by J B Cantwell
"You have no chance," Connell said sullenly.
"You only say that because you were beaten in a duel,” I said.
"You don't understand," he said angrily. "You haven't had everything taken from you, everything you’ve spent your entire life learning. It's simply gone."
I doubted this, but I didn't say it right then. Instead, I took a swig of my tea and set the cup back down on the table. I rose to leave.
“I’ll stay for a week if Duna will have me. And when I'm done, there will be giants who follow me away from this place."
"You can't stay here," Arte said. "I can't allow it." He stood, and in a flash, he had his sword at my throat.
I hadn't been looking for a fight, but a fight, it seemed, had been looking for me.
I lit my hands and thrust him backward until he hit the wall with such force that the shelves hanging upon it shuddered. His sword fell to the ground with a clang, and a moment later, I held my staff in my hands. I trained it on him, not underestimating his strength. He had hidden magic from within his tribe; I had no reason to believe that he, himself, had none.
“Arte,” Duna said, and I was surprised to hear a hint of respect in her voice. "You can't stop this. Some will follow you, and some will follow her. Many seek another life outside these mountains. Together, we can escape these borders. After that, those who wish to can join in the fight."
I looked at Connell, and I saw his eyes, empty and hopeless.
I had work to do.
I slept well that night, feeling safer than I had in a very long time. Duna was already up when I finally awoke, and I could smell sweet tea brewing.
"You slept in," she said. "I thought you’d be the first to be up."
I yawned and stretched, relishing the comfort of the bed. My bed back home, while comfortable enough, was hard by comparison. I wondered how long Duna had been sleeping in this one. Years? Decades? Maybe even centuries.
"How can you tell when it's morning?" I asked.
"We've become used to it over the centuries. There are changes, subtle changes, in the light between night and day."
I, myself, had experienced something like this. But it had been hard to keep myself on any kind of schedule. Ultimately, I found that I frequently lost track of the days and nights, and I would simply sleep when I was tired, wake when I was less so.
I sat up in the bed and reached for my clothes.
"What will we do first?" I asked.
"You tell me. You're the boss."
"I may be the leader," I said. "But I know almost nothing of giants. Have you been out yet today?"
"I have."
"And?"
"Many are out," she said. "More than usual."
That seemed to me to be a good thing. Maybe we’d have several followers after all. Arte couldn’t control his people's free will, and they would exercise it in the coming days. Connell was the one I felt I needed to convince.
I jumped down from the bed and walked over to the table with its two remaining chairs.
"Can I sit?"
In answer, she brought a cup of tea to my spot at the table. I climbed up into the seat and intended to warm my hands around the mug. It was cold, though, and I noted that there was no fire in the grate.
"Can I set a fire?" I asked.
"Be my guest," she said. "I guess we get used to the cold after a while."
She handed me my staff, and with it, I was able to set the fire without losing my place at the table. It was amazing to me how much I’d learned to do since leaving Eagleview. If it hadn’t been for Bevyn, I would’ve been truly lost.
"So, I guess after breakfast we should go out?" I asked.
"We don't have much time. Arte will be outside by now, trying to convince people to stay."
"I need to talk to Connell," I said. "We need to convince him to come with us."
"What's your experience with the boy?"
"Only that he is kind," I said. "He was sent away from Eagleview, and I think it was because he'd become too powerful. The head sorcerer there was threatened by him, just as he was threatened by me."
"Ah," she said. "I wondered how you had come to be on this journey of yours."
She poured herself a cup of tea and went to lean against the wall. We had only broken a few mugs from practicing the night before. She held one, I held one, and one more waited on the shelf.
"Sorry about your house," I said.
She laughed. "It won't matter much soon enough."
"How long do you think we should stay?" I asked.
"People will need time to decide. But if we wait too long, we risk Arte getting to them first. We don't want him to fill their heads with fear. I know for certain that many wish to leave. Though I suspect none of them would have expected me to be the rallying one."
"So where should we go first?"
"I will speak with those I know," she said. "But you would do better on your own. Many… no, most giants don't like me. They don't trust me, but they might give you the time of day. You have a very convincing story."
Leading the group alone. I hadn't counted on that. But if I was to lead, I would need to practice convincing people to follow me.
"Can you get me started? At least point me to the first doorway?"
"I'll show you," she said. "But using your staff will surely be easier for you than trying to recognize our doorways in the darkness. Giants were adept at hiding long before the darkness came."
Duna wrapped a sweater around herself, and I put on my cloak. Together, we left the little cabin and began our effort to sway the giants to our side.
Duna's little house was well away from the rest of the village, and it would've been impossible to hide. Had that been her punishment for daring to have magic? No protection?
A few giants were out, most of them scurrying from place to place, carrying things from a small market that had materialized around the fire pit.
"There are no coins here," Duna said. "It's all trade."
Some carried gyvu seeds, others large glass bottles filled with Light. One had an armful of what looked like yarn.
As I watched people leave the market, I realized they were staying away from us. I wondered if they were actually frightened of me, of the both of us.
It was going to be a difficult day.
"Here," Duna said after we'd walked for a few minutes. "Point your staff."
I did so and let out a small burst of power. Instantly, the first doorway appeared, having been hidden just a moment before.
"This one's old," she said. "Don't hold your breath. I'll see you in a while." And she turned and walked away.
I took a deep breath and walked up to knock on the door. But as soon as I got there, I realized it wouldn’t be possible to knock on the stone without breaking my knuckles in the process. Instead, I held out the staff and gave it another jolt.
I heard grumbling from within, and a moment later, a very old man opened the door.
"I figured I'd be seeing you," he said. "What do you want?"
"I wanted to ask you if you would like to join us when we leave."
He glowered down at me but then seemed to consider my offer.
"That depends. Who else is coming?"
"Yours is the first door," I said.
He raised his eyebrows, and I knew it was unlikely.
"Come back here at the end of the night after you've talked to a few of us. When do you leave?"
"Tomorrow, I think."
"You might want to solidify your plans if you expect people to follow you. Either it's tomorrow, or it's not. Which?"
"The day after tomorrow, then," I said.
"Fine. Now get out."
He shut the door in my face.
It could've been worse.
I walked to the next house and to the next, but everywhere the answers seem to be the same. Soon I realized that these people would all be going together. It was no one or everyone.
I was banking on everyone.
After several hours I started to get hungry again. What a luxury, I thought, to be hungry and to expect food to be given to me. It was a big change from the rest of my journey thus far.
I met Duna by the fire pit, and I saw that several others were eating there. I waited in line as giant after giant moved forward, claiming their seeds from a large pile. Next to it sat several cups with splashes of Light in each.
I chose the smallest seed, and it was already more food than I would’ve been able to eat in a week. I wondered if we'd be able to pack these to take with us. Connell or I could live off Light, but how would we transport it?
I remembered the bread in my pack, and I wondered if Connell had ever learned how to multiply his food.
"I'll be back in a bit," I whispered in Duna’s ear.
I walked back to her cabin and quickly took the bread out from my pack.
Before knocking at the tenth door of the day, I stopped myself, thinking. I decided, instead, to walk toward Arte's house. I was surprised when it was Connell who opened the door.
"What do you want?" he asked.
"Good morning to you, too," I said. "I brought you something." I tossed the bread, and he fumbled it, almost dropping it on the floor."
"What is this?" he asked.
"You need to teach me how to multiply this, or I'll starve before this is all through."
He started to close the door, holding the bread out for me.
"I can't help you. My magic is gone. You already know that."
"So you say."
"Are you calling me a liar?" He opened up the door again, and this time he didn't hand me the bread, but instead pushed it into my chest and pushed me away. He was strong. Considering how weak he’d seemed the night before, it heartened me that there was still a vein of anger within him.
"You're no liar," I said. "But I do believe you still have magic. You can't simply lose it."
"What do you know about it? You still have your power. You weren't there. You didn't fight him."
"Maybe, but I did fight Varik. Was that so different?"
His face fell.
"Well, maybe you're just more powerful than I was."
"Maybe if you just practice," I began. But he cut me off.
He stepped out of the door until his nose was inches from mine.
"Don't you think I've tried?" he hissed. "Don't be such a fool. I'm staying here."
"No, you're not."
I thrust my staff into his hands.
"Practice," I commanded. I walked away, leaving my most valuable possession in the hands of a nonbeliever. For a moment, I wasn't sure I'd done the right thing. He could easily give the staff to Arte, and it would only take a second for him to destroy it.
Then I thought about Duna's stick, and it made me feel a bit better about this decision. I still had my knives, and there were many more sticks of wood beneath Duna's chairs. Between her kitchen table and those of every other household, I felt sure we’d have enough wands for everyone.
"Just think about it," I called as I walked away.
My initial indecision changed to pride for having given my best weapon to him, a young man full of nothing but doubt. Maybe, just maybe, he would have a chance at getting it all back.
Chapter 14
By the end of the night, I was done. I had been to no fewer than twenty doors, a little more than half of the Ezvar population. It was odd that I was as tired as I was, considering that all I'd been doing was talking and trying to convince people to come with us. If one were to give me a staff or a wand, I could practice all day and into the night without feeling tired at all. But talking to people, trying to appeal to their sense of adventure, danger, or both, was exhausting.
When I got back to the cabin, I was surprised when Duna wasn't there. I walked inside, feeling a little bit nervous about entering her home without her. But after twenty minutes, she still hadn’t returned, and I helped myself to sweet tea, which was far better than the more potent brew she’d given me on our first night together. I knew that soon the giants would be meeting for dinner, but I desperately didn't want to go by myself. I'd had more than one door slammed in my face that day, and I wasn't looking forward to seeing everybody again so soon.
Slowly, the darkness outside became complete, and I couldn't wait any longer. I stood up, stuffed my wand into my pocket, and made for the fire pit.
Convince them. You’re the one in charge.
I got in line in between two giant women, both of them chattering high above my head as if I wasn’t even there at all.
"I don't know what to think," the first one said. "We're safe here. Why leave now?"
The second one looked down at me, and I recognized her as one of the more interested people I’d met that day. Her name was Alys. But in front of her friend she stayed neutral, seemingly unwilling to let her opinions on the matter become public knowledge. She didn't answer her friend's question.
Alys had told me that afternoon that she was one of the youngest in the tribe, just one-hundred-fifty years old. Her opinion would hold very little sway if she were to stand up for me and our planned journey. But I caught her eye, and she nodded her head slightly, just enough for me to see her approval and for her friend not to get suspicious.
Her friend continued, staring down at me with a sour look on her face.
"I mean, why should we trust these humans just because they show up with their scary stories?"
"Well, you can't deny that the idea of living in the light is interesting. I've never seen the sun," Alys said.
"I don't think that seeing the sun is worth risking my life," the friend said.
Alys became silent, unwilling to argue with this other woman. If I'd had to guess, I would’ve said that she was much older than Alys. I’d found that those above five-hundred years of age were less likely to show interest in what we were trying to do, what I was trying to do.
"What do you say to that, girl?" the friend asked me.
I paused, thinking. Then I gave my argument.
"I'm not welcome in my town. I hope that one day I’ll find somewhere to call home again. But until then, there’s a war upon me, upon all of us. It's only a matter of time before Torin sends his meanest, cruelest monsters our way."
"You see? That's exactly what I'm talking about," the woman said. "Us Ezvar haven't had any trouble for thousands of years now. And here come two humans with tales of war and pain and destruction. This isn’t our fight."
I had an answer to this.
"If any of us desire to live peacefully in our world, we all must stand together against Torin and against any monsters he may unleash upon us.”
"But they can't find us in the mountains," Alys said. "We’re very well hidden. How do you know that we'll also be in danger when our greatest talent is to hide?"
"Do you really want to hide forever?" I asked. "Because that's how long you live, right? Forever?"
"I, for one, am going with her," a voice said behind me.
I felt great relief as Kaelin joined the conversation. I wondered how old he was. I hadn't made it to his house today, but his youthful vigor made me think that he would be joining us on our quest regardless. I'd skipped his door.
"Kaelin, you're a fool," the friend said. "You're barely of age. What are you now? One-hundred-fifty?"
"One-hundred-fifty-five," he said, smiling obnoxiously.
I nearly laughed, but I settled for a smile. I didn't think the women standing around me would appreciate being made fun of, especially considering that one of them was looking like she might actually be joining me. Alys seemed to have believed my story, and I thought that most people I’d talked with were seriously considering leaving with me. I didn't know if it was me, my story, or the mere fact that they were tired of living in the dark. Would that be enough to begin creating an army?
A few others had gathered around, and I saw Duna at the back of the line, her arms crossed and a wide grin on her face. She was throwing me to the wolves, but she’d b
een right. If I were to expect people to follow me to war, I needed to be able to talk to them on my own without help from outsiders.
"This girl brings news of great danger, much of which will fall upon us if we don't leave this place soon." Kaelin was looking around at the growing crowd as he spoke. "We already have to deal with the Howlers from year to year, one of the few beings in our world with the power to kill us. They’re multiplying, and this is something each one of us understands. Regardless of where we go, the time will soon be upon us when we must flee. We may as well follow her into the light. We can make our final decisions then about whether or not we want to fight."
Several people in the crowd nodded their heads, but a few of them crossed their arms and stood back from the rest. Were they listening? Were they hearing us?
The line in front of us began to move, and though I thought it would be wise to stand back and speak more to the crowd, the women who had originally been talking moved forward to collect their gyvu. I looked back toward Duna, but she was in conversation with another giant I didn't recognize. It suddenly struck me that if I were to try to align my plans with those in Ezvar, I would need to do it truly on my own.
I held my head high as the line moved forward again, and when it was my turn, instead of taking one of the smaller gyvus, I took the biggest one I could find. I brought it with me to the front of the fire pit, and I didn't ask for permission when I lit a fire there. People became quieter when they realized the flame of my magic was burning white-hot right before them.
I opened the leaves of my gyvu and took a huge bite. Soon, I found that Kaelin and Alys had joined me on either side.
We all ate our fill in silence, but it became clear that everyone was waiting for something.
Me.
My stomach felt light, and I tried to push down my nervousness. I put my gyvu aside and stood on top of the bench I’d been sitting on. Despite my size, I must’ve looked commanding in the firelight, for silence fell heavily upon the crowd. I noticed that Connell was nowhere to be seen, and I didn't see Arte, either. Kaeci, however, had walked up to sit behind me, and I turned around to address her.
