Everflame: The Complete Series

by Dylan Lee Peters

  “There’s more,” said Gentlerain. The bears turned back to her, realizing that they had been quick to move forward before hearing all that Gentlerain had to say. “There is one pass through these mountains that is the shortest. It is commonly known as the thread. I’m not certain, but I think it’s to the north and the west of where we are.”

  “Was this the path the Department of Information used in regard to scouting missions?” asked Eveneye.

  “No. Our scouts were always told to stay away from these mountains,” replied Gentlerain. “I once asked one of my superiors why we didn’t use the thread for passage across Ephanlarea. All the maps show it as a wide pass. It seems it can be crossed easily and save great amounts of time, but I was told a monster guarded the pass. It always seemed a ridiculous superstition to me, but I was in no position to argue. I obeyed orders.”

  “What sort of monster?” asked Goldenheart.

  “Well, it can’t be real,” said Gentlerain. “I’m sure it was just some old myth.”

  “Gentlerain,” began Eveneye. “You have seen the Farsiders that attacked Gray Mountain with your own eyes, just as the rest of us have. Myth or not, I will take the threat seriously until I can prove it untrue.”

  “Yes,” admitted Gentlerain. “I know, but no one has ever seen the Bombyx… that’s what they called the monster.”

  “I think we should try the pass in the morning,” said Eveneye. “Maybe there is nothing to fear at all, however, I would prefer to face the unknown with the light of day on my side.”

  The other bears agreed and everyone gathered closer to bed down for the night. What was left of the day was quickly disappearing and the winds howled across the barren rock. Goldenheart found Autumnbreeze at the outer edge of the group, staring off into the deepening darkness.

  “Autumn, what are you looking at?”

  “Nothing,” said Autumn. “It’s just… never mind.”

  Autumn turned from the void and walked back to Goldenheart and the group of bears.

  “Did you see something, Autumn? You must tell us if you did.”

  “No, I didn’t see anything, Goldie. I just… I keep hearing Whiteclaw’s voice.”

  “Are you sure it’s not the wind?” asked Goldenheart.

  “I’m not sure of anything.”

  • • •

  The night passed without incident and when the bears woke to daylight, they were all eager to begin their trek out of the Mountains of Bombyx Mori. Eveneye, still playing the role of leader, gathered all the bears around and then asked Gentlerain if she felt comfortable leading the group onward. She accepted the role with a bit of hesitation, citing that she wasn’t sure exactly where to find the pass.

  “You are far more capable than I am,” said Eveneye, and that seemed to make Gentlerain a bit more optimistic.

  Onward marched the bears, to the north and to the west, through the Mountains of Bombyx Mori. The sun burned brightly and the skies were blue but the winds still whipped with ferocity. After their exchange the night before, Goldenheart tried to pay more attention to Autumnbreeze. The two bears walked side by side for the early hours of the morning and Goldenheart couldn’t help but notice Autumn’s distance.

  “It scares me when you get like this, Autumn.”

  “I’m just trying to listen to the wind, Goldie. You don’t have to act as if I’m some bringer of doom.”

  “It just makes me sad to see you like this. I can tell you’re not over–”

  “I’m not going to get over it,” snapped Autumnbreeze, and Goldenheart stopped walking. Autumn turned around and glared at her. “Maybe you should be spending time with your husband… while you can.”

  “That’s a nasty thing to say, Autumn.”

  Autumn knew she had crossed a line and the guilt of her words stabbed at her, but she was still too angry for an apology. “Just let me be, Goldie. Just let me be.”

  Autumnbreeze turned and walked onward, closer to the outside of the pack, and Goldenheart gave her the space she had asked for.

  Eveneye travelled at the front of the pack, beside Gentlerain, and before long, Goldenheart joined them.

  “I’m worried about Autumn,” Goldenheart said to her husband. “She’s listening to the wind. She thinks that she’s hearing Whiteclaw.”

  Eveneye turned enough to see where Autumnbreeze was, toward the back of the pack and along the outside.

  “Let her listen, Goldie.”

  “But, Even, I don’t think it’s good for her to do this to herself.”

  “And what would you do, hmm? Would you like me to tether her to the other bears?”

  “Well, no, but–”

  “Then let her be. We’ll keep our eye on her, just to make sure she doesn’t wander off. Besides, would it be so unlikely for Whiteclaw to contact us again?”

  “No… I suppose not.”

  “Don’t worry. She’ll be all right.”

  “I think we’re coming upon the pass!” said Gentlerain excitedly.

  The bears turned the corner around a tall slab of dark-gray slate and looked down into a narrow valley. Shining, white rocks of differing sizes dotted the dusty valley floor like spots on the back of a fawn. Pools of murky water steamed along the sides of the pass, making the air damp and misty. The desolation made the valley seem as if it were some ancient burial site, a haunt of the dead. Eveneye turned to the bears with warning.

  “Stay together; stay close. We have no reason to be fearful, but there is no harm in being cautious. Keep calm and move through the valley quickly. If we are where we think we are, there should be a passage to Elderton Forest on the other side.”

  “What about the Bombyx?” asked one of the bears, causing grumbles of fear and doubt within the group.

  “We don’t know that the Bombyx exists. Do not allow yourselves to fall prey to fear. Remember, we are bears, let the myths of this world fear us.”

  And with that, Eveneye began his descent into the valley, followed by the others.

  The wind gusted mightily in the valley and the sun created glare off of the white rocks. At times, the bears found they had to squint, both from the glare and from the gusting wind. Goldenheart couldn’t help but to look for Autumnbreeze, she seemed to be drifting further and further away from the group. More than once, Goldenheart caught her gazing into the steaming waters along the sides of the pass, falling behind the others.

  “Even, she’s falling behind,” complained Goldenheart. Eveneye turned to see Autumn, twenty yards behind the group, staring into one of the murky pools.

  “Keep walking with the group,” grumbled Eveneye. “I’ll retrieve her.”

  Eveneye hastened away and Goldenheart continued to move forward with Gentlerain.

  “Should we stop?” asked the female bear.

  “No,” answered Goldenheart. “We need to press on.”

  Goldie tried to look strong when she said the words, but Gentlerain’s eyes betrayed her doubt and Goldenheart couldn’t ignore the sinking dread she felt inside. Something is wrong with Autumn, and something is odd with this valley. Goldenheart looked at a large, white rock, lumpy and far more polished looking than any she had ever seen in an area so remote. She never stopped walking, but continued looking at the rocks, noting that in some places they seemed almost transparent, as if they could be hollow, as if they could be…

  “Stop,” said Goldenheart with the wind howling in her ears and whipping through her fur.

  “What is it?” asked Gentlerain, looking more perplexed with each passing second.

  All of the bears had stopped, and Goldenheart walked slowly over to the closest white rock she could find. It was large, roughly half her size, lumpy in odd places and smooth like the others. She leaned forward and poked at the rock, gently first, then with more force, and jumped back as the surface of the rock gave to her claw.

  A small tear, dry and frayed, appeared in the rock, revealing a hollow of darkness. Then without warning, the rock shifted and rolled, the t
ear widened and the leg of a mountain goat fell from the open hole to the dusty ground.

  These aren’t rocks, thought Goldenheart. They’re cocoons.

  Goldenheart looked back to see Eveneye and Autumnbreeze over one hundred yards away and then she screamed as she saw the worms crawling down the sides of the mountains.

  “EVENEYE!!!”

  Hundreds of white legs hit the rock walls like pickaxes. Hard, white bodies snaking downward, bringing giant, bulbous heads ever closer to the valley. All of the bears could see them now, and panic had gripped the group. Bears were screaming and roaring, running in every which way. Pandemonium was unleashed upon the valley as the worms reached the floor and attacked the bears like an avalanche.

  “We must reach the woods!” yelled Gentlerain, but it was no use.

  It was all the bears could do to stand and fight the worms, but they were greatly outnumbered. Eveneye turned away from Autumnbreeze, after hearing his wife’s screams, and found himself surrounded. They were the largest worms that Eveneye had ever seen, at least six feet in length and one foot thick. Their red pincers opened and closed rapidly, with sickening clicking noises. The first worm shot a wet, silken thread at Eveneye and he dodged it. Quickly moving forward, he brought his claw down across a white worm and dashed it across the valley floor. Its body broke open, leaking vital fluids into the dirt, but that would be Eveneye’s lone victory.

  The worms washed over the bears like the tide. Silken threads, so strong they could have been steel, wove around and around the bears, making their heads dizzy. First, Eveneye lost his back legs and then his front. He fell to his side, struggling feebly as the worms wove their cocoons. The white silk wrapped around him until he could barely see anything, but just before his trap was completed, he watched Autumnbreeze, standing by the murky waters, jump in and disappear. Eveneye tried to yell, but it was futile, the wet and sinewy walls of his trap muffled his screams. They had failed, the worms had won, and the bears writhed inside of their cocoons uselessly.

  Eveneye pawed at his confines, he would fight forever; he could never stop fighting knowing he had to save his wife. All four of his limbs pounded the inside of the cocoon over and over. How can the threads be so strong when I can still see light through them? thought Eveneye in panic, clawing with all of his might. He rolled in the cocoon, upon his stomach and into darkness, onto his back and into the dim light. He couldn’t make anything out from inside of the cocoon, but he could tell when he was facing the sun. He stopped upon his back, facing the sun, and used that small light as his hope. He kicked and scratched and pawed and fought with every ounce of himself, and then there was a flash of light.

  Bright and warm like the sun, the light had exploded upon the valley. He still could not see through the silk threads that were wrapped around him, but he could see the light; the immense, green light. Shrieks of pain broke across his ears like a wave, foreign sounds that he prayed were not the cries of bears. Then the light grew faint, and the threads grew dry and brittle and Eveneye punched his way through them.

  The bear scrabbled to his feet and looked around as others broke from their own prisons. The worms were gone and Eveneye ran from cocoon to cocoon trying the find his wife as green light bathed him. When he found her, he wrapped his arms around her and professed his love until he was hoarse in the throat. Someone had saved them and Eveneye noticed his wife looking into the sky with glassy eyes. He turned to see a beautiful, young woman, drifting slowly to the valley floor.

  Her hair was short and brown and it seemed as if all the light of the world came from her luminous, green eyes. Wings fluttered lightly at her back and she landed amid the bears like a snowflake.

  “You seek refuge in the forest?” the woman asked.

  “Yes,” said Eveneye, unblinking. “Who are you?”

  “I am Dendrata. I am here to help.”

  “Thank you,” uttered Eveneye. “Thank you.”

  “Even,” breathed Goldenheart. “Where is Autumn?”

  As if struck by a bolt, Eveneye shot up and began running toward the waters where he saw Autumnbreeze disappear. When he reached the pool, he jumped in without thinking, quickly finding himself standing in shallow water. Goldenheart caught up to him quickly.

  “Even?”

  “She fell into the pool, Goldie… she’s gone.”

  IOLANA THE BEAVER

  Chapter 18: On a Beach

  “I dislike this plan.”

  “You agreed to it, Densa,” argued Evercloud.

  “I understand… I still dislike the plan.”

  Densa and Evercloud stood, facing each other after having returned to the beach where Riverpaw had been waiting for them. Clouds thickened the sky with gray, and streaks of lightning flashed far out over the water. The winds blew through the thin grasses that grew from the sandy dunes and Riverpaw watched the two men expectantly.

  “So, what happened? What is the plan?” asked Riverpaw.

  Densa sat upon a large piece of driftwood and folded his arms. “Well, tell him then,” he said to Evercloud. Evercloud huffed in frustration and turned to Riverpaw.

  “The basics are pretty simple,” began Evercloud. “It’s the details that are more convoluted. Do you want the good news first, or the bad news?”

  “I was really hoping there wouldn’t be bad news,” Riverpaw laughed sadly.

  “I’ll get that bit out of the way then. Densa and I face more danger than just the Tyrant. It would seem that the Skyfather wishes us dead once the Tyrant is defeated. He intends to intervene once we enter battle with the Tyrant, and then after…”

  “You can’t be serious,” said Riverpaw, slack-jawed. “Why would the Skyfather wish to harm you? I thought you were his son? I thought–”

  “You don’t know anything about the Skyfather,” interjected Densa. “He has always wanted me dead. My mother faced his wrath long ago, and if Earth had not sheltered me, he would have had me then. His next attempt was the Tyrant, and now Evercloud.”

  “What do you mean, now Evercloud?”

  “That is why the Skyfather created me,” Evercloud said to Riverpaw. “The Earth revealed to us the true purpose of the prophecy. Densa and I are to destroy the Tyrant, then I am to destroy Densa, and then the Skyfather will destroy me. He dislikes the idea of any powerful beings in the world, other than himself.”

  Riverpaw sat down hard, pressing his furry backside deep into the sand.

  “I am so confused right now.”

  Evercloud sat next to the bear and tossed a small pebble over a dune. “You’re not the only one who has a spinning head.”

  “What are we supposed to do?” asked Riverpaw. “If it is the Skyfather’s will… how can we fight that?”

  “We apparently don’t fight that. Wonderful little plan, isn’t it?” asked Densa sarcastically.

  “We change his mind,” said Evercloud, ignoring Densa’s remark. “Earth wants time so that she can change the Skyfather’s mind.”

  “And if she can’t?” asked Riverpaw.

  “It’s not worth thinking about, Riverpaw.”

  “In the meantime, we allow the Tyrant to run amok?”

  “No, we keep him preoccupied without engaging him in battle.”

  “Because the Skyfather will intervene if we meet the Tyrant in battle.”

  “Precisely.”

  “So that means–”

  “We do what we can to prevent his plans without directly fighting him… and Densa leaves the earth,” finished Evercloud. Riverpaw nodded in solemn understanding.

  “I can’t do this,” said Densa, rising from his wooden perch in frustration.

  “You agreed to it, Densa,” reminded Evercloud. “We thought this through with Earth. The Skyfather will not let me die before your death, and as long as you leave, you’ll be safe. Earth will continue to argue with him on our behalf. She will change his mind and then we can destroy the Tyrant.”

  “It can’t be that simple,” growled Densa. “What if the
Tyrant kills you and then the Skyfather comes for me anyway. What then?”

  “It won’t happen that way.”

  “You can’t be sure of that. I need to give you the Everlife for this to work.”

  “No!” shouted Evercloud. “We’ve been over this. The Everlife is added protection in case the Skyfather does come after you. Not to mention, the Everlife is the worst possible weapon that could fall into the Tyrant’s hands. If the Tyrant gets the Everlife, we fail. Plain and simple.”

  “You’re underestimating the Skyfather,” Densa persisted. “He gave that gift… what if he can also take it away?”

  “Then our only hope is Earth arguing on our behalf anyway,” said Evercloud. “The plan is sound.”

  Densa picked the large piece of driftwood he had been sitting on up out of the sand, and threw it thirty yards into the crashing waves of the sea. He grit his teeth and clenched his fists, trying desperately to master his anger.

  “What do you expect me to do? Nothing?”

  “You can do whatever you want, as long as you leave the earth,” answered Evercloud.

  “Wait,” said Densa, his anger suddenly abating. “There is something I can do. Tenturo, Bahknar and Iolana have all given you power. I can as well. Any little bit will help if you plan to hunt the Tyrant.”

  Without waiting for an answer, Densa raised his palms outward and a beam of energy struck both Evercloud and Riverpaw squarely in their chests. Riverpaw fell from the impact and Evercloud flew back into the air, coming down on his side in the sand.

  “Aaagh,” complained Evercloud. “The others were far gentler. You could have tried it that way.”

  “This way was quicker,” said Densa. “You’ll be fine. It’s better now that you have the powers of all four Ancients.”

  “Well, I’m glad you feel better now,” said Riverpaw.

  “You’ll need every power you can find if you intend to clash with the Tyrant. Don’t forget what he has done and the immense power he has. He killed Tenturo. The combined powers of the Ancients and the gifts of the Skyfather might not be enough to keep you from harm. If it were up to me, you wouldn’t be doing this. I still don’t like this plan.”