she felt the same way about him that he did about her. Making a link between them would be easy, if she shared his feelings. He had tested this theory long before meeting KRenn, when he thought he loved a girl. His inability to keep up this kind of link between their emotions was what had made Andar panic about their relationship.
With another girl, he couldn’t even make a link in the first place. He had figured there was nothing similar enough between them, and thus there never would be. So he didn’t take their relationship as seriously as he should have. He regretted his behavior later, but at least he had apologized to that young woman, and she had forgiven him. They had remained friends after.
But Andar’s feelings for Siki were so strong that he thought he might be able to make this link even if she didn’t feel the same affection toward him. Though it would be easier if she did. Much easier.
“We have to find something that we feel similarly about each other,” Andar said. “I’m going to save us the time and trouble and simply state the obvious. The strongest connection between us is our attraction.”
She rolled her eyes as she muttered something in Analyse.
“You can deny it if that makes you feel better,” he told her. “But we both know it’s true. Now I’m going to need you to focus on me and what attracts you the most.”
She laughed snidely. “Are you serious?”
“Completely.”
She seemed hesitant as she squinted at him.
“If you’re too uncomfortable with choosing attraction, then pick something else,” Andar said.
He let her think for a while. She gazed at the ground as her expression changed from amused to frustrated. Soon she began to look as if she were in agony. That’s when she glanced up.
“You put me in a terrible situation.”
He stepped close and took her hand. “Siki, I know you are engaged. This doesn’t have to mean anything. We won’t speak of it ever again, if that’s what you wish. I just need to get into that rift and find out whatever’s causing it to expand.”
She looked up at him with desire in her eyes. “So we just need to share an emotion while you are within the rift?”
“Yes. I will keep us linked so long as we both feel it strongly enough. Just think of it like I’m linking our arms together, but that link wouldn’t be as strong.”
“All right,” she said. She had a nervous breath.
Slowly, Siki took her hand and put it on his shoulder. She gazed at his lips as she stepped closer. His heart went into a panic as she leaned in.
She stopped with her lips just about to graze his. He opened his eyes to see her piercing blue irises gazing into his.
“I t-think…” she stammered. “This is good?”
Andar thought for a moment that he wouldn’t be able to concentrate enough to make a link. But as soon as he closed his eyes and focused on exploring their bodies with Artistry, he realized it would be easy. The attraction between them was like a metal beam, strong and static. Andar could not see it, but feeling it was more than enough to direct his Artistry to it. The process was like painting on a canvas, where brushstrokes were equivalent to Andar directing Artistry with his mind.
He felt an image appear as he worked quickly to surround his and Siki’s bodies, using the attraction between them as a tunnel to stream the Artistry through.
He opened his eyes when he was finished. He would have to focus on this attraction to keep up th
e link, but that should be easy.
She held onto his hand as he started to turn away. “You sure you will be safe?”
“As sure as I can be.” He took his hand out of her grasp and faced the rift.
He walked toward it, strangely confident.
Andar didn’t slow as he came to the edge and walked straight into it. The sounds of the wind sharpened to a deafening howl, but the noise dulled as soon as he made it through to the other side. He shot a look over his shoulder. He could barely make out the blurry silhouette of Siki on the other side.
He turned back and went deeper into the rift. There was a blue tint to everything in front of him, but it looked just like the world he’d been in. He certainly was still in the light realm. He looked down at his feet and the dirt beneath them. There was no blue tint here. His boots were brown, the dirt beige. He lifted his arm. His tanned skin appeared the same as before. The only thing different about him was that the sound of his nervous breaths were loud in his ears, as if he was in a small space.
He saw one of the strange, bloated trees from this land ahead and went toward it to conduct a little experiment. It was blue from the Esitry of the rift, but only until he was close enough to touch it. Part of the trunk bled into his cocoon of Artistry, brightening to its normal white color. Andar gasped as he quickly backed away. The Artistry that encased him must prevent Esitry from changing the color of his immediate surroundings.
But had he just broken the cocoon of Artistry by stepping too close to a tree? Would he now be sick like KRenn?
Everything around him started to shimmer and blur. He felt strange, like he was moving through water, even though he was standing still.
The link is breaking, he realized. He closed his eyes and thought of Siki, of her stepping close as if to kiss him. He re-forged the link around their attraction and opened his eyes.
He felt stable again, the world clear.
He didn’t know what would become of him for entering this rift, but he would have to worry about that later. He chose a direction he thought would bring him to the center and hurried forward. It wasn’t as hot in the rift, allowing him to jog at a decent rate without overexerting himself.
A short time later, he felt something familiar. It was as if an old friend had waved to him, giving him a sense of comfort that didn’t feel right in this setting. Looking around, he saw nothing but the corpse of a four-legged animal some distance ahead. It couldn’t be that.
He thought he might have imagined the feeling, but then it intensified and changed to complete terror. He shot looks around in a panic. Andar went so far as to imagine some otherworldly beast was playing tricks with his mind. It seemed possible given his proximity to the doorway between realms. The kasigerr had already proved it could live in a rift. What else could exist in here?
He passed by another corpse of a different animal that he paid little attention to. He felt all sorts of emotions that didn’t make sense, a mixture of fear and aggression, then relief, then frustration.
Was it Esitry poison that messed up Andar’s mind? He feared for his health as he thought about turning back.
In his panic, he lost focus of Siki in his mind, and his link started to slip out of his grasp. The Artistry that composed it started to break form. The world began to blur and shake. He felt definite movement, as if a current had swept him up.
He gathered his thoughts as he refocused not only on her but on what he was doing this for. Even if he became sick like KRenn, he would get back and destroy Jaktius Perl. He had to keep focus.
Andar quickly restored the strength of his link and felt himself grounded again.
It was difficult to remain focused, however, with something continuously calling out to him. It wasn’t with a voice, or with touch. It seemed like Artistry, as if the energy itself was relaying a message, but it wasn’t that.
Andar decided to stop trying to ignore it and listen closely with his mind. It was no link that he felt, but a connection was surely there.
“What are you?” Andar tried asking it.
He felt a reply that he couldn’t make out. It wasn’t words that were spoken to him. It was as if this person was sending a message through something…but this wasn’t Artistry. The cocoon around him remained unchanged, and there were no other streams of the clear energy to be felt. Was it Esitry that he felt? Was it the energy of this rift that relayed these messages?
Andar didn’t know how he knew certain things about this person, but he felt confident enough to trust his instincts. He could tell that this person was a woman who was strong, like Andar, but she was very different from him in most other ways. Perhaps an Analyte. She was older, wiser. She had a responsibility on her shoulders as heavy as his. But she knew something that he knew, a commonality between them.
The rift.
He could feel her recognizing him. He started to feel a voice come through the emotions, a voice that almost could speak his name.
Then there was nothing.
For quite a while, Andar walked deeper into the rift as he used part of his mind to focus on Siki and the link, and the other part to feel for more messages from this other woman. There were too many hills ahead for him to see what awaited him at the center of the rift. He tried to call out to the woman, but she didn’t answer.
Perhaps a few hours had passed when he felt the presence of someone else. She was a girl and very familiar. He gasped as he recognized her immediately.
“Rygen?”
Again, he could almost hear her reply. She wanted to tell him that it was her. He felt the emotion strong enough to be sure, even though no words were spoken.
He looked around the rift again, only to see the same environment he was used to, tinted by the same blue hue. He didn’t know how this communication worked, though he figured it had something to do with the rift.
Rygen was forceful as she expressed herself. She wanted Andar to wait. No, she needed him to. He let her know he understood, but he did ask why.
The message she relayed must have been too complicated. He felt a string of worry and impatience but he couldn’t understand her.
That didn’t stop him from guessing, though. It was Leo. As Andar suspected, he was probably in more trouble than Andar was.
There was only one thing Andar could do to help, and that was to make sure Rygen knew he and Siki were fine. He relayed the same emotion over and over. They were safe. They would wait for Leo. They were safe. They would wait for Leo.
Rygen made it clear she understood.
A long silence drew on, neither of them opting to relay any message.
“Family,” Andar told her, then repeated the message until he got it right. We are family, Rygen.
She understood and joyfully reciprocated the same message.
The line of communication closed, as if Rygen had shut an invisible door.
Andar was glad Rygen was safe. She must’ve left Jatn before the barbarians arrived. He looked forward to seeing her, along with his brother and father. Andar, Leo, and Rygen had been children the last time they were all together. It lifted his heart to imagine them all feasting and celebrating once this was over.
It was still a long walk to the center of this large rift. Andar spotted a particularly tall hill and headed toward it instead.
The temperature in here seemed closer to that of the palace. He missed that extravagant place. Or perhaps he just missed being anywhere but Disetel.
He was sweaty and panting by the time he reached the top of the hill. He did not need a spyglass to see the thing that lay in the center of this rift. It stood out well enough on its own.
“What, that? How?” Andar chuckled at the sight of it, though he was confused for a little while.
But he soon began to realize what this meant.
“Skyfire and ash. This is not good.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Leo encountered many more aggressive beasts in the cavern over the next few hours. He had even seen a short-lived rif
t open and close, though nothing had come out of it. Leo maintained the cocoon of Artistry around himself with the same thickness and strength as the ones he felt around KRenn and Teyro. The Analyte didn’t seem to be sick, so Leo figured he would be fine as well. KRenn, meanwhile, had slowed greatly since the battle by the lake. He struggled more after each beast he sent running past them.
Teyro didn’t seem to notice KRenn’s change, though it was only a matter of time before he would. He said he never went this deep into the cavern anymore because looking for rift gems wasn’t worth the trouble of the beasts he encountered. Eventually, Teyro was completely caught up about what KRenn had seen and done since he returned. Teyro stopped soon after and allowed Leo to take the lead because he was the one who could feel for Taesitry.
It didn’t take much longer before he located a spot in one wall where he felt Taesitry coming from the other side. After an hour or so of chipping and stabbing away at the wall, they reached an opening where a large testing stone was stuck in a crevice between hard and slimy slabs of some rocklike substance. Leo was eager to take it back to the palace right then, but with only one testing stone in their possession, failure meant they would have to return here. Everyone agreed they should take the time to look for others.
Leo lost track of the hours they spent in the cavern. He was barely standing by the time they exited. It seemed to be early afternoon outside, but there was no way he was only in that cavern for a few hours. More than a whole day must’ve passed. The three of them had run out of water and food, but Teyro had been drinking from the lakes around here, so it seemed safe enough for them to refill their pouches.
The Analyte must’ve noticed KRenn’s worsening fatigue by then, but Teyro probably thought KRenn was simply tired like the rest of them. Leo didn’t know how to bring up the truth. He had hoped KRenn would speak of it, but he had stopped talking a while back.
They retired for the night. Leo was a little disappointed that neither of the men had offered a single compliment or encouraging phase about how Leo had defended KRenn and himself from the brigade of bloodthirsty cavaliers. But this served as a positive reminder: These two were so powerful that a feat like Leo’s meant little to them. It would be more than helpful to Leo’s allies to return with these men, so long as KRenn didn’t die on the way…and Teyro didn’t attempt to kill the king he despised so passionately.
