by Day Leitao
Sian met Cayla’s eyes. “I know. And don’t assume how sorry or not I am. I need your help.”
Cayla snorted. “And what do we get for helping you? Will you give up any claim to the throne?”
“I can’t. I promised I wouldn’t.”
Cayla chuckled. “What can you do, then? Promise you’ll never act against me, Darian, or my mother again? Can you promise that?”
Sian barely opened his mouth. “Yes.”
“Right… What else?” Cayla had a grimace. “Would you promise you’ll dress up as a chicken and walk around the streets of Siphoria?”
Sian stared at her. “Still into humiliating people?”
“I was joking.”
Sian snorted. “Same sense of humor. But the answer would be yes.”
This was so unlike his brother that could only mean that something terrible was happening. Darian asked, “What is it you want?”
Sian pointed to Cayla. “I’ll need your help too.”
Darian flinched, uneasy.
Sian continued, “I need help to open a portal at the Darloom castle. A portal to go to another dimension.”
“Karina’s dimension?”
Sian looked away, then looked back at them. “Not her dimension, but it has to do with her. She tried to teleport home but never made it. Darloom took her. She’s in Marisia right now. It wants me to open the Whyland portals for him or he’ll start killing her.” His tone was level as if repeating information he’d read somewhere.
“What?” Cayla god to her knees and punched him. “You miserable, despicable piece of shit. It was your fault all of this happened.”
Darian was going to pull her back, but Sian held her wrists and said, “I know. Can you wait to punch me afterward? I understand your feeling, but I need to be in one piece to rescue her.”
Darian crouched and hugged Cayla, as she was trembling in anger.
Sian continued, “I asked Darloom for twenty-four hours before opening the portals. I’ll try to go and rescue her before this deadline.”
Cayla said, “I don’t trust you, and I don’t know if I can teleport anyone to Marisia.”
“I think I can figure out how to teleport there,” Sian said. “I’m the one who’s going. It’s my life on the line, Cayla. Either way, we need to go to Darloom as soon as possible, and then we’ll have time to work on it.” He stared at Darian. “Cayla won’t be in any danger.”
“Just like Karina, right?”
Sian shook his head. “Karina was taken while teleporting to a dimension that’s very hard to reach. It’s very different than what I’m asking you to do. It’ll be like opening a door.”
Darian’s mind was going somewhere else. “Sian, how do you think you’ll rescue her? I know you fight well and all, but what chances do you have in an unknown land, against hundreds, maybe thousands of flying creatures?”
“I’ll have secrecy and the surprise element.”
“What if they find and attack you?” Darian asked. “Wasting your life without bringing her back is pointless.”
“I have to try.”
“Also, I know you’re getting Siphoria ready for an attack. Do you think Darloom will come through? Are you planning on opening the portals if you fail?”
Sian sighed. “I don’t trust Darloom. For that reason, I won’t open the portals in exchange for Karina, and for that same reason I’m getting the city ready for an attack.”
Right. If Sian trusted that Darloom would give him Karina back he’d probably open the portals regardless of the cost. Then maybe not. Sian was looking for an alternative after all. A very dangerous alternative.
“If you don’t find Karina, you won’t be able to teleport back on your own.”
Sian nodded. “Perfect. My life will depend on saving her.”
Darian sighed. “I don’t like it.”
Cayla asked, “I know you said you couldn’t, but this is not the time to be playing king. Will you step down?”
“I can’t. I gave your mother my word.”
“My mother?”
Sian nodded. “She came to see me. I promised I wouldn’t step down until Darloom was defeated. I had no idea what was going to happen, but I think she had.”
Cayla stared in disbelief. “Great. She can’t send me a message that she’s alive, but she can talk to you.”
“It was in the castle. A strange communication device, that’s why.”
“But we’ll need her help.”
Sian shook his head. “She said she couldn’t help me, that I had to do it alone. She told me she’d wait in Arlenia.”
Cayla squinted. “And she asked you not to step down? Aren’t you making that up?”
Sian shrugged. “I also found it odd. Can we go? We could discuss everything on the way.”
“Just a moment.” Cayla pulled Darian to the side and whispered, “This could be the real trap. He’ll get us far away and isolated.”
“Cayla, just look at him. He’s devastated. I’m not sure his plan is great, and I’m not sure I’ll agree with it, but it’s not a trap. Plus he’s released everyone who’d been imprisoned and stopped blocking the forces from the north.”
“It just doesn’t make sense. Maybe it’s another trick, and it’s about something he wants. He doesn’t even like her.”
Darian couldn’t contain the sarcasm. “True. He hates her. That’s why he’s willing to risk his life for her.”
“No. He’s lying. Look at him.”
His brother was still sitting on the same trunk, arms crossed, staring straight ahead. He sat up straight, more like someone lost in thought than someone desperate, but that was Sian.
“He’s not lying, Cayla. I’ll go to the Darloom castle with him, and I’ll try to help him solve it. You have to trust me that I know my brother, and I know he’s saying the truth. I’ll try to talk him out of going to Marisia, but we’ll hear what he says and find a way to help him. Can you trust me?”
Cayla glanced at Sian, then back at Darian. “I brought her here because I trusted you.”
“I know. So now we need to help get her back. I don’t think Sian has deceit in his heart.”
“Since when he’s got a heart?”
“He’s got an empty space in his chest, perhaps, but there’s no malice or deceit there. Not now at least.”
Cayla grimaced. “Let’s do our best.”
They flew in his brother’s lift and hit the grounds near the Darloom castle in record time, in two hours.
They’d debated on the way, but since none of them could come up with a reasonable alternative, they had to agree with helping Sian cross to Marisia. Darian’s chest tightened. These certainly weren’t the best circumstances, but, for once in his life, he and his brother were acting like friends.
Sian was very quiet and wooden, speaking only when necessary, usually to make his case or to explain about the strategy he’d set up in Siphoria. He took his word he’d given to Lylah to heart, but other than that, he didn’t seem interested in being king anymore. In fact, Sian wasn’t interested in anything anymore, and perhaps he knew he was walking to his death.
Perhaps Darian should try to save his brother, prevent him from going, but the truth is that Sian had been raised as a soldier, and he deserved to choose to die fighting if that came to it.
Cayla had been quiet through most of the trip, holding down her anger. She blamed Sian for what was happening to her friend, and also blamed herself. Well, it was Sian’s fault. But he was the person suffering the most behind his mask of calm demeanor piloting the lift.
Darian was surprised to walk into the Darloom castle. It was a castle, a real, livable castle, smaller but better illuminated than the Queen’s castle in Siphoria. Sian had two castle keepers living there, who even offered them a snack, apologizing that they had no lunch.
Darian’s first meal with his brother in more than two years. He wished it had been different.
Sian stood in the portal room with Darian and Cayla. He’d
decided to leave the staffs with his brother. Over his thick leather, he wore armor found in the Darloom castle, in gold chain mail. He finally understood that they were made to fight Maris. He also put on a helmet. This would probably protect his face long enough to do what he had to.
His brother and his girlfriend looked at him as if he were entering his grave. He knew what Cayla had to do. He’d studied these portals for a long time. If she only touched but didn’t step on the threshold, she wouldn’t teleport. Darian would also hold her, in case something went wrong. They’d taken three hours to confirm how to do this teleporting and find the armor. All in all, Sian still had almost eighteen hours to do what he had to do. Not bad. “I’m ready.”
Darian nodded. “Right. Wait,” he told Sian. “I want you to know that I love you.”
Sian looked down. Misused word. Darian lived in a different world than him, a world where people loved and loved back. His obnoxious girlfriend even looked almost pretty when she looked at him. Different world from Sian. And yet, here Sian was, depending on his brother’s and his girlfriend's favors. He didn’t feel humiliated because he wasn’t capable of feeling anything anymore.
Sian said, “Don’t talk to me as if I were dying. It’s bad luck.”
Darian smiled.
Sian added, “And thank you.”
He’d only teleported once while conscious, with Karina. The memory was fuzzy, having been stored in a hard-to-reach place. Everything had been so different then.
Cayla touched the wall and an orange glow spread from her hands to the entire wall. It was his cue. After Sian stepped through, the floor disappeared from below him and he started falling. He felt some very bright lights and closed his eyes. When the lights stopped, he realized he was still falling and opened his eyes. There was a river below him, and his life depended on how deep it was. He spread arms and legs to try to slow down the fall, and then moved to a vertical position as he approached the water.
Soon he was submerged, but something pulled him to the surface. The armor helped him float. Screeches sounded in the distance and he swam to the shore slowly, so as not to make any noise. He was drenched, and the weather was cool. Looking around, he saw no building or tower. Could it be that he’d gotten to the wrong dimension? No. The screeches told him he was in the right place.
He took a better look. A sunlight reflection far away told him that there was some kind of building there. He’d be very exposed walking by the river. Across the plains, there was the base of a mountain range, with rocks, but there was no cover from the river to the rocks.
No. He was thinking wrong. If the armor helped him float, perhaps that would be the answer. He went back to the river and lay on it. The current was slow, but soon he was moving in the direction of the glimmer. Neat. The water was too cold, though, but not cold enough to kill him with hypothermia. If he ever did this again he’d dress differently.
Sian relaxed and let the water take him, focusing on the sky and trying to shut away all thoughts, blocking anything that could cause him any pain. The cold was enough.
33
Towers
Karina watched as the door opened and two Maris stepped in. She tried to peek outside to see if there were others. Her plan so far had been to wait for the door to open, try to do her exploding thing, and run for the river, but she had to think of something better. Perhaps there would be no better plan, though, and she had no idea if they’d open the door again.
Karina concentrated and pushed. The guards fell down, and Karina ran for the door. As she was about to cross it, she again felt that horrible pain, as if the door had a field. The Maris behind her were getting up, and she decided to try the explode-push again and go through the door. It hurt horribly, but she ignored the pain and went through. She was on the highest floor of the tower and noticed that the winding stairs had several chunks missing. Of course, these were ruins.
More Maris entered and flew in her direction. She waited for them to get close, then boom, and they spread apart, hitting each other in the process. Some of them hit the wall. Karina ran down, jumping sections, as more creatures flew towards her. To her horror, she realized that some of them pulled stones to the door, so as to lock her passage.
Focus. Focus. She felt exhausted, as doing her exploding thing drained her, but she had to fight until the end, as she would have no other chance. She tried to pull energy that she didn’t have anymore, and made downstairs to the door. It was blocked with stones. She gathered all her strength, caused an explosion, and walked out. If she could, she’d collapse right there and then, but the river was just there. All she had to do was jump.
And then she felt it. Of course it wouldn’t be so easy to escape. Her entire body shook and was taken with pain, horrible, unbearable pain. The moment she’d stopped because of the pain, a creature grabbed her and started flying up. The pain stopped, replaced by the horrific fear that her escape had failed, but then the creature released her, flying away with a screech of pain.
She fell, and her foot hurt like crazy, so she couldn’t get up. Another creature dashed and went for her face. She blocked it and now blood gushed from her forearm. Boom. She did her small explosion and the creature was away.
That horrible, electric pain started again, and she collapsed on the floor. But she wouldn’t, couldn’t stop. How could the river be so close and so far? She couldn’t quit when she was so close. She’d use her last bit of energy and strength. If she was to die, she’d do it on her terms.
She ignored the electric pain and the pain on her foot and walked towards the edge of the platform. Her walking was slow, though, because that pain causing thing held her in place, as if her foot were made out of lead. Boom, small explosion. Tiny actually, and now she had creatures attacking her, pain in her body, pain in her foot, but the edge was so close. There were little rocks falling, which distracted the creatures. She dragged herself to the water.
Sian floated on the river when he saw many Maris flying towards the tower. He took a chance and went to the shore and started to run. They were so focused on the tower, they’d probably not notice him.
When he reached the tower, he saw Karina trying to run to the river. There would be no time to reach her, but at least, if she reached the river, she’d be able to teleport. Something was wrong, though. She could hardly move and was convulsing. He grabbed pebbles from the shore and threw them at the creatures coming near her, while running in her direction. One of the creatures grabbed her, and he aimed for the eye.
Sian weighed his options. If he called for her and asked her to wait, she’d be torn in pieces by the creatures, and then he’d be doing the opposite of what he’d come to do. He kept running towards them, with well-placed pebble throws. She jumped into the water and he knew that he had succeeded in his mission.
The Maris now turned to him. This was Sian’s worst self-preserving day. He had to run to the tower, where the creatures didn’t fly so freely. His pebble throwing was getting better and better, but not fast enough now that there were some twenty creatures coming toward him. He ran to the tower as fast as he could, hiding below the platform where it met the shore. It was too narrow for the Maris. Now that the danger had passed, he tried to understand what had possessed him to come to this place. He heard screeches all around him and some creatures trying to break the platform. Let them screech. It was time for a new plan.
Karina collapsed in the water, then remembered she wanted to survive. She had to survive, but not much more made sense. Hands pulled her from the water.
“Karina, don’t die.” It was Sian’s voice.
“Sian?”
He gave a sigh. Just a sigh, but with so much sadness and pain.
Darian’s brother hadn’t made it. He looked at the girl lying in front of him, noticed blood coming from her arm, and put pressure on it. With the other hand, he checked her breathing: normal.
“Cayla!” he called her.
He heard her steps running towards him. “They made it?�
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Darian looked down. “Karina needs first aid.”
Cayla looked at the room, as though realizing Sian wasn’t there, and then knelt beside Darian. “I’m so sorry.”
He just shook his head. “No, no. He’ll come back, but we need to make sure she doesn’t die, or he’ll kill me.”
“I’ll get a med kit in the lift.”
Darian nodded, then had a better idea. “No. Get the castle keepers. They must have something here.”
His stomach was sinking with the realization and the fear of never again seeing his brother. Cayla came back with the castle keepers, and they took Karina somewhere else.
After a few minutes, Cayla returned. She sat by his side and hugged him. “Your brother is strong and smart. He’ll find a way to survive. We can try to find a way to get him back.”
“I know.” Or hoped. Wished.
“You should eat something.”
Darian shrugged. “How is she?”
“Unconscious, but her wounds are being taken care of.”
Darian nodded.
Cayla said, “Let’s go downstairs. You can’t stay here.”
“You go. I don’t want to go anywhere.”
“I’ll stay then.”
“Cayla, please. Go. Please. I need some time alone.”
She kissed his cheek. “I love you.”
Darian closed his eyes while she walked away. No, he didn’t want to stay alone. He felt cold and empty, but he didn’t want her to see him this way.
It had been his brother’s decision. Then maybe she was right. Sian was smart and was a very capable fighter. If there was one person who could survive a hostile environment, that was him. The only problem would be how to bring him back. Darian would never allow Cayla to go, and he was sure Sian wouldn’t want Karina to rescue him. But they’d find a way. They’d have to find a way.
A long time passed while Darian looked at the well, wondering if by any chance his brother could show up. His mind spun in circles and the only solution he could come up with was to go to the Light Gardens and ask Leena to help him find Sian. But that would take a lot of time.
