by Marc Mulero
Vindom nodded and fell in behind the pilot.
“Ah! Nuh uh! Stay!” Ilfrid pointed at the chubby owin as he backed away. “Don’t give me that look. I’ll be right back, just seeing our lovely guests to the door. Mmhmm.” He unlatched the cockpit lid and slipped through.
Not a minute later, they were stepping out onto some very unique grounds indeed. Pockets of glowing green air puffed at their feet after every step. They heard poofs not too far off ahead, each accompanied by tiny wafts of smoke. It looked like baby whales shooting up mist from underground.
“Welcome to the Gornay Shadows,” Ren announced. “I hope you’re not in love with your boots because these stains take quite a bit of scrubbing to get out.”
The grass was low-swaying and ominous, stretching toward a neat row of landscaped grounds where Eplon spires spurted high into the sky. There, behind one of the thin towers, was a sleek shider meant only for royalty – or an Imperion, perhaps.
“Yes, yes, I see it. It must be hers.” Ren began to lead the way, waving at the pilot without looking back. He raised his voice. “Ilfrid, if the next time I ping you I’m wrapped up in some viny prison, do me a favor and spray some herbicides over this filthy place.”
They all chuckled.
“Aye, friend. Be safe out there.”
Vindom walked ahead of Alphonze. “Flank me, with Eres furthermost back. I will hide your scent from the anti-Reachers. They will only identify me and hopefully that will be enough to gain her attention. Remember, we don’t know who works for Seren, if he has infiltrators, if he is among us in the trees right now, so she must be the one to see us with her own eyes. We have to get in range of Spera Noe Donnus if this plan is to gain any traction. When we are approached, be diplomatic.”
“Have you ever known me not to be?” Ren clanked his rings against one another.
“I wasn’t referring to you.”
“Hey, I am no barbarian,” Vasa protested.
“On the contrary, my dear, you are a stellar bodyguard. All I’m saying is to let them puff their chests a bit if it comes to that. Yes?”
“Fine. I’ll play coy.”
Eres looked down at his feet, kicking up the jade mist a little higher for fun. “Hey keeper.”
“Yes Eres?”
“Your Reach extends very, very far, right?”
“It does.”
“I have to ask then - was it you who was in Crow’s head, speaking to him? Did you guide him to the Colliding Spheres to meet up with me and Windel? We had ruled you out but, um, I have to know for sure.”
They walked in silence for a moment, nothing but the robes swishing, puffing mist, and clanking of hilts against belts.
“Keeper?”
“It was not me, Eres. But that… that does concern me.” Vindom crossed his arms behind his back again.
“Why? As far as we know, Seren does not possess that ability directly. He has no Reach. I think it’s the Judicator.”
“The what?” Vindom narrowed his eyes, still facing straight ahead.
“Masarian Bo, a great Reacher and long-time ally to the Skrols,” Eres revealed. “It must have been him.”
“Why must it be?” Vasa probed. “Perhaps you want it to be so but you must never underestimate your enemies like that.”
“Why would our enemies want old Kor classmates to come together? Ones that are bonded through trauma, no less. It just doesn’t make sense.”
“To you! To you it doesn’t make sense, Eres. You must not rule out your enemies until they’re in chains or dead in front of you.”
“Harsh much?”
“This is war, Eres. Silent or not, there will be blood.”
“Masarian, yes,” Ren pondered aloud, “the one in the jungle of Dundo-Ba?”
Eres was shocked. “Uh, yes proctor, Mustae knows how you figured that out.”
“Skrols I once knew used to speak of their trials and judgement. All hearsay though, for me at least.”
“Well, he is real and very powerful. He bends the jungle to his will. I have no doubt his Reach abilities rival the best of them.”
The group was now approaching towering trees on either side of them. Not normal ones for Umboro standards because they grew in upside down ‘U’s, two trunks per tree, with high-perched branches growing from the very tops like bird nests.
One moved suddenly.
Vindom held a hand out for all to stop. He didn’t look up, but down rather, Eres suspected with his eyes closed.
“One, two. I count two anti-Reachers. They are disguising themselves as lesser lifeforms. Clever.” He finally looked up. “Rest assured, our presence is known by Spera’s scouts. Keep on. Do not look alarmed. Remember friends, diplomacy. We are here to talk, not start another war with the wrong side.”
“It was the goofy pilot’s shider, I tell you!” Ren smacked the air.
“That goofy pilot got us here, when no one else would dare.”
“You defend him? Do you have a crush, Ms. Vasa?” Ren joked.
She scoffed and Eres chuckled.
The spire was approaching, gaining height with every step closer. It was an ivory spiral consisting of the finest materials available to construct such things. Eplons and their tech – panels alternated every few minutes once the maximum amount of solar energy was absorbed. Like sliding doors, they smoothly switched out.
Thump. Thump.
Vibration was felt beneath their feet. It was her guards, for sure: they had hopped down from their scouting trees behind them and were trailing quickly.
“Steady,” Vindom warned, facing forward like nothing was wrong. “We need her to see us. Do not act as a threat.”
Eres and Herim itched to turn with their blades drawn but did as they were told.
“She will be alarmed by all of the movement at her doorstep, and by us, a group of Kor personnel approaching. It’s not every day this happens. Stay the course.” Vindom kept on with his head held high. “She will see.”
The anti-Reachers were approaching more quickly the further they advanced. It was a creeping race for the Imperion’s attention. Her guards knew not to disturb her for no reason. They wondered - were these visitors just some die-hard fans? Protesters? Perhaps the questions would’ve been more relevant had they not seen Eres: his shining Glite and crimson blade were in the open for all to see. He was an open threat.
Swish.
Grass rustled; mist puffed more aggressively. Hands dropped to their hilts.
But it was okay, because now Vindom was exactly where he needed to be, close enough to the spire to make a dent. And so he planted his feet firmly, folded his hands in front of his face, thumbs crossed so his fingers looked like wings.
“Ressa Noe Donnus!” He declared through trembling ground, bursting past the anti-Reachers’ defenses.
Addressing the Imperion directly may have gotten her attention, sure. But uttering a name connected to Verglas, to Ramillion, well, that would send another message entirely. Either way, by the end of this, the Alliance would discover whether Spera was friend or foe.
Eres finally turned to see what he was facing - those three guards that had stomped down from the trees. But it turned out the keeper did more than shout, because his foes were blown back as though they were hit by an enormous gust of wind.
Swords shinked from their sheaths.
“Steady,” Vindom warned. “She will see.”
Eres and Herim inched back-to-back to protect the others, watching as the guards got to their feet more frantically, alarmed.
“Intruders! Protect her Greatness. Swords!”
Eres had never seen guards the likes of these before – tight black and grey Glite, two unnaturally large bark-like veins protruding from their necks. It was as if they’d been birthed from the forest – half tree, half uemon. It made Eres more uncomfortable, worried of what they could do.
Vindom however paid them no mind. His eyes were focused on the spire, to where she should be.
There
they went. The rustling of footsteps pounded harder, faster, every green puff of smoke now appearing as if landmines were exploding at their feet.
Eres braced.
Three seconds until clash.
“My Lady! There need not be bloodshed!”
Two seconds.
The anti-Reachers leapt high into the air, prompting Eres and Herim to adjust their impellers behind their backs to meet them mid-flight. They were about to click, they were ready - until they heard it.
“Cease!”
Spera’s voice echoed not only from the spire but from her guards’ comm devices, causing them to gracefully shift momentum mid-air and backflip to land mere feet away from the group, frozen in attack stance.
They were so disciplined that Eres couldn’t even see their chests rising and falling with breath. They were like statues. It was intimidating.
“Is she there?” Eres called from behind.
“She is. See for yourself.”
Eres kept a lingering eye on the guards as he turned his head, until he finally looked to the spire. Fifty feet away on the balcony stood Spera Noe Donnus, Imperion of the Factions. Her blue Eplon robes billowed in the winds, making her unmistakable as she tried to discern who, exactly, was at her doorstep.
For a fraction of a second, Eres noted Alphonze positioning himself to hide behind Vindom, but then his gaze was drawn back to Spera.
With a wave of her hand, Faction soldiers – similar to the ones who escorted Eres out of Kor Vinsánce - rushed from the first-floor entrance out into the fields. Then a disc dislodged from the spire point and floated down gracefully to the foot of Spera’s balcony. So quickly they were being outnumbered. They should’ve run. Eres could stall heroically and give them a chance to fight another day.
Maybe I should stall and give them a chance to fight another day… or maybe this was a mistake. Eres could see it in her eyes.
The protective gate opened and she stepped out, her gaze never leaving Vindom as the disc brought her onto the grassy ground beside her elite rangers.
As she drew closer, Eres remembered seeing her so many times through Ren’s octor, then again in person at the Colliding Spheres. She was so regal. And now here she was again: pink and grey blotches on her face – typical female Eplon skin tones – cat-like eyes, thin eyebrows. He remembered well.
Vasa lowered her weapons and urged Eres to do the same with a gentle touch to his hilt.
“A keeper of an esteemed Kor shows up to an undisclosed location, unannounced, speaking a name I haven’t heard in decades. Vindom Decalus, please, explain yourself.” She swished her cloak and stood with her chin raised, not so much in arrogance but rather in curiosity.
When Vindom took his first step closer to her, he noticed every single one of her soldiers tense, reaching for the hilts of their blades. But his hands were open, palms showing.
“Greatness, a Reacher does not need a weapon to cause harm. Please stand back,” the closest elite ranger urged.
“I’m sure you can see that Herim Vasa, former Champion of the Colliding Spheres, is among them.” Spera gestured to her. “She is a friend. We have clinked glasses together for Faction’s sake. I am in no immediate danger, Eranos. Stand down,” she looked behind her, “all of you, stand down.”
Eres watched Proctor Ren hunch over in Vindom’s shadow, still hiding. It was working too, because it seemed the familiar face of Herim and the markings on his own face were begging for the attention.
Spera’s eyes narrowed. “A Dawn is with you, I see. Daring, keeper. With so many witnesses, letting you leave here without a prison sentence would stain my reputation greatly, which you undoubtedly know. Lucky for you, this is my sworn guard, built on a lifetime of trust. But that doesn’t mean the outcome of today will change.”
“Imperion Spera, we come with an urgent matter regarding the Silent War… for your ears only.” Vindom’s trembling voice made the soldiers jerk with uneasiness once more.
Brief silence fell on all fronts.
“Trust us, Spera,” Herim spoke.
The Imperion replied, “I do not entertain conspiracy theories regarding fictitious wars. Especially one that has no identifiable casualties, has no opposing sides, and produces no evidence of existing. Guards, you may give us the area, this will be quick. Antis, you may disengage as well.”
With reluctant nods, all soldiers bowed and backed to the perimeter to give their leader space.
Once Spera was sure they were far enough away, she changed her tune. “That is my official statement,” her eyes glimmered, “but unofficially, you have piqued my interest and gained my respect by way of your improvisational digging. Connecting my lineage to Verglas is no easy task. Tell me keeper, what do you hope to gain by coming here?”
“Insight,” Vindom responded but before he could go on, Spera pushed past him, her focus on Eres. “Wait. You wield an esper. You are no ordinary boundless, are you, Dawn?”
“He is not.” Ren broke from the shadows, crimson braids igniting in the sunlight.
Spera took a worried step back and gulped, losing composure for a hot second. “A-Alphonze. My, my, to think I would never see you again.”
Vindom and Herim both looked at him incredulously, their eyes saying it all: “How could you withhold such information from us, that you have history with an Imperion?”
For Eres however, everything finally clicked. He remembered long ago during Factions class that Proctor Ren acted strangely whenever Spera Noe Donnus’ hologram showed up. Ren had relished in it, her portrait, feeling remorseful whenever seeing her. Was she the one who got away? Was he?
“Fate, it seems, has a way of telling its own stories,” Alphonze said charmingly. “But alas, my lady, this isn’t about us, but about him.”
Spera looked on longingly into Alphonze’s eyes before breaking away. “Yes, the Dawn, the one who heroically saved Vinsánce all of those years ago. That is you, is it not?”
“Yes, Greatness. My name is Eres Dawn, son of Agden Way, enemy of Seren Night and all that threatens the way of the Alliance. My lady, I am a Skrol, and I am the one who has seen Ressa Noe Donnus.”
She looked very skeptical, her political mind calculating.
“Take his words as truth, Spera,” Alphonze reinforced, “for all that we’ve been through, on our lives, I swear it.”
Eres stepped closer to her, exhibiting no fear. “We wouldn’t have come had we thought you were an enemy. You said it yourself: It is a grave risk to show ourselves here unannounced. Yet here we are, because I know in my heart that if you’re anything like Ressa, anything at all, then you are good.”
Silence followed.
“You seem skeptical, I can see it in your face,” Eres noted. “Why? I’m not speaking nonsense. I know, Greatness, I know she lived long ago. I’m not pulling any tricks here. It was through an octor that she helped me during my training. She was a Skrol, I know it. She had an esper, which means she could’ve left it to you. I don’t know your relation to her. In fact,” he looked around, “I don’t think anyone knows… anyone but you.
“So that leads us to our next question: Did you truly abandon that part of your lineage? Are you purely an Imperion to the Factions? Or, is it possible that you have been the Alliance’s greatest hope from the beginning?”
Spera was unblinking, considering the Dawn before her. It was as if Eres could see the gears churning furiously behind her cat-like eyes, for although Eres appeared confident here and now, it was she who was in control. Of course. She was an Imperion – the highest level of the Factions.
“If there were any truth to what you ask, I would be guilty of treason.”
“We are aware of the implications,” Eres continued. “But I am the white flag. The risk on our end is giving me up: a boundless Dawn, a Skrol. Imagine what a blow to the Alliance that would be if you arrested me now?”
“A sign of good faith, yes, I can see that. And having a trio of trustworthy faces… faces I know, this helps your
case. Intelligent and coordinated. I can use more like you on my team. However, I am not the Alliance’s saving grace.”
Everyone deflated ever so slightly.
“I do not possess Ressa’s esper. Moreover, I have not yet decided whether to explain my connection to all of this… for even though I trust Alphonze with my life, my agenda is larger than myself.”
“My lady?” Vindom interjected. “We are all fighting for something larger than ourselves. If I may… our flourishing sphere may very well be dependent on the Skrol secret remaining disbursed. Here, on this very day, we have never been so close to losing that sense of security. And Eres is willing to give his life to protect it. We all are.”
Alphonze walked up to her, grabbing both of her hands in his decorated ones. As hard as it was for him, he stared her in the eyes then kissed both sets of knuckles one at a time without breaking her gaze. “Spera. All we know is that we must not break this ancient tradition. We know that Seren Night has murdered many, that he is a threat. But beyond that, the war’s name remains true. It is silent. Help us understand if you have more to add. If not, we are lost, just waiting to be hunted.”
“I…” she looked away, “Alphonze, it runs so dee-”
Woosh.
There, overhead, flew another unannounced shider, prompting all of her soldiers to tense at once.
The head guard ran over and shouted, “My lady! To the spire, now!”
Spera looked scoldingly at Ren.
“Not us.” He put a protective arm around her shoulder. “Listen to your men. Come on Spera, let’s go!”
Crack.
Nine more shiders abruptly reduced speed, creating massive shadows overhead that swallowed the lot of them below. Eres didn’t realize it before, but he did now. Those were KQ’s colors. Seren’s goons. But how?
The beautiful undisturbed day in the Gornay Shadows suddenly looked like a war zone: people running across an open field, fighter shiders on their tail. Mayhem.
“Greatness,” Eres was sprinting beside them, “now would be a good time to tell us what’s going on.”
She shook with anger. “I’ve been following him for a long time. I knew I was on to something. Them trailing me here confirms the truth of it!”
