by Marc Mulero
“Eres, I’m so sorry… so you are an orphan. So rude of me to blurt all of that out before. I pray you can forgive me.”
His brow knitted in confusion, and then more verbal vomit came. “He’s not dead, he’s boundless.”
“Huh,” her expression softened, head tilted, “that can’t be. I know the list... wait, are you saying the public registry is a lie?”
“I don’t know anything about it. I just know my fata. How else would I have gotten my hands on this?” He pulled the impeller swiftly from his bag.
“Oh Mustae! An impeller. That’s… a very valuable piece of technology.”
“I gathered. Proctor Vasa only used hers in the Ceremony, never in class.”
“Eres… do you know what this means? Your father, do you know what he wa- I mean is to the Skrols?”
“No. Just that he’s constantly on the run.”
“Mustae,” she repeated lowly. “Agden’s Reach is said to have descended from the First Seer vimself.”
Vimself? That’s how my ooma was speaking about me… could the First Seer have been…
“A Dawn?”
“Yes, of course. Lore speaks of it often.”
“Not in my books,” Eres countered.
“That’s not the point! Your father was said… is said to be able to split espers. He could break the grand secret further, or pull it closer together if he had access to other Skrols.”
He wondered how she had access to all of this information so seamlessly, and had never been more aggravated with his ooma for keeping it from him for so long.
“Well it’s a damn shame I didn’t inherit any of that, isn’t it? Maybe he would’ve taken me with him if I’d shown signs of it. Mu futopi eh te bou sota.” He started on his path home beside her.
“Oh shut up. You are not weak. And there’s no such thing as fate. That’s why we’re in Kor, because we can choose our own way!” she encouraged.
“I won’t even get to enjoy that for much longer,” he muttered under his breath.
“What was that?”
“Nothing.”
“No,” Windel turned toward the forest, “I heard something in the shrubs, a few times now as we were walking. Is something following us?”
Eres laughed weakly. “Just owins, don’t worry about it, they’re harmless.”
“Um.” She kept eyeing the area suspiciously, until she saw a fansa gracefully prance away from the direction she suspected. “This way home must be creepy after dark.”
“Eh, I’m used to it. I grew up running around in Dolseir.”
She ran her fingers through her hair to rid it of flower remnants coursing through the air. “Now it makes so much sense that your home would be by the forest.”
“And why is that? Oh, because my fata has legendary Reach or something?”
“Duh. If he’s alive, and boundless, what better way to protect his son than to call on nature when he needs it most.”
“Sounds like someone is a believer in the Umboro arts all of a sudden,” he accused half-jokingly.
“I know Reach is real, I’ve seen it. But it’s also an old and outdated art. You see in War Tech class that the old ways don’t stand a chance against what’s been developed. I’ve seen it since year-one, Eres. My mom was telling me one thing, and Kor was telling me another. And over time, Kor made more sense. It pried me away from Mysticism and blind faith.
“That’s why I’m going for Carrier – to use all the best tech to make a difference – to prevent war. One day, I’ll surf the Scarred Lands and protect the Imperions by blocking harmful underground deliveries from terrorists. Flenos boots on my feet, dom in my hand, and temp lenses over my eyes. But still, to deny certain truths about our heritage just because we don’t believe would be silly.”
Eres rolled his eyes. “Laying on the forest floor to think that branches are going to start spurting from the ground and wrap my arms just sounds ridiculous.”
Windel smiled. “A future Skrol should change his attitude. Well actually, Proctor Wudon will do it for you, if you make it in, that is.”
“Well see.” Eres swung the impeller around his back to change the subject. “Do you have your sparring weapon on you?”
“Mhm,” she said, “why?”
“Duel me.”
Windel scoffed. “Haven’t you fallen enough for one semester?”
Eres laughed. “By my count, you’re only up by one.”
She narrowed her eyes. “We’ll have to ask Vasa about that. No armor, no dueling.”
“Oh plesus. They’re as dull as Zia’s head.”
“She would kill you if she heard.”
Eres waved the joke away. “I just want to show you something.”
As she shrugged and finally agreed, he clicked the proper settings of his impeller in place. Both drew hilts that extended into sparring swords as they inched backward into position.
Eres couldn’t wipe the smirk from his face if he tried. He’d been practicing to and from Kor every day, not only for his long-term goal of being a Skrol, but to impress someone. Her. The one he thought about every waking moment since he’d started at Kor, and the one in which displayed most in his octor’s scenes.
Windel lengthened her stance with the point of her blade extended in front of her, one hand over her head for balance. A fencer’s position.
“Oh, being fancy today?” he poked.
She huffed. “On your count, brat.”
“Stet, sou… loc.” Eres stood still after he counted down to one in Umboro, while Windel burst forward.
He smugly kept one hand behind his back, clasped around his prized gift, while the other swung this way and that to meet Windel’s first strikes.
“Who’s going to heal you when I beat you down?” she egged him on.
He side-stepped and swung the sword low to parry a stab aimed at his ribs. “What’s another bruise?”
Just when one of Windel’s furious slashes was about to finally connect, Eres clicked his impeller and pressed it to his side, tensing his neck to avoid whiplash. He shot five feet out of the way – a short burst – before clicking it again, this time at the low of his back to send him airborne.
Windel swiped overhead instinctively, faster than her astonished eyes could follow. Unsharpened steel clashed again before Eres activated one more burst of air, mid-jump, that sent him swiftly back toward the ground. Crule was triggered for an instant and blown out so his blade was hot. Before she could twist all the way around to find him, he touched the flat of his smoking steel to her calf.
A yelp morphed into a scream.
Eres giggled as her face contorted in anger. She dropped her blade and slapped him across the face, which made him laugh harder. They stumbled over one another, legs tangled briefly as Eres’ back hit the floor with the weight of a petite girl hanging over him.
Then, as quick as Windel’s anger left her, Eres’ laughter abruptly stopped. Uneasiness followed. Eres felt his face heating up, finally turning scarlet against the will of his tan skin. Inches from one another’s face, neither of them moved. It felt like an eternity, and although he dreamed of this moment in his most confusing, new, and sinister desires, the overwhelming embarrassment did not let him enjoy that the most beautiful being he’d ever seen was currently pressed against him.
She finally pushed off first, her voice shaky. “That’ll teach you to burn my leg!”
He watched her dust herself off to avoid eye contact for as long as possible. “So dramatic!”
When Windel finally patted herself clean enough, she raised her eyes to see a hand waiting to hoist her up.
She grabbed on and pulled. “That was… amazing actually. How long have you had that thing?”
He flipped the impeller in his hand. “Since my first day at Kor. I have a long walk to and from every day.”
“Your father?”
“Yep. A gift from his travels, along with others…”
“Others?”
I shouldn
’t have said that. She can’t know I’m a Dawn. Mustae, she shouldn’t know about my fata either. Thinking that she can’t possibly hurt him because he could be a million lengths away was a stupid thought. What if she tells her mother? Does she have connections that could put him in more danger than he probably already is? Stupid, stupid, stupid.
“Listen, Windel. You can’t tell anyone that my fata lives. If he planned to fake his death, there’s probably good reason for it. Promise me, on the lives of everyone you hold dear, and may they choke on the sands of Okabin if you spill. Promise me, plesus, that you won’t tell a soul.”
“Ugh, you learn about a new place in War Tech class and have to damn my family to it? Mustae.”
“I’ve been reading about Okabin since you were learning how to speak!”
Once the joking ceased, she gazed at him endearingly, like she’d been called upon to prove the value of her friendship. “Your secret is safe with me.”
Eres did not look convinced, his narrowed eyes saying it all.
“What, you think I would spill the beans just because I like to talk to people? Ugh.”
Windel was good at making an already guilty soul feel worse. Eres held out the impeller just to prove that he trusted her.
“Really, I can try?”
He nodded. “Just don’t mess with the settings. Where do you think all of my bruises came from on the first day of Kor?”
For hours more, Eres showed her how to work the impeller, teaching proper posture, picking her up when she stumbled, even trying to position it so they both could hop together. But physics slapped the back of her head against his cheek, leaving them to abandon that idea for the time being.
It became apparent that he’d lost track of time when something familiar up ahead glowed fuchsia. His ooma’s esper. He stopped cold and averted his gaze to the sky. Windel’s eyebrows knitted at his unexpected stiffening and said, “What’s wrong?”
“It’s getting late, I should take you back to Kor so you can head home.”
“It’s the middle of the da-” She was cut off by Eres tugging her arm to drag her in the opposite direction.
“C’mon!”
“No!” She whipped her arm back. “What’s over there that you don’t want me to see?”
She was already creeping forward against Eres’ wishes.
This girl is going to be the death of me.
Chapter 11
The Innocent Betrayal
The glow of Lorfa’s esper flickered off. Her black eyes returned from trance and peered right past the Umboro girl marching in the direction of the breathing hut to burn right into Eres’ soul as if she was going to tear it out.
Windel approached with Eres at her heels until they both stopped abruptly.
“Umus tou, you foolish boy,” Lorfa scorned.
Eres’ breath became shorter by the second. “Apo, Ooma.”
She scoffed at the further stupidity of revealing that they were related.
Windel acted in the only manner she knew how in situations like this: as a diffuser.
“Feswa, Ooma,” she greeted peacefully. “Plesus, don’t be mad at Eres, I’m his best friend at Kor and we share much since we have similar backgrounds. We look out for each other.”
Lorfa’s eyes sharply switched to the girl in front of her, as the tense wrinkles around her brow finally relaxed. “Feswa, young one. My angst is not with you.”
Windel stepped forward. “It should be. I begged Eres to show me the forest. He would never have come this far if I hadn’t annoyed him so.”
Lorfa considered her, letting the silence marinate for longer than Windel was comfortable. While the young ones squirmed in her presence, she placed down her cane and rested both hands behind her back.
“I’m Windel Freed of Yatz. I attend Kor to find grace. Ashen da.” She bowed and extended her arm, palm facing up seeking approval.
Eres’ tension eased a bit as he considered his friend’s boldness. He admired it, really. How could one so easily make herself known amongst others? It was so natural. She didn’t need to find grace, she already possessed it.
As Lorfa slowly swung one arm around, Eres noticed that her finger was now missing his mother’s esper. She slid her hand over Windel’s wrist and whispered. “Ashen da.”
With a tight squeeze of an ooma’s comfort, Lorfa finally smiled and freed Windel of any remorse.
The old woman retrieved her cane and spun to feebly climb back into their home. “Come, let me fix you a meal before sending you both back. Tell me, was the Ceremony lavish this year?”
Windel turned to Eres in delight, beaming now that she was accepted. “Oh yes, it was brilliant. Far better than last year’s. Eres was lucky to see this one as his first.”
There began a much more relaxed meal than how their meeting had started. Only one time within the entire conversation did his ooma tense up – when Windel surmised, “You must be Eres’ ooma on his mother’s side, since Agden Way was said to have lighter skin.”
Eres nearly choked on his stew before mumbling something to steer the conversation far off course.
Thankfully the comment fell into the background, but not without leaving him to scan his ooma’s face to derive whether or not he was to catch a beating later. Eventually, when their eyes locked and a small nod of approval was given, he breathed a sigh of relief.
The rest of their short meal was filled with light laughter, stories of family heritage and Kor experiences, which was far more than Eres could have hoped, considering he expected a screaming match with a flailing cane.
With everyone at ease, time flew by. Before he knew it, Lorfa was sending Eres off to walk Windel back to Kor since her home was in the complete opposite direction. As they stepped back out into the humid air, Lorfa squeezed Eres’ shoulder hard, since Windel was a few steps out of earshot.
“So, you’ve decided to take the hard route of learning what happens when you reveal information to outsiders.”
Eres turned back. “My intention was to learn to trust,” he countered.
“And what of mine in you?”
Eres’ head slumped in shame like he’d been sentenced to carry a stone on his neck as punishment. But to his surprise, Lorfa’s parting words were kind.
“She is beautiful, Eres. And she is fire to your cool collected nature. Look out for one another.” Ooma tapped her cane twice on his behind for him to go catch up with her.
A look of content lingered as she watched on, warmth filling her heart because her grandson was not alone.
The next day, Eres’ hops to Kor were wide and merry. Beside the few words his ooma spoke, he wasn’t reprimanded or detested. Everything was okay. Better than okay, really. He had spent an entire day with his crush, which was a memory he would hold on to for a long, long time. Or so he thought.
As soon as he crossed the threshold of Kor grounds, two proctor’s assistants, including the one who had assigned him his syllabus on Meeting Day, approached him solemnly. Their robes were thin, colors aligned with their respective departments, and a chain-like device was wrapped in each hand in case he didn’t comply. The PA that Eres wasn’t familiar with held a look of contempt, while the other, Creela, looked more apprehensive and bashful than anything.
“Eres of Pouisum, we have cause to believe that you are smuggling forbidden technology onto Kor grounds. It was overheard by an upcoming PA, and such claims must be investigated properly.”
Eres tensed, mistakenly reached behind his back to where his impeller rested, and spread his legs into ready position. Electrical pulses sounded in front of him, followed by small bolts of lightning that bounced around the chains in their hands.
“Please, don’t run,” Creela beseeched. “It will just affirm Tood’s suspicions. Let us conduct our examination and be done with this.”
After some anxious seconds, he finally released his grasp on the impeller and showed the palms of his hands in surrender.
Who did she tell? Mun? I made her
promise not to. How could I have been so foolish… my ooma and fata were right. I failed them…
Tood hoisted him rather harshly from under his arm, which triggered Eres to blurt, “Who did she tell?!”
A set of mismatched eyes looked down upon him with scorn. “We do not discuss these matters with a suspect. But thank you, for corroborating what was heard.”
Creela nudged him from his other side and whispered, “Eres, shut up.”
But Eres didn’t care about their cause, only that the one person he trusted in the world had blabbed the moment she found the opportunity to. It wasn’t even period one yet.
He scoffed.
Was she just pretending to be friends to sell me out? If she was, she’s the best actor in the entire sphere to fool my ooma. No, she’s probably just not able to control herself with gossip, stupid girl. Never again.
And just like that, the crush he’d felt, the tingles, nervousness created by the mere thought of her, were all gone. Not only did he never want to see her again, but he felt a sudden need to run home and warn his ooma, if she could somehow contact his father to warn him that the secret was most definitely out. He would have to face whatever discipline was coming to him, because this time he knew he deserved it. There would be no hiding. He didn’t even want to. This was bigger than him.
“Tood, Creela.” Eres composed himself like he was addressing a proctor. “I’ll cooperate with whatever you need. All I ask is that you hurry.”
Tood’s slim face contorted into an angry smile. “All you’ve just done is earn yourself surveillance for the rest of the day. The Provost will be hearing of your pleas.”
Creela pinched Eres’ arm to remind him to stop talking.
Maybe it was someone else that saw me walk off with Windel. Someone jealous perhaps? Mundella, Crow?
Eres’ head began to cool; the strong connection to his crush refused to be buried so easily.
Those two couldn’t have known about my impeller, but maybe it was still them. There’s a chance that these PAs don’t know about it. Maybe whoever told on me just wanted to send a warning, to back off of their precious Windy.
