Above the Star

by Alexis Marie Chute

  Tessa clears her throat, mustering her courage. “I know I’m the stranger on your island, and I know this must sound mentally deranged, but while I was within Rolace’s web—someone spoke to me.”

  “Who, dear?” Donna asks, coming near.

  “I don’t know, exactly . . .”

  “Out with it, and let it be the truth!” Nameris demands, abruptly halting his irritable pacing, colliding with Lady Sophia who bounces into Azkar, causing Duggie-Sky to step on Zeno’s heels.

  “The voice, she—she called me Mom.” The company fall silent on their makeshift path.

  “Ella?” Ardenal exhales.

  “Maybe. Or maybe it was the Banji. Or my desire projecting itself in my subconscious. Or, maybe I really am the nut job of the family—it’s been me all along. That must be it. And, to that point, Ella can’t talk!”

  “But Ella can think,” the Maiden retorts. Tessa’s jaw snaps shut as this revelation creeps in and settles in her mind.

  Lady Sophia, who pats Azkar’s back in apology, bounds into the conversation beside Ardenal, and says, “If you were thinking, Tessa, then maybe Ella was too!”

  “What did she say?” Nate asks, peering between the tall shoulders of the Olearons.

  “Well, at the end, she told me I was in danger—and I was. Because of Valarie.”

  “That could be coincidence,” Nameris dismisses.

  The Maiden’s flame grows and Donna steps away quickly. “Stand down, Nameris!” she orders. “Your suspicion has a place, but not in this instant. Please, Tessa, continue.”

  “I asked her where she was. She said: above the Star.”

  “We are all above the Star! All of Jarr-Wya floats six thousand fathoms above it,” says Kameelo.

  “Maybe this is your power,” Ardenal suggests. “To communicate with others beyond place and time.”

  “Do it again,” interjects Duggie-Sky, who appears all at once at the center of the circle.

  “I wish I knew how.”

  “Powers are honed. Developed. Earned. Some come by their abilities more easily than others.”

  “You are pretty stubborn,” chuckles Archie as he shrugs, accidentally jingling the lock against his belt buckle.

  “And guarded,” Ardenal adds.

  “Thanks for the pep talk,” Tessa huffs and stalks off.

  Zeno crosses his arms. “The women of your kind, really!”

  “Your determined resolve is a strong trait, a wonderful trait, Tess,” Ardenal apologizes, following her. He reaches out for her hand, but Tessa pulls away before his fingers can graze her skin. He tips his head to the side, the expression he wears—which Tessa is beginning to regularly decipher, despite the unusual red skin and black eyes—is a mixture of frustration and yearning. He runs his pointer finger up the bridge of his nose readjusting the glasses he no longer wears.

  “If I’m so miserable, why do you love me? Why do you pursue me?”

  “You know,” he whispers, wiping large tears from beneath Tessa’s eyes. They sizzle and evaporate from his finger.

  TESSA and Arden met at Brown Beans coffee shop, where they both worked while students at Seattle University. They bonded over American history and biology textbooks, and frothy macchiatos drizzled with caramel. Their friendship had been immediate. Tessa’s breath grew shallow at the sight of Arden’s hickory-colored hair and pale blue eyes. By the way he looked at her, she knew he felt the same.

  Arden was completing his PhD in history and Tessa was in nursing school. While their schedules were rigid, they flirted behind the counter at Brown Beans and met for lunch at the university cafeteria, sometimes at odd hours when their courses allowed. Their love grew in the margins of their ambitious, early twenty-something lives.

  Even then, Tessa was guarded. She had erected an inner stronghold around herself as a child that no one could demolish. When Arden asked to meet her parents, she told him they were traveling. When he informed her that he was planning to propose and wanted her father’s blessing, she said she would never say yes to someone that old-fashioned. When two chairs were left unoccupied at their wedding reception, Arden did not mention it. He threw his suit jacket over the back of one, and pulled Tessa onto the dance floor.

  There were many things left unsaid between them. Understood but never acknowledged. Arden accepted her—stronghold, secrets, and all—and for that, she had trusted him like no one else.

  FOR a moment, Tessa forgets where they are and who she and Arden have become. She smiles at the man before her, seeing in his frustrated yearning their better, simpler times. “Thank you,” she says and does not explain. Tessa leads Ardenal back to the company where Nameris is arguing with Nate. She does not wait for them to stop before she speaks.

  “Images flashed across my mind when I was in the cocoon. I saw someone drowning, surrounded by flowers. Fire burning on a beach. A child crying in a tree. A bowl of oats and water spilling on a stone floor . . . Does this mean anything?”

  “I’m not sure,” breathes the Maiden.

  “There were colors, hands around my neck, caterpillars with wings, and—wait—I remember! A menacing fortress made of boulders. Built on the edge of water. Rock cliffs.”

  “The Bangols’ abandoned fortress in the east!” Ardenal confirms. “You’ve described it vaguely, apart from the stone arches which reach from the shore near its base—what was its base—out over the sea. The fortress has been decimated, crushed to rubble, for two-thousand sunsets now. It is the only place, on all of Jarr-Wya, that resembles what you saw. I know this because I saw it once myself, only once, but I will never forget it.”

  “Nor will I, Arden,” hisses Zeno. “The horrible, punishable acts Tuggeron inflicted on my kin at that fortress. . . I hunger to do the same to him and his offspring there one day soon.” Zeno grinds his teeth.

  “It makes sense, in pondering it, that the Bangols would retreat there,” Nameris muses. “They know their scent will be lost in the sea air, their crusts and bones washed away in the tide and the roar of the waves drowning out their foolhardy yammering’s.”

  “However, it is a thick-witted place for the king of the Bangols to venture,” says the Maiden. “Those bridges are dangerous. Deep in decay.”

  “I know the place well—so does Tuggeron,” Zeno grimaces. “The bridges are stronger than they may appear.” He finishes rolling a pasty ball of moss and mud between his grey hands and lobs it at Lady Sophia, who shrieks and looks to the sky, searching the clouds for where the blow originated. Zeno chuckles at what has become his favorite past time as they journey.

  The Bangol’s wicked smile fades. “Tuggeron held me there, in a cell at the end of an archway—for more than twenty sunsets—before banishing me to your world. I’d have rather been a prisoner on Jarr-Wya till my eyes rolled from my skull, rotten with age, than a castaway on earth.”

  “Come now, Zeno!” Archie chides. “It couldn’t have been all bad. Your shop was quaint. You lived on an island paradise, some would say. Plus, if you were still holed up in a cell, you and I never would have met.” Archie flashes a dazzling smile. Zeno rolls his yellow eyes and shuffles off into the woods, heading east.

  Zeno hollers back, “Are you all coming?”

  “It is a half-day’s hike from here,” the Maiden says, turning to Lady Sophia. “Are you ready?”

  “Why do you look at me? I’m raring to go!” The large woman dances on the spot.

  The corners of the Maiden’s mouth twitch up for a brief moment. She outstretches her hand in the direction Zeno had trod and Lady Sophia prances forward. “Tessa,” the Maiden continues, “as we journey, look within yourself for the voice. Call it out.”

  “I feel foolish talking to myself.”

  “The fool is the one who never tries.”

  The company hoist their sacks back over their shoulders and Archie herds Duggie-Sky, who howls with laughter as he zips in and out of the old man’s view. They give Tessa space on her own, most walking a few long strides ahe
ad, with Ardenal and Nate guarding Tessa a short distance behind her at the rear.

  Okay, Tessa thinks. Here it goes. Hello? She waits. Anyone there? There is no voice beyond her own. This is madness! I feel like an idiot. Tessa clenches her fists.

  Nate encourages her, observing her frustration. “Focus, Tess, don’t give up. I believe you can do this, that you can do anything.”

  Tessa slows her breathing and relaxes her back, as she learned at yoga. She lines up her head above her shoulder blades above her hips above her feet as she proceeds carefully. She tunes out the conversations on her periphery. All Tessa hears is the rhythmic crunch of wilting leaves beneath her shoes. She takes an even deeper breath.

  Hello? Ella? Can you hear me?

  Chapter 44

  Shh, Mom! I’m trying to listen.

  What are you listening to?

  Shh! Give me a sec . . . It’s Luggie. He’s telling me the plan.

  Who is Luggie?

  My boyfriend. My friend. Oh whatever, it doesn’t matter at this moment.

  I am so confused.

  Me too.

  When did we take a family trip to Disney World?

  What? Why? When I was eight.

  I wanted to be sure it was you.

  Of course, it’s me! It rained in Florida the whole time. You and Grandpa Archie were miserable, but Dad and I had the best time on the rides, getting soaked. How could I forget?

  It’s been so long since I’ve heard your voice. I am so sorry, Ella. I knew you wanted to talk, but for some reason I felt you lived in a silent world, like me. I was so wrong.

  Yeah, I understand, Mom. We’re good. Save the mushy stuff for later, if there is a later.

  What do you mean?

  It’s getting real here. Tuggs keeps killing people—humans—all for the Star. He’s literally gone off the deep end.

  Literally or figuratively?

  Seriously?

  Sorry.

  Well, at least this proves to me that it’s you. Even when we’re talking telepathically, when we are in some alternate dimension, surrounded by the ultimate of ugly creatures, you still—STILL—feel the burning need to correct me.

  A habit, Ell.

  I first heard your voice after Tuggs beat me. I thought he scrambled my brain. He wanted information about the Star. Of course, I know nothing, but he thinks I poisoned Luggie against him, like the Star is to Jarr-Wya. I didn’t give Tuggs anything; even if I wanted to, I couldn’t. He thinks I’m choosing not to speak to him, so he kicked harder. I’m used to hurting, though. What’s a few more bruises?

  Are you bleeding?

  I don’t think so. Not on the outside at least.

  Why have they kept you alive?

  Tuggs got wind that I’m the daughter of an Olearon. Do I look red and flaming? I don’t know who told him that, but I want to find out. Anyway, Luggie explained to me that Tuggs wants to use me for bartering with the Olearons. Seriously, he’s crazy. Tuggs kept saying the name Ardenal. That’s close to Arden, but Dad’s human, obviously.

  Was human.

  What do you mean?

  He’s different now—on the outside. He saw you on the Millia’s beach, but you didn’t recognize him—I didn’t recognize him. It has only been in the last day or two that I have let myself believe this Olearon is actually your father. He wanted to talk to you then, when he protected us from the sand storm of the Millia, but he was told to wait until we were all safe in the glass city. He went back to the Millia to save Grandpa. Azkar said his name, or at least what they call him here; Ardenal. Do you remember? Ardenal has been helping me, Ell. We are going to save you.

  Silence.

  Ella?

  That’s a lot to digest. And thanks, Mom. I appreciate you coming for me, but right now, I’d rather you keep yourself safe, please! I think Luggie’s plan will work.

  What’s his plan?

  Tuggs—who is Luggie’s dad, that’s the messed-up part—has been torturing Luggie since he discovered that his son was sneaking me food. He brought Luggie to the edge of the ocean and held his head under the water till Luggie choked. That’s when Luggie got an idea. He started lying to Tuggs about hearing the Star. He told Tuggs that the Star was trying to communicate, that Luggie was slowly learning its language. Since then, Tuggs lets Luggie swim. When Tuggs gets bored watching Luggie dive, Luggie collects driftwood that’s caught beneath the arches. He tows it out to the pier, the stone column beneath my cell. He’s building a boat, Mom!

  That doesn’t sound very safe.

  It’s probably safer than what you’re planning! This place is a nightmare, going by the small amount of it I can see through the cracks. Unless you have boats—and tell me if you do—you’d have to leave the forest and cross the beach. The Bangols are watching the shore day and night. You’d get stoned to death before you reached the water. The fortress is gone. Completely crumbled. The bridges still stand, though. I can see seven of them, but even those ones are falling apart. The bridges go up and down, like the McDonald’s arches. The keystones at the tops of the arches are falling, crashing into the water. Bangols are constantly unsettling stones and wiping out into the sea.

  So where are you, exactly?

  I’m in a cell at the end of one bridge, way out over the sea. I think there are about five cells on each bridge from what I gather peeking out a handful of different cracks and holes. The cells are all connected by one landing area. Some of the cells have people in them, others are where the Bangols sleep, since their fortress on the shore is rubble.

  How do you know you can trust Luggie? He’s a Bangol. I don’t even trust Zeno, even though he’s doing a good job pretending to help us.

  I don’t know Zeno, but I know Luggie. He’s my person, a true friend. I’ve never felt like this, Mom. It’s real, even if it is weird.

  Has he touched you?

  I am not answering that. You have to trust me. I’m not just your sick little kid.

  You are my kid, Ella. And you are sick.

  God, I hate you some days. Go save yourself, Mom!

  Ella? Ella!

  Chapter 45

  “What is it, Tessa?” Archie asks. He notices the perspiration on his daughter-in-law’s forehead and the way she clenches her fists and cracks her knuckles. They are mannerisms he is well acquainted with from their sixteen years as family.

  Tessa had never spoken to Archie about her parents. He had many theories as to why, but early in their relationship Arden had told him not to mention the topic. It was clear, at least to Archie, that Tessa had no idea how to interact with him as a father. Instead, she treated him like a renter or a child, and on rare occasions as a friend—but never a dad. It made her uncomfortable when Archie asked her questions about the corner of Seattle where she grew up and what she was like at Ella’s age. Tessa would frown at him in confusion and Archie could sense a fragment of fear beneath her controlled appearance.

  “What is it, Tessa?” Archie asks again.

  “I screwed up, Archie. Now, when I scream her name in my head, she won’t answer.”

  “Did you talk to her? Was it Ella?” Ardenal asks as he approaches and matches the humans’ pace.

  “Yep, it was her.”

  Archie probes, “What happened, Tess?”

  “I don’t want to talk about it. All we need to know is where to find her and I’m certain of that now. We are heading in the right direction.”

  “They have fought a lot lately, Arden,” Archie whispers to his son when Tessa stomps off in front of them. “Ella can’t physically talk about it and Tessa, as you see, refuses. I have no idea where this pigheadedness comes from.”

  “Oh really, Dad? You have no idea?”

  “Not a clue,” Archie says as he tips up his chin and smirks.

  The company trudges as fast as Lady Sophia can manage. Zeno continues to pester the woman and Nameris snaps at her for stopping to catch her breath. Kameelo heeds the Maiden’s warning about the risks of flying near the Bango
ls’ beach; they agree it is unwise to alert the yellow-eyes of their presence before their strategy is in place. Kameelo offers to carry Lady Sophia on his back, though he is remis to match the pace he walked with Nate through the desert. With their new arrangement—and Lady Sophia chattering merrily, like a tourist—the company cover ground swiftly. They see the sunset through the trees before the water’s edge.

  “This is close enough. Stop here. We need to plot our attack,” Nameris orders.

  “It’s funny,” Archie muses.

  “What?” barks the grumpy Olearon.

  “Where I’m from, my world, the sun rises in the east and sets in the west, which I learned from boy scouts when I was not much taller than Duggie-Sky—and I see that on Jarr-Wya, it is the opposite.”

  “I do not care about places I will never go.” Nameris stomps off. Never say never, that’s what my parents always said, Archie thinks, watching him go.

  The company is famished and the Olearons rally for meat. Ardenal and Nameris creep off on one trajectory to hunt the cradle-bird Rolace had spoken of. Kameelo and Nate dash off on another. Donna collects purple and yellow barriers—approved by the Maiden—in the nearby brush. They are salty sweet, seasoned by the sea breeze, and are shaped like tiny dragon fruit with an edible skin. Not wanting to waste their water stores, Donna polishes them clean on her blouse. When the four return from the hunt, there is a bird for every member of their company—and eggs, too. Archie sees how the fowl received their name. The birds backs are curved in a U shape, dipping from their heads then rising equally high to the tips of their tails of violet-colored feathers. Their wings bend up on either side like a shrug. Between their heads, tails, and wings is a stringy, moss-covered feather-bed for the birds’ offspring, where their eggs and babies are carried till maturity.

  The Olearons begin skinning the fowl, but are interrupted by Nate, who teaches them an efficient and clean trick with his switchblade. The Olearons roast the meat on their palms and Donna seasons it with a berry rub while keeping an eye out that they do not overcook the eggs. The birds sizzle and pop, dripping savory smelling fat between red fingers. Archie drools at the aroma. When all have eaten, and Lady Sophia has devoured the leftovers, the company tiptoes to the brink of the forest.