by Donald Brown
Storm and Hadrian shared a look, with Hadrian shaking his head. Jasper then strolled back to the fire. “Go find us some extra firewood,” he instructed, holding up a piece of wood. “Anything about a foot in diameter.”
When the two brothers were out of earshot, Hadrian said, “We have to get away from him.”
Storm looked over his shoulder and saw that Jasper was busying himself with packing a circle of stones on the ground, presumably for his fire. “Jasper saved us, Hadrian,” he told his brother, “more than once. He has been good to us.”
“He is an Outsider!” Hadrian hissed.
“What does that even mean anymore?” Storm replied. “We are all outsiders now.”
“We think too much,” Hadrian snapped. Then he walked away and started picking up pieces of wood in the desert’s twilight.
Once they had gathered enough additional firewood (in their minds), they returned and found Jasper working on starting a fire. Storm and Hadrian watched apprehensively, since neither of them had seen a fire used for warmth before. Only the upper class were allowed to make fires in Sanctuary and only to burn books or people. After all, as Mr. Walrus always liked to say, the cold was just an illusion.
All of a sudden they saw a spark from the bottom of the pile of firewood and soon after that a campfire was crackling, bathing their surroundings in a soft yellow light. It instantly seemed to lure Storm closer with what felt at first like a deceptive warmth. Hadrian was staring at it in open hostility.
Jasper in turn, was warming his hands by the fire. When he noticed that Storm and Hadrian were still standing far away from it, he beckoned to them. “Come on and get warm,” he said, sounding a little weary. “It’s only going to get colder now, you know?”
The two brothers remained standing there, as if frozen. Storm was gazing at the fire, mesmerized. Up until that point he had never experienced anything quite so cozy and alluring.
“Have you guys never seen a fire before?” Jasper asked, adding another log to his creation.
After a pause, Storm replied: “We have, but it is generally forbidden in Sanctuary.”
Jasper shook his head in derision. “What,” he began, speaking with animated arms. “Are you telling me that you live in one of the coldest places on earth and you are not allowed to make fires?”
Storm frowned at this. When he put it like that, it didn’t make any sense at all. He wondered why he had never realized it or thought about it in that way. Then it struck him: thinking wasn’t allowed in Sanctuary – that’s why!
“The cold is just an illusion,” Hadrian blurted out, but not with his usual gusto.
Jasper merely returned his attention back to the fire. “Well, come closer,” he told them. “The desert sand turns mighty cold at night.”
Storm started edging towards the fire, feelings its welcome warmth more strongly with each step. When he reached it, he slowly sat down while keeping his eyes on the flames, thinking it might overpower him if he showed any sign of weakness. Behind him, Hadrian still refused to approach.
“It feels safe and warm, Hadrian.” Storm said, waving his hands over the fire to take in the comforting heat and at the same time indicate to his brother that it was harmless.
Hadrian tightened his jaw. “We don’t trust it. We will stay here. It might be a trick,” he tried to explain his foolish behaviour, plopping himself down on the sand.
Jasper sighed and then opened his endless bag.
After rummaging through it for a short while, he removed four paper-wrapped packets and the canteen of water, which he tossed to Storm.
When he began to unwrap one of the packets, Storm noticed that it was some kind of dough with meat strips mixed into it. “What are those?” he asked, unscrewing the canteen’s cap.
“We call them meatrolls,” Jasper answered. “They are very nutritional and they last long. You can almost go a full day after eating one of these.” He proceeded to wrap the dough and meat mixture around the tip of a wooden stick.
Storm’s mouth was watering. He lifted the open canteen and started taking big gulps of water, only now realizing how thirsty he was as well.
“Whoa! Slow down there.” Jasper told him. “That needs to last until tomorrow.”
Storm brought the canteen to his mouth again and drank in smaller sips this time.
As soon as Jasper was satisfied that the baking mixture was sufficiently wrapped around the stick, he held it over the fire. “Now we wait for it to finish cooking,” he said, turning to Storm and smiling.
Shortly afterwards, Storm could smell the sweet whiff of sizzling meat and bread, causing his mouth to water even more. By now, Hadrian couldn’t resist any longer either. He rose to his feet and slowly approached them, sniffing the air like a cat. “Now you’ve made me hungry,” he moaned when he’d reached the stone pillar beside the fire. He sat down, still four feet away, but at least he was now feeling the heat radiating from the campfire.
Jasper handed Storm their provision and instructed him on how to prepare the meals in the same way he had done. He once more had his pipe in his mouth and he was puffing away merrily.
Storm was beginning to like Jasper, even though he’d been trained not too. There was just something in the Outsider’s bluntness that made him seem authentic and Storm now couldn’t see him betraying them anymore.
The two of them sat there around the fire, holding the sticks in their hands, Storm with an extra one for Hadrian and Jasper holding an extra one for Jamie. Storm was completely enthralled by the fire. It reminded him of the fire in the Initiation chamber and then he suddenly remembered. “Why did you stare at me like that back in the temple?” he asked, frowning.
Jasper was at first confused, but then comprehension dawned on his face. “Oh, that!” he said, gazing into the fire. “You will find out shortly.”
Storm didn’t know how to respond to that, so he opted for a different line of questioning. “What is Pandemonium like?” he asked, wondering what the first city outside of Sanctuary would look like, imagining flying dragons and beasts patrolling it.
Turning the sticks with the food around in his fingers, Jasper said, “Pandemonium has various reputations. Some people love the place, others hate it. It’s supposed to be a beacon of freedom. There are no laws in Pandemonium and each person is their own master. So it is both an exhilarating and a dangerous city.”
“Are there any dragons there?” Storm inquired, trying to hide the excitement in his voice.
Jasper snorted and shook his head. “No nothing of that kind, just your usual small things…”
“Like butterflies?” Storm interrupted, disappointed.
“You will be surprised by how dangerous a butterfly can be,” Jasper retorted. “There are some butterflies with a poisonous bite and some say those wings can generate storms.”
Storm considered this, stunned. He had never thought that the beautiful creations in the book could be capable of such things.
“And the Republic?” he asked tentatively. His experience in Sanctuary had made him very wary when he knew he was asking too many questions.
“The Republic?” Jasper asked, turning his head sharply to look at Storm. “Where did you hear about that?”
“In a book I found in Sanctuary,” Storm mumbled, staring at his feet.
“Well, the Republic is far away from here,” Jasper clarified, not noticing Storm’s discomfort. Apparently he wasn’t aware that books were not allowed in Sanctuary. “Many people speak of it as a new paradise,” he continued, “but I have no idea whether that is really true or not. I think the people from there are fairly nice, though. I have done some dealings with the Republicans and they have always treated me reasonably.”
For a brief second, Storm had a flashback to that moment when he was sprawled in the dirt and then to the picture he had seen. The city he had imagined seemed awfully like the Republic.
“That place is quite terrible, isn’t it?” Jasper now changed the subject, catch
ing Storm unawares.
Storm knew he was referring to Sanctuary. “Yes it is,” he replied with a heavy sigh. He sensed no more loyalty to Sanctuary and it almost felt immensely liberating to admit this. “It is a nightmare,” he added loudly. Even though he knew Hadrian was able to hear the conversation, his brother did not say anything to the contrary. He probably agreed, but he wasn’t going to say it to the “Outsider”.
Jasper’s eyes grew wide, the dancing flames reflecting in them. “You know, I myself had a terrible childhood in Pandemonium,” he admitted. “I had a tough run with one of the gangs there… bad ones. You see a place like Pandemonium, without any laws, breeds difficult people. So I know a bit of what you went through and where you are coming from. It could have only been lonely and depressing in there.”
Storm nodded. It definitely had been.
***
He was three years old and his mother was reading him the last part of The Honey Bear’s Happiness, by Whu Zhu, before bedtime. He could still remember the story like it was yesterday:
…The butterfly, seeing what was transpiring, took pity on the two bears. It swept down and took the two under his wings and lifted them to his perch, far away from the preying eyes of bees. There the two bears were thrilled to see a large collection of honey pots on the ledge. Inaccessible to the bees, the place had become a reservoir for honey. With the help of the butterfly, the bears enjoyed their new found happiness longer than they ever thought they could.
The bees, witnessing this from afar, felt powerless and could not use their cunning or force to do anything. Finally, one by one they came forward and begged for forgiveness, to which the butterfly replied in kind, scooping up those he deemed worthy. Soon, all three groups had happiness and all past troubles were forgotten
“You see, Storm,” his mother had said, “there will always be bees, removing the happiness of others. Then there will be bears, having their happiness constantly given or taken away. But, if you want to be truly happy, you have to be like a butterfly, soaring above the rest. That way you can find a place where there is only happiness and help to guide others to it, those who deserve it. For at the end of the day, happiness isn’t something that can be given or stolen. Happiness is something that has to be earned.”
Little Storm had considered this for a moment. “Mama bear!” he shouted, pinching her nose.
She laughed her warm, musical laugh. “That’s right! And you are my cub!”
At the time it had not meant much to Storm, but as he grew older, these words had stuck with him more and more.
Then she sang him the song from the book:
Hush to sleep my little one,
Today we just had so much fun,
Happiness will keep us true,
Mama bear will always love you,
Hush to sleep my little child,
May you never grow too wild,
Happiness is a pot of gold,
Make sure you find it when you’re old.
When the song was finished, Storm’s eyelids became heavy and he started to doze off, while his mother was brushing his forehead with her smooth hands.
He was just about in dreamland, when the door was kicked open and someone shouted: “There she is!”
It was a younger Vladimir, who was just a Peacekeeper at the time, trailed by three other Red Cloaks.
“What is the meaning of this?!” his mother demanded.
A younger Hadrian burst into the room, but when he saw the number of Peacekeepers he hesitated. The Peacekeepers stepped forward and with little effort dragged his mother out of the bed, as Storm tried to hold on to her.
“Mama bear!”
The Red Cloaks easily overpowered Storm’s mother and she tried to resist at first, but it was futile. She turned her attention to Hadrian. “Promise me you will protect Storm! Promise me, Hadrian!”
All the stunned Hadrian could do was nod.
“MAMA BEAR!” Storm sprang from his bed and ran towards the door, but a hand from a sneering Peacekeeper was enough to hold him at bay. He and his mother exchanged one last teary-eyed look.
“Storm…”
And then the door slammed shut behind her.
They never saw their mother again.
***
Storm brushed a tear away in silence. He could not think of anything else to say. Conversation was not something commonly practiced in Sanctuary and Hadrian wasn’t helping by remaining so quiet.
“Your meatrolls appear to be ready,” Jasper said, interrupting his thoughts.
Storm then noticed that the two sticks he was holding had caught fire.
Jasper chuckled as Storm started panting in a panic and waving them wildly in the air, while a terrified Hadrian hurried away from the pillar to watch the scene warily from ten yards further.
To Storm’s relief, the flames eventually died out and he felt his heart rate slow down. He stood up and took the extra meatroll he had cooked to Hadrian.
After a moment of hesitation, Hadrian accepted the stick from his brother with a suspicious glance and nibbled at the food at first, before deciding that it was in fact delicious and tore into it like a wild animal. It was as if all Sanctuary’s rules flew out the window at that point.
Once he’d finished his meal, Jasper walked over to the tree where Jamie was held captive, carrying the extra meatroll. He removed the gag from Jamie’s mouth and offered the dinner to him. Jamie looked at the food for a moment, his face clearly revealing his lust for it. But then his lips contorted in anger and he spat on it. “We will not eat your poisonous food,” he snarled.
Jasper stared at the befouled meatroll in irritation and delivered a back handed blow across Jamie’s face. “You don’t know how long it took for me to prepare that!”
Jamie remained silent, fearful that he might be struck again, but still glaring at Jasper with hatred. Jasper replaced the mouth gag and then retrieved a number of blankets from a bag on Jenny’s saddle before walking back to Storm and Hadrian. “Choose a spot beside the fire where you want to sleep, here are some blankets,” he said, throwing a pair of bedspreads in their direction. “I am going to doze off now.”
A thought struck Storm. “Aren’t you afraid someone will steal the horse, or kill you in the night?” he asked, confused with Jasper’s willingness to trust them.
Jasper smiled. “If there was anyone out here,” he said, not looking at all concerned, “I would have been, but luckily that is not the case. As for you two, you can try it of course, but where will you go? I am your guide in this new “Outsider” world.” And with that, he rolled himself up in the blanket, effectively creating a sleeping bag.
Storm inspected his blanket dubiously and then mimicked Jasper to create his own sleeping bag. He turned around and saw that Hadrian had done precisely the same and was now watching him expectantly, as to what to do next.
Making himself as comfortable as he could, Storm lay there on his back, wondering about their journey ahead. It was then that he beheld something spellbinding. For the first time, he noticed the clear sky at night, not hidden behind the clouds. Up above was a huge expanse of darkness, filled with tiny lights, twinkling in the distance.
Next to him, Hadrian let out a gasp of fear and whispered, “Storm, what is that?”
Storm remained silent, slightly scared himself and Jasper answered in their ignorance, realizing what they were looking at. “Don’t worry,” he mumbled, turning onto his back to look at it himself, “they’re just stars.”
“What are stars?” Storm asked.
“I have heard a number of stories, but nobody exactly knows,” Jasper said in a long yawn. “Some people say they are Gods, others say they are worlds and others say they are planets, like this. Sometimes they explode, after which they simply disappear, and sometimes they travel through the air at great speed – we call those ones falling stars.”
Then Jasper became silent again and the two brothers stared at the magnificent canopy above them in newfound won
der. Could those shiny objects that would easily fit in the palm of his hand be worlds? Storm couldn’t believe it.
“They’re also useful to indicate in which direction we should go,” Jasper added and pointed at a particular section of stars. “Those three for example, point north and with that I can determine where Pandemonium is, which is also north.”
“We don’t understand, what is north?” Storm replied.
Jasper sighed in disbelief. “Perhaps another day, kid,” he mumbled.
Storm continued to stare at the stars above him, marveling in its glory. When he turned back to face Jasper, a minute later, he saw that his eyes were now closed. Behind him, Hadrian was tossing and turning uncomfortably.
His mind drifted back to what he had experienced the entire day and he couldn’t help but feel somewhat relaxed. He was still scared of creatures attacking him, but the thought that he was no longer condemned to Sanctuary made up for that. Perhaps there could even be more than one world out there, he thought to himself, as he stared at the stars. In fact, he was becoming so excited at this prospect that he struggled to fall asleep; even after the exhausting day and the previous night’s lack of sleep. He found it hard to comprehend that only the previous day he had still been worried about whether he would receive a service in Sanctuary.
The stars became hazier and hazier, just as Hadrian began to snore, and then Storm found himself also drifting into a well-deserved slumber.
35
The room was dark, barring a torch above the door that revealed a section of a table and a number of high-back chairs. It was clearly a grand table, made from a stubborn oak, and from what could be seen of the chairs, it was apparent that they were also quite valuable.
The torch was bright enough to indicate that there were people seated around the table. This was revealed by the few hands that were clasped together, resting on it. The room was enclosed by stone walls, in the shape of a dome, the only sign of its presence the tremendous chill that it brought to the chamber, something which even the torch helped little with. It did not seem that those who were seated were bothered by this; they obviously had experience with cold conditions. To cap it off, the ceiling had ridges on it, like the veins on the inside of a human’s forearms, which all in all made the room resemble a giant brain.
