by Quil Carter
“Don’t follow him,” Josiah ordered. His eyes scanned the area he had found Ben in and tried to memorize it.
Then his eyes fell on Haunter.
“Follow Ben at a distance, protect him if needed,” Josiah ordered. He ran over and helped the burned Melesch rise. “We need to run, we have to get Father. We need to run and fast.”
“Josiah, that’s not him. They would have mentioned and warned us if he knew silvermagic,” Suana said, watching as the ethereal fox disappeared after Ben. She was knelt down beside Melesch who was holding his chest. Melesch looked pale, and faint, but still able to run with them.
“Don’t ask me to explain it, I have no idea, but that is him. The description matches perfectly.” Josiah was already starting to run towards the walls. Darkness was upon them now, and he could just faintly see the flicker of torches on the walls.
“Silver magic takes years to perfect…” Suana didn’t sound convinced.
Josiah ignored her and picked up the speed. He might not have all the answers but deep down inside he knew he’d just found Ben, and he knew he had to get him to his father quickly.
51
Malagant was sitting at the kitchen table, with Teal on the opposite side and his father in between them. An intense game of poker was going on, with kippins and sweets as bargaining chips. The fire was blazing in the double-ended hearth, and the house warm, dimly lit, and cozy. Josiah’s dinner was warming by the fireplace, filling the room with the aroma of roasted pork, potatoes, gravy, and carrots.
Malagant’s father, who had first scoffed at the game in favour for writing his newest book, had eventually joined them. True to his personality, he was unable to resist the appeal of gambling.
“These humans certainly know a good card game,” Anagin mumbled, scratching his chin stubble. “Alright.” He laid his cards down. “Did I win?”
Malagant stared blankly at the straight flush; he looked at Teal and narrowed his eyes. “I don’t think I like playing with a mage.”
Anagin looked at him. “Well, did I win?”
Malagant gave him a flat look. A moment later Anagin grinned at him, before reaching his hands out and pulling all the kippins and candy sticks towards him with a cackle.
“You’re a damn cheater!” Malagant threw his cards down and went up to get more wine.
“I am not! Tell me, what magic spell can I perform to make the cards change suit? Explain that one to me!”
Teal thought for a moment. He reached over and looked at the cards, before squinting his eyes hard and checking them again. “You’re changing the way we see things. You’re making us think we see the straight flush, aren’t you?”
Anagin waved a hand. “Nonsense, I just hung out with a lot of Dashavians in my day. I was taught how to gamble and gamble right. And I got some nice things from gambling. Malagant, I got your bunny in a game of Cradle. The elf took it right out of his daughter’s arms, wailed she did. I didn’t care; she was a brat.”
“Bunny?” Teal asked.
“Dad…” Malagant said in a warning tone, but, of course, Anagin paid him no heed. He turned to Teal and winked.
“It was on his dresser last I saw it. Surprised he doesn’t still sleep with it clutched in his arms. A little cloth bunny with a Jevarian silk mage tunic. Named Bimmy the bunny. I think his name was supposed to just be bunny, but Malagant had a mush mouth when he was young. Oh, I tell you he carried that damn thing around until he was seven years old. I had to repair it more than once with magic when he would forget it outside. Wailed when it would rip.”
Teal stifled a laugh; Malagant shot him a look of death.
“Want to take Bimmy with you on your journey, Malagant? I can put a spell on him to make sure he doesn’t wear.” Anagin started to laugh. As he turned away from his son, Malagant made a stabbing motion at him with a nearby kitchen knife.
“I’ll take him; he can see all of Alcove.” Teal grinned.
Malagant slammed the knife down and refilled his goblet.
“You’re not touching my damn rabbit, you little feral. Bimmy stays safely in Birch.”
This, of course, made Teal and Anagin laugh harder.
Suddenly the door slammed open; it hit the back of the wall hard. They all looked to see Josiah grab onto the door handle to keep himself from collapsing; he was gasping so hard from being out of breath he looked like he was going to pass out.
“Josiah?” Anagin said in shock. They all ran towards him. Josiah’s face was red and his head was dripping sweat. “Malagant, get him some water.”
Josiah tried to speak but Anagin shushed him. “Drink first.” He raised his hand and a moment later Malagant put Teal’s water glass into it. The mage brought it up to Josiah’s lips and Josiah drank from it deeply.
Malagant watched Josiah drink, his heart beating hard. He glanced over at Teal who looked exactly how he knew he himself looked: rigid, not moving, a look of shock and fear on their face, anxious for Josiah to tell them what had happened, but also dreading it at the same time.
Josiah rose to his feet; he swayed but Anagin steadied him. His eyes found Malagant, looking grave. “I found him. I found Ben.”
Malagant’s mouth dropped open, but as soon as he tried to speak Teal let out a sob. “He’s dead? Gods, he’s dead. He’s not with you.”
Malagant felt his legs go weak and he had to lean against a shelf behind him. Teal was right; Ben would be with him if he was–
“He’s alive.” Josiah shook his head. “But he’s bad, he’s really bad. He’s lost his mind; he’s very ill. Father, I think he has choke lung. He’s delusional, he thought I was dead. He attacked all of us. Melesch got burned.”
Malagant looked up at his brother, a surge of relief flooding him, but something didn’t make sense. “How was Melesch burned?”
“You left out the fact that he’s a silvermage,” Josiah said through his rasped breathing. “He full-blown attacked us with runeflame. He’s a good one too. Seared Melesch’s chest as he tried to hold him. You need to go with them, Dad. He’s dangerous – he’s extremely dangerous.”
Teal let out a disheartened cry, his fingers clawing his arms. “That’s not him! Ben can’t even do firepalm. You found the wrong hibrid, that’s not Ben.”
Josiah’s face dropped; he looked at Malagant then to his father helplessly. “He doesn’t? He… his attack was powerful, only an experienced–”
“It wasn’t him.” Malagant’s throat clenched. A wave of despair flooded him, and although he tried to stop it, he felt his eyes start to burn.
They had been so close… brought up only to be shot down.
Josiah shook his head rapidly, though his face was now holding doubt too. “But… the description…”
“You found a shekin’ crazy hibrid mage and you ticked him off, that’s all!” Teal cried, his voice strangled and broken. Without even trying to hide his face, Teal just cried, looking completely broken and empty.
Josiah looked crushed. Anagin let out a breath.
“There is an easy way to figure this out.” Anagin reached to his son’s forehead and put his hand on it. A moment later Josiah’s eyes glazed over and his mouth started to twitch.
Anagin’s eyes widened, he pulled his hand away quickly. “How in Anea did he learn that…?”
“Is it him?” Malagant almost yelled, a flicker of light breathing cautious life into his dying hope.
“Malagant…”
“Is it him!?” Malagant cried.
Anagin’s face was emotionless; he reached out and touched Malagant’s forehead.
Immediately the image shot to the front of his mind’s eye. Malagant had to lean on the table to steady himself. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing.
It was Ben… but it was a shadow of who Ben had been. He was covered in mud, dirt, and filth. He had lost an incredible amount of weight and he looked half dead.
That wasn’t what made Malagant sick though; it was the look in his eyes, the movement of his l
ips as he mumbled to himself, the insane laughter.
Ben had lost his mind out there.
Then Malagant saw the burst of flames come from Ben’s hands. A brilliant inferno of blue that shot from his palms like dragon fire. He had never seen anything like it, and was at a loss as to how Ben had learned it.
“It’s Ben,” Malagant managed to say, still needing to steady himself. He heard Teal let out a cry. “He’s very sick. Teal and I have to get him. Teal, get your cloak.”
Teal ran to the coat hooks, grabbing anything that resembled a cloak.
“You can’t go alone, he’s dangerous,” Josiah said still breathing hard. “I’ll go just give me a minute.”
“He’s not dangerous, he’s our friend,” Malagant snapped. He didn’t know why but with all the raw emotions coursing through him, Josiah implying that Ben would hurt them made him angry.
“Malagant, he’s ill. We all have to go.” Anagin’s voice was calm. “I might need to quiet his head.”
“We have to get there fast, Dad. Your hip…”
“You two can run ahead, just stay out of the flames,” Anagin said with a disgruntled growl. He always hated it when someone pointed out his old injury. He grabbed his cloak from Teal. “I’m not as gods’ damn slow as you think, boy.”
Quickly the three of them slipped their boots on and moments later they were running through the streets of Birch. It wasn’t long before Pontis met them, a torch in hand. He opened his mouth but Anagin cut him off.
“Don’t tell a soul we found him. I’ll check on Melesch later. Business as normal, understand me?”
Pontis paused, and gave him a shocked look before he nodded. “Yes, Syr Ahris. Melesch will be in his home; Kandolin is tending to him.”
Anagin nodded and pushed past Pontis. He wasn’t using his cane anymore, the excitement had given him the adrenaline needed to steel through the pain. He was able to keep up with the others.
They tried to act normal as they sped towards the partially closed wooden gates, not wanting to draw attention to themselves. Though as soon as the gates closed behind them, Teal started to run.
“I have a familiar following Ben,” Josiah said to Malagant. He pointed southeast. “Dead ahead, near a gathering of ironwood trees. Watch for the blue glow of the fox, and for Anea’s sake, Malagant, be careful.”
Malagant nodded; he pulled his cloak back, making it easier to run, and ran after Teal. His friend was lightning fast, but Malagant managed to keep pace with him.
Malagant looked over at Teal and saw the panic that painted his face. He was staring, unblinking, into the darkness with his eyes wide and desperate. There would be no stopping Teal now, he wouldn’t rest until he found Ben.
Ben was alive…
Malagant’s heart gave another jolt of fear. Seeing the image of the half-dead, skinny creature that was his friend was enough to give anyone pause. His eyes had been darting around like he was hallucinating and his black lips moving and mumbling incoherent things.
Ben had been through a lot, so much it had broken his mind. But he was alive… that’s what mattered.
Damn, I’m glad Teal didn’t see what I saw. It might break his own mind, or even worse Throateater would come and Ben didn’t need to see that.
But he was going to see him soon enough…
Teal was strong though, it was better to see Ben sick than see Ben dead.
Suddenly above them there was a flash of lightning and moments later the rain started to fall. Malagant looked up and let out a groan watching the sky split open above them. That was the last thing they needed.
Teal didn’t even look up, his eyes were fixed forward, and occasionally below as they ran down the sharp ridges and weaved between the plains rocks. Malagant had stumbled a few times, but he managed to keep standing. He had to, he didn’t want Teal to find Ben first.
It wasn’t fair though, Teal’s hibrid eyes could pick out the inclines and the rocks better than his could. He should’ve asked his brother for one of his happy orbs to light his way, though they dimmed the farther away from Josiah they got.
Malagant spent more time looking down than up, but he kept his eyes peeled for the blue glow of the familiar. Everything in front of him was covered in darkness though, a vast void of haunting shapes that looked intimidating and towering on the landscape. He kept expecting to see them move.
Soon enough, they had been running for half an hour. Malagant had slipped and fallen more than once but Teal was steady on his feet.
Then the scream, the same scream they had heard the previous night tore through the plains. It was so loud and so close, Malagant had to stifle his own scream just from the pain it caused his ears.
Teal however stopped dead in his tracks, his face dropping in terror.
Then another scream sounded – this one they both recognized.
“BEN!” Teal shrieked his face desperate. Malagant’s head shot from one direction to the next, trying to find the source. It had come from the gathering of rocks and trees off to their right. It was close, both screams were close.
Adrenaline and fear flowed through Malagant as the two of them ran towards Ben’s desperate howls. As they approached Malagant could see the glow of the familiar behind one of the rocks. He was cowering, his head lowered.
Familiars aren’t supposed to feel fear…
Malagant pushed that thought out of his head and ran past the flyn fox.
Then another scream.
This time they both froze in place as the long drawn-out scream of despair rattled their chests and sung out all around them.
They stopped and waited, and, sure enough, the second scream sounded by a large boulder nearby.
Teal ran forward but Malagant grabbed him just in time. He held his friend back as Teal struggled to free himself from Malagant’s grip.
“Stay here. Please, Teal, he’s not himself. We can’t overwhelm him. Stay here, please. I’m begging you. You know as well as I do you won’t be able to remain calm when you see him.”
Teal whimpered but he stopped struggling. Malagant let go of him, and took several steps forward towards the rock. “Ben? Benny? Is that you?”
The small defeated whimper made Malagant’s heart break. He walked over to the rock.
Malagant’s heart fell when he saw the crumpled mass, with wide eyes that stared forward unblinking. Ben was barely recognizable in the state he was in; he looked like a walking corpse. Malagant couldn’t even fathom what he had been through since that night on the canyon.
Malagant took another step forward when he paused, noticing Ben was chewing on something, it looked like it was hanging out of his mouth.
“Ben?” Malagant said slowly.
Ben’s wild, insane eyes shot towards him, and as they did, his mouth clamped down hard. A spurt of blood ran down what he was biting.
He was gnawing on his own hand.
“Oh, Benny…” Malagant whispered, trying to push down the horror that was pooling in his stomach. He held out his hand. “It’s Malagant. Let’s go to Birch, buddy.”
Ben’s crazed eyes didn’t leave Malagant’s, they stared into him.
“You’re dead. You’re just a skin he wears.”
Malagant brought his hand back. “What?”
Ben’s hollow eyes stared at him, not blinking once.
Then they shot past where Malagant was standing, and widened.
“Oh gods,” Teal cried from behind Malagant. He’d snuck up behind him anyway.
Malagant whirled around and grabbed Teal; he brought him to the side of the rock.
“Don’t – be silent. Teal. He’s sick, he’s extremely sick. Be quiet, please, please. We need to wait for–”
There was a crash of lightning ahead of them, and another shrieking scream that was so close and deafening it made Malagant, Teal, and Ben scream too. When it died down, all was eerily silent.
Then Ben snapped.
Ben jumped to his feet, laughing hysterically. He walked arou
nd clapping his bloodied hands together, pacing and giggling, completely incoherent.
“I won’t close my eyes! He wants me to, but I won’t!” Ben announced. “He won’t get my teeth… he won’t get my teeth… so quiet inside here. So quiet inside my tormented mind. Loud, loud on the plains though. He calls, he calls.” Ben laughed, then he held out his hands and spun around. “HE’S ALL AROUND! CAN YOU HEAR HIM?”
Malagant felt useless. He looked behind him for his father but the rocks and trees were shrouding any lamplight he might be seeing on the rise. He wanted to snatch Ben and run with him back to Birch, but he remembered the runeflames that had exploded from Ben’s palms. He felt sick to admit it, but he was afraid of Ben. He was afraid for himself and Teal.
“Who, Ben? Who?” Malagant asked. He kept a safe distance from his mad friend. All he could think of was keeping him in touch with whatever reality he could still grab onto. Anything to keep him calm before Anagin came.
“Flies, the flies are buzzing.” Ben dropped his voice to a mumble; he started chewing on his hand again. His eyes never stayed still, they looked everywhere.
Malagant looked over at Teal. Teal was a statue of shock and horror, staring at his friend in his manic state.
“The – the flies are all dead, Ben,” Malagant whispered. “The animals left too.”
“They all ran from him,” Ben hissed back. He hacked into his hand, a string of black gunk trailing from his mouth. He walked up to Malagant and looked at him, even the whites of his eyes were starting to turn black.
Ben leaned in and whispered in his ear. “They ran… because the human came.”
The way Ben said that made the hair on the back of Malagant’s neck rise. And when Ben pulled back he gave Malagant an eerie smile.
His teeth were black, and his tongue as well…
Then, like he had been hit from something above, Ben dropped. He dropped right to the ground before Malagant could even think of catching him – and suddenly started to violently seize, a scream of pain coming shortly after.
Another flash of lightning, followed by rolling thunder. Ben’s mouth gaped open in an agonizing scream, before his eyes rolled back into his head.
