by B. T. Narro
“It would be a catastrophe to return with the criminals,” she said. “Think about the situation my father would have to deal with. If he let them remain free, there could be uproar from the citizens. But if he threw them in prison or exiled them again, just as many people could complain. And these criminals would certainly fight back. There are too many unknowns. It must be avoided.”
“But they might know who is trying to kill you,” Kirnich said. “You could question them.”
“I considered that, but it’s too risky.”
“Risky is better than impossible.” Kirnich moved to put himself between Beatrix and Leida. “We can’t catch up to them without practically killing ourselves. Then it’ll be easy for them to capture us just as they did the others.”
They walked as they spoke. Soon they would need light, and Desil wasn’t sure he had any stamina left to take on the responsibility of guiding them. It was finally time to give up. Leida’s sorrowful glance said she was ready as well.
*****
Desil awoke in the morning with no recollection of the last few hours of night. He saw a fire had been made. He wasn’t hungry, only parched. Pieces of the night came back to him as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes. Adriya and Beatrix had hunted. Slumber had taken everyone as soon as they’d finished eating. There had been some talk of the man trying to kill Beatrix, but no one had the energy to stay awake and keep watch. They’d figured he couldn’t have followed them the entire way without passing out from exhaustion like they had.
Desil glanced around to find his entire group still asleep except Leida. She crouched over the dead fire, her shoulders hunched against the cold. She got it lit after a quick spell from her wand. At seeing Desil watching her, she walked over and sat beside him. He pulled up his blanket to wrap around their shoulders as she leaned against him. Suddenly last night’s plan came back to him.
“We’re going to get both of your parents out of there safely,” he assured her.
“I hope you’re right.”
When she glanced at him from so close, he suddenly felt that his face desperately needed a good wash. He made some quick improvements to his hair when she looked away.
Adriya sat up. She looked straight at them and seemed confused, yet not as much as she seemed annoyed.
“What’s this?” she uttered. Beatrix and Kirnich started to move.
“It’s nothing, Adriya.” Leida stood up.
Desil would’ve preferred at least another minute, still unsure of the significance of these fleeting moments with Leida. To him, they meant getting closer to that edge where there was no climbing back once he fell for her. He might already have fallen, he thought, as he watched Leida toss her ripped cloak over her back and fasten it around her collar.
Only then did Desil realize it wasn’t morning as he first thought. It was the afternoon. But given his aching head, he felt as though he needed to sleep the rest of the day. If their calculations of the size of the forest were correct, they still had plenty of hours to reach the end, yet they would be fools to dawdle. There was always a chance they were wrong.
They started their journey to the end of the forest again, possessing not a drop of water between them. It would be many more miles to the Dead River past the trees, and none of them were willing to take the time for Beatrix to control another animal that would lead them to another source of water in the forest. Once they reached the end of the forest, they would have to wait for night anyway to cross the open territory so as to avoid another attack from the sky. That’s when they could find a lake or a river.
They went south for hours. The longer the day went on, the quicker their pace became. Eventually there was little light left and they were rushing through the woods, having underestimated the distance to the end.
There were no paths to take around the trees. Bushes of all kinds, familiar and unknown, covered the ground. The forest resembled what Desil was used to in Ovira, except the branches of the trees were not straight. Some curved so drastically that they spiraled in on themselves. These trees looked unnatural, haunted. Desil was glad he didn’t believe in such a thing, though he could see Kirnich shooting wary looks in each direction more often now.
“Thank the stars,” Leida muttered eventually.
It took Desil a moment to make out what she was seeing. The trees came to an end, the land opening up past them. Invigorated, their party rushed to the final row of trees. They stopped just short of leaving the forest and looked up. The moon was out, bright silver. It was not a dark night, but there seemed to be no Marros in sight.
“Let’s go,” Leida said as she stepped out from the sanctuary of the trees. She did stop, however, to look back and make sure everyone was following.
Desil continued to watch the sky with everyone else as they hesitantly left the forest behind. After a while, it felt like they would be safe. Desil glanced over at Adriya. She nodded to show she was ready.
The two of them began to run as planned.
“Hey,” Kirnich called out to stop them.
They turned around.
“You be careful,” Kirnich said.
Desil nodded back to him and started to run with Adriya once more.
Desil wished they’d had time to hunt and find water before nightfall, but it had taken them too long to reach the perimeter. He would have to do this on an empty stomach. There were but a few rations left in his bag, nothing substantial enough to do more than keep him going. He gladly focused on cycling his energy instead of obsessing over his dry throat.
After a short while, he was close enough to hear the Dead River. His thirst came back twofold, but so did his fear of the Marros. There were no trees for miles. If they were to be attacked here…he tried to think of a plan. Eventually he came to the conclusion that they would die a horrible death.
He and Adriya were panting by the time they made it to the river. A line of moonlight would guide them through the wider section where the flow of water slowed. Desil couldn’t tell how deep it was, but there was no threat of being swept away. He stepped right in as they came to the river’s edge and started to wade across.
“Wait,” Adriya huffed out as they both tried to catch their breath. “Let’s rest here at least long enough to fill our pouches.”
“We will on the other side while we dry as much as we can.”
She paused for a moment, then must’ve agreed with his logic, going in after him. The unseen river bottom sank beneath his feet but never deep enough for the water to reach past his waist. Soon he was through. He turned and got on his knees to fill his pouch. He tried not to drink the entire thing without pause, but he still might’ve if the chill of the water wasn’t freezing his throat and teeth. He had a bite to eat—consuming about half of the jerky and bread he had left in his bag—then tried to dry his pants as much as possible by wringing them out while he still wore them. There was still quite a distance to go.
He wished he could dry his clothing instantly by turning the water into vapor, but the material would continue to hold the moisture, and the process would chill him to his bones. He’d tried experimenting with it several times after his night swims in Lake Kayvol, but he never had any success. It seemed the cold air couldn't hold the moisture any better than his clothes, so the water remained within them. Only on a hot day did he have any hope of drying by turning the water to vapor, and he usually had to run for it to work.
He wondered what it was about this river that made the Marros decide to kill any human on its northern side. Desil would feel a weight off his shoulders when everyone in his party was south of it.
He kept his eyes on the distant tower as he and Adriya traversed the land. There was no way they could be seen from there during the night, but as they got closer to the new forest, they would have to use the hills more to their advantage.
They ran for a long while. They took a few hopeful glances behind them, but spotting the others seemed even less likely the farther they went. Hopefully Leida, Beatrix
, and Kirnich would walk quickly so Desil and Adriya wouldn’t spy on their own for too long. With the ability to cycle energy, it was up to them to canvass the village. They needed to figure out what had happened in the day since Leida’s parents and the Elf were taken here, as well as where they were now. There was no time to waste, but the others in their party would deplete what little stamina they had left if they tried to run the entire distance.
As Desil and Adriya came closer to the forest, Desil remembered how small it had looked from the mountains. It was wide, stretching at least a few miles across, but it couldn’t be more than two miles long. These trees were stumps compared to the ones in the last tract of wilderness, stout and leaning like drunken men in the Magic Tavern. At least the bushy treetops were dense enough to provide an adequate defense against Marros.
But then he remembered what Captain Mmzaza had told him. The birds would come here and fly off with someone the Kanoans would never see again. The explosion at the center of the island would occur the next day.
It didn’t take long for Desil and Adriya to find a beaten path. It wasn’t quite grass below their feet but something of similar consistency that squished under each step. Upon closer investigation with his light, Desil found tiny bushes cluttered together. It hid the ground too well where it grew thick, causing Adriya to trip over a root. Fortunately, she caught herself before falling. They slowed somewhat after that.
They listened closely for sounds of life but heard nothing. The path did not change as it took them straight south.
They came to a wide opening within the trees that revealed the settlement. Cabins varying in size and structure had been built upon the subtle rise and drop of the forest floor. The only similarity between them was how they sat upon a base of solid wood to keep them standing straight. There were a few sections of large rocks set out to contain campfires, some clothes drying as they hung nearby.
Many of the cabins had no doors, only openings, and rectangular holes in the sides to make windows. As Desil and Adriya walked around the perimeter, keeping a couple rows of trees between them and the settlement, they could see straight through some of the cabins. There didn’t appear to be anyone in them. Some were illuminated by oil lamps, as if the inhabitants had left expecting to return soon. Desil told this to Adriya as they scampered around the outskirts.
“The odds of us being seen are too high to keep spying once the Kanoans return,” he whispered. “We have to figure out as much as we can before then.”
“Leida and the others should be here in an hour.”
Desil didn’t know what she was suggesting with this, as the entirety of their plan was for him and Adriya to figure out what to do next. He could hear the worry in her voice, a budding panic as she probably expected to get caught any moment. Perhaps she was hoping they would wait for the others, but Desil wasn’t about to do that.
The settlement extended too far for Desil to see the end of it. All he could determine was that the trees seemed to stop before the cabins did, as if these Kanoans had built their first homes outside of the forest and then moved inward.
“We have to figure out where they are,” Desil said.
They searched. The first Kanoan they found was climbing onto the roof of a cabin. He was just a child—Desil pitied him. The boy hadn’t committed any crime to end up here. He was simply born into this war against the murderous birds without knowing any other life.
The lad of seven or eight had a spyglass in his hand. He walked to the edge of the roof in a practiced manner and held the instrument to his eyes to look west.
“They must’ve gone in that direction,” Desil surmised.
He and Adriya had been going west around the settlement, but now they moved back to put more trees between them. The boy didn’t seem interested in anything besides what was in front of him, but Desil still wouldn’t risk being seen.
The houses were bigger the farther Desil and Adriya crept around the trees. It seemed that the Kanoans’ ability to build had improved in time. One cabin had stairs attached to its side that led up to a second story.
As they crossed by the cabin, Desil gasped as he felt a memory calling for him.
“There’s a memory in there, on the second floor.”
“Then Basen either is or was there.”
Desil nodded. They moved slowly through the trees, both trying to keep track of the boy with the spyglass. Soon Desil realized the larger cabins in front of them blocked the boy’s view, but that didn’t make them safe. Desil wished Beatrix was here to sense if anyone was inside.
He and Adriya made their way up the stairs as quietly as possible, but a creak betrayed them halfway up. They froze, waiting for their inevitable capture. Desil wasn’t ready to kill any of these people, even if it was the only way to escape. But he did prepare himself to silence someone, mercifully, if he could.
There wasn’t a sound from within. Desil started up again, the memory calling to him like a wounded animal.
“Wait,” he whispered to Adriya as they came to the door. “I can watch it from here.”
“I’ll shake you if we need to run.”
Desil hoped it would be enough to bring him out of the memory. He took a breath and let himself fall into it.
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
There was a lurch and suddenly Desil was watching the world through Basen’s eyes. The same older man who’d captured him earlier was now leading him up the stairs. The headmaster’s wrists were bound by rope. He looked behind him. There was no sign of Alabell or the Elf, only more Kanoans. They stopped at the base of the steps. Basen faced forward again as his escort pushed open the door.
Desil nearly fell out of the memory as he recognized his father as the only one waiting behind the door. Wade still looked the same to Desil, with his expressive blue eyes and charming face that calmed Desil immediately. His father had a forgiving smile that often prepared Desil for the truth, even if it might be hard to hear.
How was he alive? Could this be a trick with the memory? No, Wade did look older, and he and Basen were clearly in Kanoan. Desil could feel himself drifting away from the memory as a mixture of chills and shock coursed through him. He yearned to reach out and grab his father for a hug, while he also wanted to scream in anger, but at who? The king? It was Fernan who’d decided Wade would be executed. There must've been some trick involved. Desil had seen his father dead! He needed to know how his father was standing here or he might burst.
It took everything Desil had to remain in the memory. He could feel Basen’s shock as the headmaster recognized one of his old friends.
“Do you know who this is?” asked Basen’s escort.
Wade shook his head. “Who is it?”
“I asked you first.”
“I don’t. Where did you find him?”
The older man appeared skeptical as he inhaled with what seemed to be frustration before answering the question. “We were headed north as you ordered when we saw the Marros coming to attack us, but before we took cover in the northern forest, we saw the Marros actually had a different target past the trees. I knew these people had to be new arrivals, so I ordered our group to intercept them in the forest.”
“How many were there?” Desil’s father asked.
“Three. One’s an Elf. The other is this one’s wife.”
Wade pretended not to know Basen as he tilted his head in curiosity. “What are you doing here?”
“Investigating the explosions,” Leida’s father answered. “I hope to find a way to re-create them to stop a war.”
“Then you’ve come to die. The Marros will let no one near the center of the island, which is the only place the explosions occur.” Desil’s father paused. “Did you come here by ship?”
“We did, except…” Basen paused. “This is the truth: The Elves will come back for us, but I don’t see them letting any more humans on their ship.”
“When are they coming?”
Basen thought for a while. “It doesn�
�t matter. They have many psychics who can stop however many you have wanting to board.”
“When?” Desil’s father repeated.
He sounded like a different man to Desil as he demanded an answer. Could his time here have changed him? It didn’t seem possible. And more impossibly, how was he even here, alive? Desil couldn’t get the question out of his head.
His thoughts became foggy as Basen’s fear took his focus. Wade glanced at the man escorting the headmaster. “Where are you keeping the others that came with him?”
“With the healer.”
“Are they hurt?”
“They’re resting. We had to cover many miles.”
“Then you should get some rest as well. Leave this one here with me and I will figure out what to do with him.”
The older man tensed. “You will get us off this island, right, Wade?”
“I will.”
The Kanoan left. He did not close the door after him, so Desil’s father walked over and shut it. He looked down through a window for a while, then walked to the other side of the room and motioned for Basen to follow. There were no other doors to other rooms, just an open floor with a hammock for a bed, a desk with a shoddy chair in front of it, and a couple of chests. Desil didn’t know what his father had brought with him to the island, but if he had gotten his way, one of the chests would’ve been filled with shoes. The father Desil remembered had wanted specific footwear for each occasion. Wade had likely left that passion behind in addition to so much of his life.
When Desil’s father untied the rope around Basen’s wrists, the headmaster stared in silent disbelief. Neither spoke. A smile spread over Wade’s face. The two men wrapped their arms around each other as Basen all but slumped in relief. He was beaming by the time they parted.
