by Dylan Peters
“I have to find the Everflame,” I said listlessly. The shock of the last hour had left me drained.
No one needed to go to the Starless Tower except me; no one needed to face the dark unknown except me. I had to save my mother, but I was powerless. I needed the Everflame.
“We don’t know how to find it,” Ah’Rhea said. “We’ll just have to figure out another plan on the way to the Tower.”
“Another plan won’t work,” I said. “We met a man with a mystical just yesterday who said he wouldn’t go within five miles of the Starless Tower, and his mystical was a lizard bigger than all of us put together. I know I need the Everflame to save my mother, I can feel it.”
“Again,” Ah’Rhea said. “We don’t know where it is.”
“I’ll meditate,” I said. “I saw a vision of the flame once, I can do it again, I just need to try."
Ah’Rhea sighed. “All right, fine—”
“Wait, wait, wait a minute,” Jim said as he walked forward with his arms up. “Just everyone hold on.” Jim turned to Ah’Rhea. “We’ve been through a hell of a lot since meeting you, and don’t get me wrong, I’m glad you’re alive. But what the hell is all of this? I mean, you’ve given us practically no information about why you’re here, how you know all the things you know, how you met Creepy’s mother, or how you escaped the Tower.”
Ah’Rhea got to her feet while Jim was speaking, and now as she looked around at us she seemed genuinely conscience-stricken.
“You’re right,” she said bowing her head slightly. “It’s quite obvious that Reego led you into this forest in an attempt to find me, and now the danger of this place is upon you. I owe you answers.”
“How are your people descended from people on earth?” Jim asked.
Ah’Rhea sighed. “Really? If I have to tell you all that we’ll be here forever, or at least long enough for a fleet of mynahs to find us.”
“Okay,” Jim said and relented. “Just the important stuff then.”
“Now, I’ve told you already some of the history of the earth,” Ah’Rhea continued. “The important stuff, as you call it. I know these things because this information has been passed down through generations. My people did not lose the past as yours did. And everything I have seen and experienced since coming to earth suggests your true past has come back to haunt you. Mysticism has returned to your world, and as far as I have been told, it disappeared when the Everflame left. Therefore, it only makes sense to me that the Everflame has returned.
“Next, I’m sure you want to know how I am familiar with mysticism in the first place, hmmm?” Ah’Rhea asked. We all nodded. “On Ferren, there is a substance that some have the talent to use that allows them to manipulate mystical energy. I was lucky enough to be able to use it and trained well enough to be a master in the art. If we were on Ferren, I could snap my fingers and have you all standing on your heads.”
“You were a witch?” Jim asked.
“Bite your tongue,” Ah’Rhea said bitterly. “I may be without my abilities, but I can still slap the taste out of your mouth. As I said, I am a master of a mystical art.”
“Witch,” Jim whispered to me out the side of his mouth.
Ah’Rhea glared at him again, but let his comment slide. “I was forced to leave my world due to a cataclysmic event, one that could have affected more of the universe than I first thought. I didn’t want to jump to such conclusions earlier, but it is possible your Demise, as you call it, is an effect of that event, and possibly the return of the Everflame to earth, as well.”
Jim stopped her. “But that’s just a hunch, right? I mean, there’s no real proof of the Everflame on earth. There could be a bunch of reasons that the Nullwood is here, or why Wisket appeared, right?”
“But my visions,” I said. “I saw the Everflame in a vision before I had ever heard anything about it.”
Jim was silent.
“Yes,” Ah’Rhea said. “I’m giving more weight to my theory because of your visions, Arthur; your visions and what happened while I was at the tower. I learned why the mynahs are taking people.”
We all held our breath.
“She’s looking for it,” Ah’Rhea said. “Kesia is looking for the Everflame, and sending the mynahs out to find it.”
“How do you know?” Kay asked.
“I overheard interrogations while I was imprisoned,” Ah’Rhea answered. “She never used the word Everflame, but it was more than obvious that she is looking for some mystical power.”
“Why are the mynahs taking people, then?” Anna asked. “If all they want is the Everflame…”
“I can’t be sure,” Ah’Rhea admitted. “Possibly to gather information, or maybe there is some other reason, but she can’t be allowed to gain possession of it. I can be certain of that much. With the power of the flame, she could destroy this entire world. She is evil; I’ve seen how she treats people.”
“You’ve seen how she treats my mother?” I asked.
Ah’Rhea nodded.
“How could you know that you met Arthur’s mother?” Jim asked, still doubtful of the woman.
Ah’Rhea began to answer, but I interrupted before she could.
“There’s only one thing you need to tell me as proof that you met my mother,” I said to Ah’Rhea, “and you know what it is.”
“Yes,” Ah’Rhea said hesitantly. “Your mother has only one leg. Isn’t that correct?”
“Yes,” I said as my stomach twisted. Now there was no doubt my mother was a prisoner in the Starless Tower.
“I was in a cell with your mother for a short time,” Ah’Rhea said. “She said she had been questioned by Kesia about her time in the Nullwood and was forced to divulge everything. She made it clear that Kesia was able to penetrate her mind in supernatural ways, and harbored great guilt that she admitted to having a son who was also in the Nullwood. You look very much like your mother. It wasn’t hard for me to make the connection.”
“Did you tell her I was all right?” I asked, barely able to get the words out.
Ah’Rhea nodded.
“Is she?” I asked. “Was she...?”
Ah’Rhea looked at me sympathetically. “She was hurt, but alive. Your mother is a strong woman. I can tell that much about her. If we can get to her, I’m sure we can save her. I would have helped her escape with me if I could have. Unfortunately, we were separated. A mynah took me into an empty room, I assume to be questioned by Kesia, and it was there that I fought back. There was an open window, just an open arch really, like one might see in a small castle. I formulated a quick plan, a panicked plan, and was lucky it worked, as foolish as it was.”
“You jumped out the window, didn’t you?” I asked.
Ah’Rhea nodded. “As I said, I was panicked. I hoped the mynah would follow me out and it did. It caught me as I plummeted, halfway down to the ground, but I knew if I struggled it might not be able to carry me back up and instead have to go to the ground with me. So I fought against it with all the remaining strength I had. Luck was with me, and the mynah was forced to take me to the ground in hope of gaining a better advantage.”
“And once you reached the ground?” Anna asked, absolutely riveted by the woman’s story.
Ah’Rhea swept aside her tattered shawl to reveal a small dagger with a black handle and a red stone on the hilt tied to her side with a leather strap. “I know Kesia is powerful because she is also arrogant. My weapon was never removed during my capture. Once on the ground, I sliced the mynah in the throat and disappeared into the forest.”
“How do you know you weren’t followed?” Jim asked.
“I don’t,” Ah’Rhea said. “That is why we should not waste time.”
“I have to find the Everflame before Kesia does,” I said resolutely. “I have to save my mother.”
“Even if we can find it first,” Anna said. “How will we stop her? If she’s as powerful as everyone says, How will we stop her from taking it from us?”
“I mi
ght be able to use it,” Ah’Rhea said hesitantly. “After all, I could tap into mystical energy on my homeworld.” The idea seemed to be growing on Ah’Rhea. “I suppose it is worth a try. If I can use it, maybe I can return this world to the way it used to be. Maybe I can help return this place to the past. I could make this world safe again.”
“Ok,” I said to Ah’Rhea. “Then let’s find this thing. We have to.”
“But, Arthur—,” Anna said.
I looked at Anna, and suddenly everything that had happened before Ah’Rhea’s return came rushing back. I looked at Jim, the cut across his cheek, and the left eye that was almost swollen shut. We had to get Jim and Kay out of the Nullwood. There was no time to waste, but how could I ask them to stay here any longer knowing the danger? I was in an impossible situation.
“I’ll have to do this with Ah’Rhea and Reego,” I said to Anna. “You and Wisket can take them home. I don’t want to put you in danger either, Anna. I have to find the flame and go to the tower, but no one else has to.”
“Hold on,” Jim said. “Are you talking about me and Kay when you say ‘take them home’?”
“Yeah,” I said. “It’s not fair to ask you two to be a part of this anymore.”
“We’re not going anywhere,” Jim said. He sighed and put a hand to his head. “Look, I’m sorry. I totally freaked out, and Anna… Anna, I’m so sorry. If I could take what I said back I would, but… Kay and I talked while you were away. We were both wrong, and we don’t want to leave you guys. Kay just got scared, and I just got… I don’t know.” Jim sighed again. “We used to be the kind of people who thought it was okay to not care. If it wasn’t our problem to start with, why make it our problem? We can’t be those people anymore, not with a clear conscience.”
“You feel like that, too?” Anna asked Kay.
“I do,” she said meekly. “I’m sorry, Anna. It’s just scary, and sometimes it’s hard to change, but I want to. Will you let us stay with you?”
Anna smiled and nodded.
“All right!” Jim said loudly and clapped his hands together like a couple of dense pancakes. He strode over to me and put a big arm around my shoulder, which momentarily terrified me considering I had recently given him a black eye. However, Jim was all smiles.
“I thought you were going to kick the crap out of me,” I said.
“Nah,” Jim said. “I deserved that punch, Creepy. I didn’t realize you had it in you. Besides, you’re gonna find the Every-flame and make this place safe again.”
“Everflame,” I corrected.
“I know,” he said and winked at me.
At least, I think he winked at me. Jim’s one eye was swollen shut now. He may have just closed both eyes.
“So can we get started now?” I asked.
Everyone nodded, then Ah’Rhea walked forward and put her hands on my shoulders.
“Reego seemed to help you last time,” she said. “I’d like to use both of the mystical animals now. We need all the help we can get.”
I nodded. I was ready to begin.
Ah’Rhea directed me to sit on the ground and then told the others to watch the sky and the forest. The vision would have to be broken at the slightest sign of attack. Then, after appointing her lookouts, Ah’Rhea sat on the ground with me and placed her hands on the backs of Wisket and Reego. She closed her eyes, and an aura of energy grew around the mystical animals.
“Keep your mind focused on finding the Everflame,” Ah’Rhea told me. “Are you ready to begin?”
“Yes,” I said.
“Good luck,” she said.
As the energy of the mystical animals washed over me, I felt like a child sitting in a tide pool on a beach, soaking in the warmth of summer. Though I knew I was supposed to be using the mystical energy to help me find the Everflame, I couldn’t help but be taken by a memory from my childhood. With my eyes closed, the vision grew from the abyss, and slowly swelled with color, light, and sound.
All at once, it was as if I were truly back there, as if I had entered a time portal and I was again that little child playing in a tide pool. I felt the wet sand turned to mud between my toes and the spray of ocean water as the breeze threw it against my hot face. I heard gulls overhead, and fruitlessly squinted my eyes to see them against the blazing light of the sun. It was too bright to make them out, but with my eyes closed, I could feel as the birds briefly interrupted the sun’s rays from reaching me. I was back there again, inside the orchestra of wind and waves, both calming and invigorating. Life affirmed itself on the edge of where land met the sea, and in my little pool next to white and gray rocks, I played with the elements and my imagination. I had earth and water in my hands, wind in my hair, and fire against my face and chest. I was everywhere and nowhere. I was happy again in the way only a child can be.
My mother lay on a beach towel a few yards from where I played. It was close enough for her to feel like she was watching me, and far enough for me to feel like she wasn’t. She read a book and kicked one leg up behind her into the wind and ocean spray. She never brought her prosthetic to the beach. Cleaning the salt and sand from it was problematic, so a crutch lay next to her towel, along with a cooler packed with ice, drinks, and sandwiches we would devour later, when the sun and surf had built a hunger in us. Next to my mother was also a small bag of green grapes she picked at from time to time as she read her book. My eyes fixated on those shining green ovals. I had my own ideas for them.
I stood up from my tidal pool and walked over to the bag, pausing long enough to silently ask permission. My mother met my gaze with a smile and a nod. Words were very unnecessary. I liked that.
I grabbed two grapes, one of which I immediately popped into my mouth and crunched down on. The sweet juice broke over my tongue and mixed with the salt from my fingers. The combination was wonderful and made me love the day even more. The second grape, however, was not for eating.
I wandered close to the dunes that divided the beach from the world of humans and squatted next to a crab hole I had spotted earlier. I crouched silently for a moment so the crab in the hole might forget I lurked just outside its home. A minute passed in silence and then I gently rolled the grape close to the hole. Immediately a yellow-green crab shot out of the hole and grabbed the grape. The scavenger had found its treasure. Yet this was no ordinary treasure, and I watched as the crab tried to make sense of something it found very unfamiliar. Was it food, or was it foe? The crab rolled the grape across the sand with its pincers, back and forth. Its eye stalks bulged with wonder or confusion, I didn’t know or care. This was enough to entertain me. I loved watching the crab.
“Arthur,” my mother called from behind me. “You shouldn’t play with bears like that. It’s dangerous.”
That’s funny, I thought. My mother said bears. She meant crabs but said bears. I looked back at her with a too-wide smile the way a child looks at a parent when they’re still young enough to find corny humor amusing.
But my mother wasn’t there. The crutch was there with the cooler and the towel, its blue and white striped corners lifting just slightly in the wind. The waves lapped the shoreline, foamy and reflecting the sun’s light. The wind howled in my ears, and the shadows of gulls overhead traced their way along the bright sand. But my mother was gone.
A low growl grew behind me, and the hair on the back of my neck stood straight up. I raised my shoulders, and my jaw tightened. My back felt cool, as if a massive obstruction had come between my skin and the sun. There were dark clouds on the ocean’s horizon now; they were ominous, and something was telling me not to turn back around.
But I had to. I didn’t have a choice.
I turned and came face to face with the shadow bear. Its red eyes cast a rosy glow against my pale skin, and its muzzle was inches from my face. I was petrified, and my panic only grew when, behind the bear, the dunes agitated. Dead black trees sprouted up from the sand at an alarming rate, and grew so thick they began to blot out the blue sky.
&n
bsp; Now I remembered why I was here. This was a vision. This was not real. I was here to save my mother. I had to find the Everflame.
“T-take me to the Everflame,” I mumbled at the bear. I wasn’t a little kid in the tide pool anymore. I was fully grown again, though I might as well have been a child in front of the massive black bear. “Take me to the Everflame,” I tried to say with more force.
The bear roared into my face, so loud it hurt my ears. I winced momentarily but knew I had to fight back.
“Tell me where it is!” I yelled back at the bear, feigning bravery through watering eyes and quivering legs.
The bear roared at me in reproach.
“Tell me!” I roared back. “Tell me now! I need it! She’ll die if I don’t have it!”
The bear roared again, but I was not afraid anymore, and I would not be deterred. This was my vision, my quest, and now I was furious. I lunged at the shadow bear like a feral animal and grabbed it around the neck.
“Tell me!” I yelled at the bear over and over.
It swung its massive head upward and lifted me off the ground with such force that I lost my hold. The bear tossed me high into the air and I came down onto its back. I quickly filled my fists with tufts of thick black fur so I wouldn’t fall, and then the bear dashed forward toward the sea. I had no idea what the bear was doing, but I knew the beast was my key to finding the flame. Whatever the bear had in store, I would endure it. My eyes were wide and I was both terrified and exhilarated as the bear bounded toward the water with me on its back.
I grunted as my chest bounced up and then slammed back down on the bear’s back with each massive stride it took. If I lost my grip for even a second, I would be tossed aside, and I would fail. I had no idea why, but everything inside of me was telling me to keep my hold. I heard the first splashes as the bear’s huge pads slapped against the surf. The sky above the sea was black with clouds, and my shoulders felt like they were going to pop from their sockets. The bear was trying to throw me, and its strength was exhausting me quickly.
