Wild Hope

by C. M. Estopare

  For the Dreaming Anew, an initiate is thrown into the Wilds with nothing. They are expected to survive and subdue one of the Wilds’ most dangerous creatures.

  And here, Kato stood staring into the darkness, the oppressive aura of one such creature attempted to flatten his skull with its weight. The wind howled, a gale kicking up leaves and dust as the creature sauntered to the right. Kato could feel its presence circling, smashing its heavy aura into his right side. Testing him. Attempting to throw him off kilter so that it could attack. Eat him and leave his bones on the outskirts like so many others. Like so many other children he grew up with who were pressured into taking the Dreaming Anew ceremony by desperate parents.

  The Mesh needs its Scions. We are desperate.

  If Kato could stand up against this creature, hold his ground and show it that he was worth something—worth all of Moira—then maybe he could become the next Scion. Maybe he’d finally become an asset to the tribe and show the Shamaness that he was powerful too. That he was more than his title—outcast. That every person is more than their past, lineage, or blood. Maybe he could force the Mesh to see with new eyes.

  He lost track of the creature. Behind him, a guttural growl made him rise onto the balls of his feet.

  I am worthy. I am worth something. He gritted his teeth as another slice of wind broke through the canopy, racing past him like a whip. I will not fall. See me for what I am.

  A sudden blast of wind whipped past his back as the creature’s sharp tail smacked him hard in the shoulder blade. It sliced through the arrow wound on his back and retreated, pressuring him to bend over. Challenging him to cry out or do something. Turn and face its fierce glowing eyes. Kato stood his ground as it prowled.

  Thunder clashed. The creature faced him. The heart-shaped head of a puma stared back at him, massive horns twisted like a ram’s flashed in a strike of lightning. From this vantage point, he could see the tribal markings weaving up and down the Tevran’s golden coat. The creature stood almost as tall as him, proud of what it was. Skeptical of what he could be. Seeing him as a child, a man, a Scion.

  Wind tumbled around him. The creature huffed, snorted as if scoffing at him. It squinted its fierce golden eyes and backed away into the darkness of the jungle. Kato listened for its footfalls. For its lumbering body sauntering across the jungle floor like a puma, but heard nothing.

  A cutting roar speared through the jungle and Kato hoisted his spear up toward the canopy—acting on instinct now. When a beast jumped in the darkness, he knew to use its own momentum to impale it. To cut his spear through its chest and kill it almost instantly.

  Massive paws smacked into him. The spearhead grazed the bridge of the Tevran’s nose and its eyes flickered crimson as it mashed its paws onto his shoulders. It opened its mouth, dripping teeth sharper than any spearhead bore down on him. Biting into his right shoulder—his left. The spear rolled off to the right as he struggled to wrap his hands around the Tevran’s thick neck. His fingers crawled, his body screamed, they found their way into the fierce creature’s eyes and plunged.

  Air. It rippled around him, a vortex of nothing so strong it lifted both him and the beast off the ground. With his palms flat to the Tevran’s maw, air exploded from his palms in a maddening circle of raw power. Blood gushed from where the beast gorged itself on him, but the explosive power of air sent the Tevran sprawling backward for miles until it smacked into a bamboo trunk.

  A volcanic patch of red lit up the darkness. Blinding him.

  14

  A sphere of fire careened through the darkness, smacking the Tevran head-on. Flames erupted into a churning sea of red hot magma that threatened to engulf the Tevran as it lay there, its back flush against the bamboo trunk. With his hand sticking on his right pectoral, Kato strode toward the beast as more fireballs whistled from the right. Pounding the Tevran mercilessly. The creature remained silent as thunder boomed overhead and drizzle began to pour down. The rain quickly becoming a curtain.

  A vortex of air thrummed around his right fist as fire blazed in the darkness. A human silhouette glowed red hot, flames engulfing a hand slightly raised.

  “Kato?” the silhouette whispered. “Is that you? Kato?”

  The thrumming air whirled into a maelstrom as he stood two paces from the Tevran. Little tongues of fire licked at his feet and with a swipe of his aching arm, he killed them with a blast of wind.

  “Kato!”

  Branches snapped. Foliage crunched. Feet raced through the darkness, the glowing silhouette dying until darkness swallowed them. Rolling from the bamboo trunk, the Tevran fell onto its front paws and stood eerily still, its golden eyes no longer fierce but penitent. Patient. It’s black irises shifted from Kato’s form as another pair of eyes lit up in the darkness. Glowing crimson.

  A warm hand touched his forearm. Too warm—burning. Kato blinked the searing pain away and shifted. Ava, her jeans stripped rags, her sweater dragged down by teeth and claw marks; touched him again. Gripping him tightly by the forearms with her burning palms. “What’s happening to me? I—” and she snatched her hand away, staring at it as if they weren’t her own. “—I can do…this.” Fire blazed on the tip of her finger and Kato flinched away.

  “Did that thing do this to me?” she babbled. Staring at her hands, she wiggled her fingers while opening and closing them. “It’s like—it’s like I’ve got a fever or something. I’m just so…hot.” Kato watched as steam rose from her head, her shoulders—her entire body.

  He shook his head. “No.” This was impossible. “You’re an Outsider.” The Shamaness would not allow this. She could not allow this. There was no telling how the Mesh would take the fact that an Outsider was one of their Scions. That their goddess, their Moira, had blessed an Outsider with her power when so many of their children had died during the Dreaming Anew. Taken down by one of these Tevran that now stood staring at them. Switching its gaze from Ava, and then to Kato.

  This is impossible. Yet, it had happened. An Outsider was their Fire Scion. An Outsider.

  The great beast snorted, stealing their attention with an explosive breath. Ava shrieked at its massive size and brought her hand up, ready to pummel it with fireballs again.

  “Wait,” Kato told her, holding out his good hand. “You wanted to know how Scions are made? Then, watch.” He never expected Moira to choose either of them, but he knew of one other initiate doing the Dreaming Anew ceremony. Kato had hoped to follow him and allow Ava to see for herself how Scions were made—or unmade—in exchange for the information Ava promised would save their tribe from her people. But, now…

  The Tevran scoffed at them. Throwing its massive head back, the creature’s twisted horns glinted in the light of the storm, winking. Lowering its heart-shaped head, it stretched out its upper body and lowered itself. Bowing—to them.

  Kato’s jaw dropped.

  “Why is it doing that? What’s happening?” Ava moaned, holding her forehead. “God—I feel so fucking hot. I hate this! What is in that stuff? Am I dying?”

  Kato abruptly shushed her. Though he didn’t know what was in Moira’s Elixir, he knew they’d find out soon enough. They were Scions. He was a Scion. A stupid smile spread across his bloodied face as the Tevran kept its head lowered.

  “Blessed of Moira.”

  Its deep baritone boomed through the jungle, the ground trembling beneath their feet as it echoed. Over and over.

  “What the fuck?” Ava stepped away. “Did that thing just talk?”

  When the Tevran raised its body, Kato shot Ava a pleading glance. “Pull yourself together.” He told her. “You are a Scion, now. Moira has given you her power. I am not sure how the Mesh will take this.”

  “What about me? I don’t believe in magic—yet—” fire bloomed around her clenched fist. “This! Explain this!”

  “It is Moira.” He explained. “Not magic.”

  “It’s all the same shit to me!” Ava snapped. “And now you’re saying—I’m one of these thing
s, these Scions? Am I just like your Shamaness now? Little Miss I-have-a-crazy-fucking-god-delusion?”

  He chuckled at that, even if the phrase went over his head. “Somewhat.”

  “I…” her shoulders slumped. “And what about that thing?”

  “It will be our companion.” Though, in the Dreaming Anew, Tevran often stuck to one Scion. Not two. Then again, two Scions have never been chosen at once.

  “Like a pet?”

  He shrugged at the word. “Maybe.”

  Rain fell, washing the blood from his chest. When he looked down, peeling his hand away from his right pectoral, tendrils of muscle and tissue slopped out. The amalgam staining his skin as the jungle floor spun around him. “We must return.” He said. “For the Mesh.”

  “Fine. Whatever. I need to go back to my people too. They deserve to know about…this.”

  Kato shrugged. In this moment, all that mattered was getting back and getting healed. They couldn’t wander the Wilds with him leaving a trail of blood. It would excite predators. Send hundreds of beasts scuttling after them in the hopes of finishing him off and having an easy meal. Pressing his hand back to his chest, he strode away. Foliage snapped behind him as Ava followed, murmuring and cursing. The Tevran pawed through the brush after them, sauntering as quietly as a mouse.

  “Fuck!” Ava screeched, stopping suddenly. “Is this yours?” she sneered, bending to pick up his discarded spear.

  “Keep it.” He told her.

  15

  Kato’s world swam around him, the jungle blurring into a dark sea of verdant. Behind him, orange light blazed as Ava lit up her clenched fist.

  “It’s like I’m a walking light bulb.”

  The loss of blood twisted Kato’s sense of direction. He couldn’t be sure if they were heading toward the village or further into the Wilds. Despite his uncertainty, he ambled forward. His gait becoming slower and slower as the rain poured harder and more blood seeped from his wound. Applying pressure was no longer working, he realized, as his head swam and his body swayed. Keeping his eyes straight ahead, it wasn’t long until his trail of blood caught the attention of a predator or two.

  “Do you hear that?” Ava hissed, falling behind as she slowed her pace. “Something’s following us, Kato.”

  The Tevran sniffed the air before crouching low and growling. It kept pace with him as Ava whirled her flaming fist in a half circle. “Go away!” she shouted. “Or I’ll burn you!” she shrieked into the darkness. Giggling to herself, she added, “I can fucking light things on fire. I can light you on fire!”

  “Keep up.” Kato said, though his words were garbled. Ava brought up the rear, swinging her burning fist every couple paces as Kato lurched forward. Forcing himself to keep going. What use will my power be if I’m dead? He repeated to himself over and over as his vision blurred further and air seemed to whistle between his ears, filling his head up.

  In the darkness, something rattled a hiss. Kato’s face blanched.

  “Ava!” he shouted, “Ava—we’ve got to run.”

  “Seriously?” she swallowed as she came to walk near him. “What’s—what’s out there?”

  They had definitely gone too far into the Wilds. That, or creatures from Moira’s Heart were migrating farther north. Kato wouldn’t stand by to figure out which. Meeting her gaze, he broke into a sprint. Wheezing through the damp hole in his chest.

  “What’s out there?” Ava repeated, shouting at him. Pumping her legs as fast as they would go. “What are we running from?”

  Thunder boomed, lightning spearing across the sky in a shriek of rage. As the jungle lit up, Ava threw a glance behind them and screamed before pumping her legs faster. Towering bamboo stalks thumped to the ground behind them, as teak trees cracked in half. Wood splintering as trunks dropped to the jungle floor with a thundering quake. The jungle was coming apart behind them as a monstrous serpentine creature hissed and spat, zigzagging through the rain-slicked jungle at a dizzying speed.

  Kato’s world whirled as he tripped. Catching himself, Ava threw him a look and slowed. The color draining from her face as she mouthed, “Come on—get up.” While staring into the glinting eyes of a gargantuan basilisk ripping a path through the jungle toward them. Running back, Ava gripped his forearm and threw a wild semicircle of fire toward the great serpent as the Tevran rammed him in the back. Prodding him to get up. To move.

  The air around them broke, air exploding from Kato’s sticky palm as he blasted himself up. Wavering on wobbly legs, he held his head. His chest.

  “Give me the spear.” He told her, holding out his hand. “I can’t outrun it. Give me the spear.”

  “Are you insane?”

  Snatching the spear from her grasp, Kato gripped it tightly. Murmured a prayer to Moira and raised it. Angling it toward the basilisk, knowing that if it hit one of the creature’s sable scales it would simply glance off like a fly. Still, he aimed the gray spearhead. Light blazed to life behind him as Ava brought up her flame engulfed palm. “You’re a fucking sadist.” She hissed, though she stood her ground. Refusing to run. Like a true Mesh.

  Kato smiled. Maybe she did belong in the tribe.

  Arching his arm back, he threw it. Watched the thing soar high. An attached white and black feather danced hopelessly in the air as the spear flew true.

  16

  It nailed the basilisk in the eye. A hoarse shriek exploded from its gullet.

  Taking Kato’s hand, Ava sprinted until her thighs burned. Kato’s world continued to swim, though he slipped his hand from Ava’s grasp and willed himself to keep up as the Tevran galloped behind them. A spear to the eye wouldn’t kill the serpent, but it would give them a few extra seconds to get away.

  Adrenaline spiked through his veins, electrifying him as he ran faster. The jungle became sharp and crisp as he stumbled along with Ava, the serpent behind them shrieking as it thrashed forward. Though one eye was gone, it wasn’t completely blinded. Its night vision was leagues better than either of theirs, but with the pain spearing through its massive eye socket, it could no longer concentrate on them. Ripping through the jungle, its crimson blood splattered the Wilds as it pursued them. For a moment, Kato spotted fire. Spotted torches and the glinting of spearheads and arrowheads as the Wilds began to thin out before them. They couldn’t bring this thing into Nyx, he realized. If the basilisk got past the Wilds, it would bring Nyx to its knees before the Shamaness could do something about it.

  As if reading his mind, Ava threw wild blasts of fireballs at the screaming serpent. She pointed, out of breath, but smiling as she took notice of the thinning brush too. “Nyx?” she panted.

  Kato nodded, flattening his palm to his right pectoral as blood pumped out as quickly as his heart thumped in his chest. “We can’t…” he wheezed, “…it can’t come into Nyx.”

  Ava sighed, shaking her head in disbelief. “It’s just one thing after another!”

  She whirled on her heel, letting Kato and the Tevran pass her by. With her fingers clenched, she created a wider, wilder, semicircle of fire that threatened to catch on the jungle floor and the nearby kapok and teakwood trees. A high-pitched screech burst from her lungs as she burned herself and the jungle, the flames creeping their way toward the serpent as it crashed through the jungle. It did not stop.

  A thin barrier of bamboo and teakwood littered the outskirts. Between the wood, Kato could spot other Mesh. They trembled at the hair-raising shriek of the basilisk as fire scorched its black scales. A young boy dropped his spear to the ground when teakwood trunk cracked in two, thundering to the jungle floor. Kicking up leaves and dust. Kato cursed. He couldn’t let them face the basilisk. It was his fault that this thing was coming—it was following him. His blood trail. His scent. At the barrier, he stopped. Spun on his heel and breathed.

  A blur of vines, bamboo, and tree trunks swirled into a mass of verdant and brown. He could make out Ava’s fire as she ran. A big black body ripped through the undergrowth, slithering along the jun
gle, its massive tail whipping at bamboo shoots and trees. Kato held up his hands just as he had seen the Shamaness do countless times before when showing her strength, her command over Moira. A slice of air whipped past him as Ava sprinted by, followed by the Tevran, and Kato held his ground. Digging his heels into the foliage and dirt as far as they would go.

  He closed his eyes and hunched his back, raising his palms up higher and higher. A jolt of stabbing pain speared through the right side of his chest, his lifeblood gushing out of him, as a maelstrom of air thrummed to life beneath his hands. Whirling his hands in a large circle, he traced the jungle floor, widening the circle. Creating a vortex. A gale of wind grew, howling in his ears as the basilisk slithered closer. Closer.

  Behind him, branches snapped. The Mesh broke through outskirts and charged, screaming a blood-curdling war cry that made Kato wince. He forced the screaming from his mind—the deaths that could result if he didn’t do this right. If the maelstrom missed. If it glanced right off the basilisk’s seared scales.

  He shouted as he threw the gale at the basilisk, the tendons threading through his right shoulder buckling. Snapping. The maelstrom thundered across the jungle floor as the tribes-people at his back froze, their war cry dying as jaws dropped and eyes widened. Ripping a path through the trees and bamboo, the vortex scissored through black scales and muscle. Red exploded from the gaping slit in the basilisk’s thick neck before the monster cried. Shrieked a scream that shook their world and bloodied their ears. When silence whistled through the slit in its neck, it fell to the ground and thumped. Its head rolled, its slender tongue cascading through its open mouth like a ribbon.

  I did it.

  Kato could have cried.

  “You did it.” Came a voice from behind. Female. Familiar. A hand rested on his shoulder, urging him to turn and meet her eyes. Seble. “Outcast—no,” she shook her head, “Scion. You—you did it.”