by Jeff Kish
“I understand the need,” Nolen says, “but, please, give my best to Sreya.”
“It is received,” Sreya offers, poking her head back out of the sky boat. “Farewell, Nolen. As a parting gift…” She extends her hand to Pearl and says, “Do as Nolen says until we return, Pearl.”
Pearls hands glow in response, and her conductor disappears into the sky boat. Rohe pats Nolen on the shoulder and says, “Enjoy the experience, my friend! We’ll be back in an hour.” With that, he enters the sky boat and allows the pilot to seal the door behind him.
Malof scowls as he starts to leave. “Good riddance, I say. She never gave me a chance with the runic.”
The sky boat runes activate, and it’s clear to Pearl that Nolen is starting to imagine some kind of sparring contest with her, though she hardly knows him well enough to guess what else may come to his mind. She watches the sky boat rise higher and higher, disappearing over the tree line, taking with it her last semblance of hope. Despite her immense new strength, she questions how she could be so powerless.
“Powerless, but I…” Pearl whispers to herself. Inexplicably, she feels as if her own will remains alive, as if she could act like she wishes in this moment. Her heart races as she wonders if it could be true.
“Now then,” Nolen starts as he draws his sword. “You will-”
Pearl tilts her hand at Nolen and blasts him with a brutal force of wind, sending him spiraling into a tree. She pauses in stunned disbelief, perplexed as to why she can now act against Sreya’s command to cause no harm to a guild member.
Malof shrieks and runs away. Scoffing at the pitiful attempt to escape, she uses a powerful blast of wind to fling herself at her next victim. With Sreya in danger, Pearl sees only impediments before her. Impediments which must be removed.
* * *
“What a lovely view,” Rohe says, enjoying a sip from his decorative glass as he soaks in the sunset through the window. He reclines in his plush chair, tips the drink toward his guest, and asks, “Are you sure you don’t wish for a glass of wine?” Sreya sits in her own cushy seat, and she offers a quiet shake of her head, mindlessly running her finger along her facial scar as she watches the colorful horizon through the window. Rohe shrugs and refills his glass from the bottle at his feet. “I am truly sorry it has come to this, my dear Sreya. Know that I agree wholeheartedly with Nolen.”
“It is appreciated,” Sreya says.
“I thought you might enjoy a heavenly view of the sunset before we get down to business.” Rubbing his nose, he says, “And, I’ll admit, I wanted to be away from the weapon. That thing has built-in protection mechanisms, after all.”
Sreya meets him with determination. “Angal, there is no need to delay like this. I am ready.”
“Already?” he spouts, and he hurries to finish his second glass.
“I have been prepared for this for two weeks. I do not wish to drag it out any further.” With that, she withdraws a rag and ties it around her right forearm, tightening it with her teeth.
“V-Very well,” he stutters as he returns the glass to the same bucket as his wine bottle. “My dear Sreya, your loyalty knows no bounds. I am humbled to have someone like you in my service. Can you even imagine if I had sent Nolen or Malof to retrieve the weapon?”
Sreya’s brow furrows. “Angal, why did you send me? Nolen is stronger than I am. Malof is cleverer. Why did you send me to retrieve Pearl?”
“My dear Sreya, you don’t give me enough credit,” he boasts. “Did I not just say it? They have their strengths, but neither would so willingly sacrifice for me. I needed absolute loyalty, which is your strength.”
Puzzled, she asks, “You knew it would come to this? Even before you sent me?”
He widens his eyes before forcing a grin. “I suppose I did. That informant… whatever his name was. He told me it would come to this if I didn’t retrieve her personally, but, Sreya, I am hardly in such a position to attend a dangerous mission. As leader of the guild, my security could not afford to be compromised. Without me, what is the guild?”
“But why this deception?” she asks. “You acted as if Commander Talkem had informed you of all this for the first time.”
“M-Merely an act for the commander,” he hurriedly explains. “It was not meant to deceive you, naturally.” He wipes his brow and admits, “I wanted you to enjoy your victory, though perhaps I also feared your reaction.”
She meets his eyes and says, “Angal, you needn’t have worried about shifting my loyalties,” and she lays her arm on his chair.
Rohe grimaces before reaching to the floor at his side and grabbing a thick, wool blanket. He lifts Sreya’s arm and tucks it underneath, apparently concerned for the pending mess. “Ready yourself.”
Sreya boldly rests her arm before him once again. Squeamishly, Rohe angles the knife several different ways, trying to figure out how to do the deed. Sreya squeezes her eyes shut in preparation for the strike, wiggling her fingers one last time.
The side door suddenly slams open, flooding the cabin with wind. Sreya shields her face, and Rohe leaps with a shriek from his chair and hides behind his lieutenant.
Pearl steps into the cabin, entering as if the sky boat were still on the ground. “Pearl!?” Sreya exclaims.
Rohe doesn’t fail to grasp the significance of Pearl’s presence. Still clutching the knife in his hand, he wraps it around Sreya’s neck in a hurried attempt to kill the runic’s conductor, but Pearl extends a hand and sucks the knife from him, sending it out the open door behind herself. She then twists her hand and uses an air gust to yank Sreya from Rohe’s grasp before mercilessly blasting the guild leader with a violent gale, smashing his body against the opposite wall of the sky boat.
“PEARL!” Sreya shrieks as she raises her hand.
Before she can give an order, Pearl sends a second, more powerful blast into Rohe. The wall behind him shatters, and the guild leader is sent careening into the open sky. The winds tear through the cabin as the sky boat starts to spin out of control, and Sreya is also blown toward the opening. However, the air maker again uses suction, bringing Sreya back to her with one hand while yanking the door shut with the other. Though the Rohe-sized hole remains, the door’s closure brings stability back to the sky boat’s trajectory.
Sreya shoves Pearl aside and dashes to the shattered wall. “ANGAL!” she screeches, desperately searching for him. “Pearl, you have to… You have to…!”
“He’s gone, Sreya,” Pearl says as she latches the door from the inside.
Tears flow uncontrollably from Sreya’s eyes. “N-No… NO! TELL ME HOW YOU GOT HERE!”
“I flew,” she quietly responds.
Sreya is stunned. “You… You never told me could do that!” she gasps.
“I just found out,” Pearl assures her. “You were in danger! I just… I suddenly found myself able to do it.”
Her conductor points out the gaping hole and shouts, “Then… fly and save him, Pearl!”
“But Sreya, it’s too late for him!”
“No… no!” Her symbol aglow, she shouts, “You have to GO SAVE ANGAL!”
Pearl instantly obeys and dives from the sky boat. Sreya watches in stunned amazement as the runic expertly maneuvers herself with blasts of air from her hands and bare feet, and she disappears into the ever-darkening sky. The guild lieutenant falls to her knees, sobbing as the pilots prepare for an emergency landing.
* * *
Malof limps toward the sky boat as it lands, the vein on his forehead bulging with rage as one arm hangs limply at his side. “Angal! ANGAL! That demonic Avvie had better be DEAD after what her little toy did to me!” However, he’s met only with silence as the runes die down, and he again shouts, “Angal! I beg you to come out at once!”
One of the pilots scrambles to dismount and unlatch the door. He swings it open and steps aside, revealing the sobbing Sreya crouched in the middle of the floor and the shattered wall behind her.
“Filthy Avvie,” M
alof scowls, but he soon realizes she is alone. “Where is Angal?”
“He fell,” she whispers.
“He WHAT?”
Her eye catches motion in the skies above. With hope, she says, “Pearl went to save him! Surely she caught him…?”
Malof turns his eyes skyward, astounded to find the runic effortlessly zipping across the evening sky. However, as she lands, it is instantly apparent that she is alone.
“I’m sorry,” Pearl quietly says. “I couldn’t find him.”
“HOW DID HE FALL?” Malof screams as Nolen approaches, rubbing his own injuries.
Sreya shoots Pearl a nasty glare. “YOU!”
“It was an accident!” Pearl cries in defense. “I had to do it! The moment he drew the knife on you, my hand moved on its own.”
“Lies!” Malof shouts as he yanks her hair with his good arm. “You disgusting, vile little… thing! You flung me into a tree before kicking me to the ground. My arm is surely broken!”
“Let me go!” Pearl shrieks.
“YOU KILLED ANGAL ROHE!” he screams. “What becomes of the Smith’s Hammer now!?”
Nolen remains quiet as he comes to understand the situation. He draws a knife and points it at Sreya. “She must pay the price.”
Sreya’s eyes bulge. “No, Nolen! Pearl will defend me again!”
“Then command her to stay her hand,” he says. “Or do you disagree with my verdict?”
The loyal lieutenant shakes her head. “I should die.”
“No, Sreya!” Pearl exclaims. “It wasn’t your fault!”
“Do not protect me,” she commands, and Pearl’s hands glow in response. “Stay where you are and do not move.”
Nolen hands the knife to Malof. “Care to perform the deed?”
“With pleasure!” Malof exclaims, flinging Pearl aside. He approaches Sreya and says, “I have wanted to do this for quite some time, anyway.”
Just before he can cut her, a gust of wind blasts Malof from the side, sending him careening. Sreya looks up in astonishment to find Pearl’s arm outstretched. “Pearl? I commanded you to-”
“Now it is clear,” Nolen declares, his deep voice booming. “Sreya has done no harm. Angal’s death was an accident.”
“WHAT?” Malof screams from afar as he grips his injured arm. “You set me up for that!?”
“Naturally,” Nolen says, hiding his amusement. “Pearl must protect her master, regardless of her master’s will. We did not know of this caveat before now.”
“You’re a fool,” the lanky lieutenant sneers. “What did that accomplish? Rohe is still dead! The guild will fracture without a leader!”
“But we have one,” he says, kneeling at the Avalan’s feet.
Sreya is aghast. “Nolen, what are you…?”
“Rohe said it, himself. You are the heart of the guild. You are the natural choice.”
“N-N-Nolen, stand up you fool!” Malof exclaims. “How could you so callously pass Rohe’s mantle to his murderer? To an Avvie?”
“If nothing else,” he offers in a low voice, “would you care to dispute her authority?” Malof hatefully yet nervously glances to Pearl, who offers a smile and a wave.
“But Malof is right,” Sreya says. “I murdered him. I… I can’t possibly be the one to-”
“Then you will bring him back to life,” Nolen says. “You will not just don his mantle, but his namesake as well. It will be a simple matter since he was in hiding anyway.”
“Live on as Angal?” she gasps. “Yes, you are right. Sreya must die so Angal Rohe can live.”
“No one outside the three of us can know of this,” Nolen announces. The eavesdropping pilots take that as their cue to leave, and they hurry to fire the air runes and launch their craft into the atmosphere. After watching them disappear over the treetops, he says, “No one, Sreya.” With that, he walks back toward the compound, and Malof hurries to follow.
Sreya turns to Pearl, a blank expression still planted on her face. “You killed him.”
“Accidentally,” she stresses, “but, if I can say, Sreya, your goals have always been aligned with Rohe. You’re the best person to keep his will intact.”
She solemnly raises her hand as the runic emblem glows. “Pearl, go bring that sky boat back. Without witnesses.”
The runic sends such a powerful blast at the ground that her body is flung above the treetops. Sreya watches, still dumbfounded at how gracefully she soars through the skies above. Fighting back tears, she vows to do whatever it takes to make amends for her sin. “Sreya will die,” she whispers, “and Angal Rohe will live.”
Chapter 22
Jem slowly awakens, stirred by the illumination of the floating projection in the center of the chamber. Her head throbs as she tries to remember her circumstances, and she finds her partner nearby. “Era…?”
“Jem!” he exclaims, hurrying to her side. “Are you alright? How’s your head?”
“It hurts,” she complains. “What happened?”
“You fell. Tema had you strung up in the tree. Do you remember that?”
“Sort of,” she groans. “What made me fall?”
“Fire chased her off. I think she dropped you to escape.”
“Lovely.” Her stomach growls, and Era delivers a ration. She gratefully accepts it but cringes as she caresses her injuries. “So should I thank Fire or punch her in the face?”
He bites his lip before responding. “Tema captured Fire. Took off with her in a sky boat.”
Jem raises her eyebrows. “Fire was caught? How did that happen?”
“Seeing Fire’s reaction to Tema’s appearance, there’s no way she had a clear mind while battling,” he admits. “Granted, I didn’t see the fight, so I can’t say for sure.”
“You didn’t see it?” she asks in surprise. “Were you still stuck in that net?”
“No, she let me go,” he says. “I had to get you to safety, first. I chased after them, but I was too late.”
“You took me in here?”
He acknowledges this and continues, “I got back to the fight just in time to see Tema throw Fire into their sky boat. She’s… She’s gone.” Seemingly to cheer himself, he adds, “I engaged her, and I managed to land a blow! Let’s see…” He forms a sword and positions himself as if in a duel. “I led like this, but then she deflected me…”
Jem watches him reenact his fight, her heart racing amidst her deep confusion. This is the first time since entering Alleria that Era has shown a sacrificial interest in her, especially when Fire is around. Given recent events, she would never have expected Era to abandon Fire for her sake. Her heart aches as she realizes how badly she longs for Era’s companionship.
“And that’s when I shattered her blade and cut her!” he concludes, slashing his blade across his imaginary foe. “Right into her shoulder, I think.”
“Wait, what?” Jem asks, snapping back to attention. “You shattered it?”
“Yup! With my sword,” he boasts. “Didn’t you say once that I should just carry a regular sword?”
“No, I said it many times,” she corrects. “And here I thought cutting through swords was going to be my thing.”
“I’ve always said I learn from the best,” he awkwardly jokes.
She crosses her arms in contempt. “So, if you’re that powerful, how did she get away from you?”
“Well, when I tried to get on the sky boat to stop it from leaving…” He scratches his head and admits, “She got the drop on me and escaped. I think I’m lucky I made it away from her in one piece. She’s scary strong.”
Jem cringes as her numerous injuries make themselves known. “What time is it?”
“Middle of the night, not that you can tell in here,” he answers. “I tried to find all your things outside. I got both the light rune and Crystalcutter. Oh, and Kama’s runes, for whatever that’s worth.” He continues, “You know, since you named your blade, don’t you think you should name your light rune? Something like, Flashy�
�� bar?”
“Flashybar. There’s a good one.” As Jem’s memories return, she recalls, “I couldn’t cut through that vine. What’s up with that?”
“Not sure,” he admits. “Back when Jaras caught me in the same trap, I just constricted the earth and snapped the roots. I couldn’t do the same thing to her trap.”
“So shaping the vines made them stronger?”
“I mean, Jaras couldn’t do it, but maybe she’s just in a league of her own,” he theorizes. “She was also, what, twenty or thirty yards away? Her reach was much better than Jaras’. He lost control when he tried to trap both me and Fire, but she held you and me, no problem.”
“Something still confuses me,” she says. “Tema would have killed us if she was trying to keep this place a secret, right? Why bother capturing Fire, and why leave us with open access to this chamber?”
“Hey, I chased her off! Were you even listening to my story?” he asks with a sour expression. “But… your points are valid. I think she was sent by Luk to capture us.”
“Luk? I thought Luk said Tema was out here the entire time.”
He scrunches his nose at the thought. “He was lying. If Tema was out here, Fire would have found her after three days of searching, right? He was so convinced Fire was a runic that he must have sent Tema after us.” With a shrug, he admits, “That’s my best guess, at least.”
Jem smirks. “Seems he was right about Fire after all.”
“He probably wanted all of us captured to be certain, but Fire was clearly the primary target. Tema had to take what she could get,” he says, feeling a mix of pride and depression at the thought.
“What happened to the goons?” she asks. “Didn’t Fire poison them? Argh, my head hurts trying to remember everything.”
“She poisoned two of them,” he affirms. “They’re hefty fellas, so they’ll probably recover. I hid them away in a bush, and I left them a canteen with fresh water from the lake. The other two abandoned them, naturally. Ran off as soon as they saw me coming. Very thug-like.”
She shakes her head in disbelief. It seems like an eternity since she last witnessed Era’s unorthodox kindheartedness. Though it gives her a small amount of joy, it hardly outweighs his recent decisions.
