Realmwalker

by Jonathan Franks

  “Why is that?” he asked aloud, then he felt nervous and afraid. None of his friends visited anyplace like this when they used. This sensation of traveling to a new place, this was something only he seemed to have.

  “Why’s what, dear?” the smooth, lazy voice answered him.

  “Nothing.”

  “Okay,” the voice sighed.

  Emmet was afraid to open his eyes. All of a sudden, he felt very uncomfortable in the forest, and he was getting more and more afraid of what would happen when he opened his eyes in his apartment.

  He felt like he was spinning, then he felt like he was falling. He splashed into a puddle, which felt cool and refreshing against his flushed skin. Then he saw himself in the reflection and it wasn’t him. He gasped and opened his eyes.

  The apartment came crashing back into him. He reeled to the side, then, off-balance, he overcompensated and fell off the couch. He banged his head on the sharp edge of his cheap, pressboard coffee table, and threw up all over himself and the floor.

  He looked at Lou and saw him stretched out on the recliner. He looked like he was asleep. He didn’t have any reaction to Emmet’s retching or the sound of Emmet’s head hitting the table. He felt like he was throwing up more than he’d ever eaten in his life, and eventually, he passed out, half laying in his own vomit, hugging the table.

  He didn’t feel well at all.

  chapter 7

  Pepper and Hish had gone through every tome available to them about traversing Realms. The Realmwalkers were able to pass freely from Realm to Realm, but not across the borders to the human Realm. Hish was correct – their library held no record of any fairies ever crossing into the human Realm.

  The words of one of the prophecies echoed in Pepper’s mind: He must bridge the realms and travel out of this place to avoid a death not of his own making. A threat that comes neither from without nor from within, but afar, and without malice.

  “What kind of threat comes without malice? That doesn’t sound like it would be a threat at all.” They’d discussed this dozens of times now. They hadn’t come up with any new ideas.

  Hish said, “No, I don’t think you’re thinking of the word, ‘threat,’ in its context here. An earthquake or a volcanic eruption can certainly cause quite a threat, and they aren’t malicious at all.”

  “Okay,” Pepper conceded. “But a threat coming from afar? Not without, not within. This makes it seem like it could be some sort of disaster.”

  Hish nodded, knowing the next question. “But from afar. We don’t know what that means or where it’s coming from or even what it will be. And why wasn’t there any mention of the damage to the Realm, then, if it’s some sort of natural disaster.”

  Pepper paced back and forth, agitated. “We need more information. We need answers.” He stopped and turned to face Hish. He started, “The Oracle--”

  Hish’s eyes were closed. He was standing very still and very straight. Even his wings were perfectly still. “The Oracle will die soon, and there will be a long period where the Realms are without an Oracle.” Hish opened his eyes and looked at Pepper. “He won’t be replaced until after the Blood Moon. By then it’ll be too late.”

  “Then I guess we’d best go to see him now. Where is he?”

  “The Caverns.”

  “That’s a long way,” said Pepper. “But you know I have to go.”

  “And you know I will accompany you.” Hish closed his eyes again. “I’m not sure when the next Arrival will be,” he said, opening his eyes again, “but definitely not in the next two weeks.”

  “All right.” He walked to the large bookshelf that occupied the entire west wall of the room. He popped the cap off of the bamboo tube that held several maps, selected one, and unrolled it on the table. Pepper and Hish leaned over the map, deciding what path to take to reach The Caverns.

  -

  It took four days to reach The Caverns. Pepper and Hish had to travel from The Reaping, across The Red Plateau, briefly into The Sky, and then they soared downward to The Caverns themselves.

  Now, standing at the entrance to the unending maze of tunnels, Pepper felt nervous. Foreigners had gotten lost in The Caverns, never to be seen again. But they had brought with them a golden arrow, enchanted to help them go in the right direction. It always pointed toward where they wanted to go. Or at least it would until the enchantment wore off in a week or so.

  Hish didn’t seem apprehensive at all. He looked at Pepper expectantly. “Ready to go?”

  Pepper nodded. “Let’s go,” he said, and they flew into The Caverns.

  It wasn’t long at all before the twisting stone tunnels turned enough that the sunlight from the entrance was no longer visible. The tunnels were lit by vibrant, phosphorescent moss that clung to the ceiling and walls. This entire area glowed with a greenish-yellow light. It cast eerie shadows all around them.

  The arrow led them on, and they continued deeper and deeper into the tunnels. Within a few hours, they heard the murmur of population ahead. They had reached the city of Firemoss, the capital city of The Caverns. They flew onward and a tremendous cavern opened up before them. The tunnel they followed emerged near the ceiling of the cavern, and they saw an upside-down forest of stalactites, carpeted with the glowing moss that gave the city its name. This moss, unlike the moss in the tunnels, glowed a deep, rich orange. It made the city appear to be in a perpetual sunset.

  The cavern was immense to the point that the far walls weren’t visible. The city went on as far as they could see. Looking down upon the city below them, they could see the sprawl, from the structures build into the walls, down the bowl of the cavern to the ground, where a maze of narrow streets wove between buildings of all sizes. Seen from the air, it was clear that each ward in the city radiated from the circular city center, and the circles became less and less circular the farther they were from the middle.

  Separating the center of the city from the rest of the wards was a large stone wall. It seemed to be a natural formation, rising from the ground, perfectly seamless. At regular intervals atop the wall were twelve stone towers. The walls of the towers facing the inside of the circle were covered with the same orange glowing moss that lit the city from above. The buildings in the city center all seemed enigmatic, majestic, in the odd, omnidirectional bronze glow.

  Fairies were walking and flying throughout the city. Those with wagons or cargo travelled on the streets and through the many archways in the city wall, those without flew over the buildings and over the wall into and out of the city center. There was a constant chinking noise, as countless stoneworkers worked all around the city, cutting, chiseling, carving, forming stone.

  The arrow pointed toward a small building just inside the wall. Pepper and Hish flew toward it. It was a humble structure. Most of the buildings in the city center were ornate and had complex patterns engraved on every surface. This particular building was completely undecorated. All of the walls were plain and aged. The windows were simple rectangles of glass, no patterns or designs adorned them. There was a doorway on the street level. The door was open so Pepper and Hish landed on the street and walked in.

  The first floor of the two-story structure was one large room. It had a thick, worn rug on the floor and several large cushions that more or less surrounded a large but low stone table, offset from the center of the room. The table was completely bare with the exception of three short glasses and a pitcher of water.

  “Hello?” called Hish.

  Pepper shot him a look.

  “What?” He gestured with his chin toward the table. “Clearly, he knew we were coming.”

  “If he knows we were coming, then he intends for us to wait.”

  “Nothing of the sort, gentlemen,” said a fairy who was limping down the stairs from the second floor. “Nothing of the sort. I’m just not as quick as I used to be.”

  Once he reached the bottom of the staircase, Pepper could see that this fairy was quite old. He was slightly stooped, very frail
, with thin, fine silver hair, and short pointed ears. His wings were sagging and the membrane between the veins was loose and wrinkled. Pepper wasn’t sure this man could fly at all.

  The silver-haired fairy looked to Pepper. “Yes, yes, Pepper. I am The Oracle. And no, I can’t fly anymore,” he grinned.

  Pepper bowed his head in a respectful gesture. “I would never be so rude as to inquire.”

  “Oh, no,” said the Oracle, “I know you wouldn’t. Please,” he gestured toward the table, “have a seat and we’ll talk.”

  Pepper and Hish sat on the cushions on the floor. The Oracle filled each of the three glasses with water, slid one in front of each of them, and sat down himself at the head of the table. He took several small sips from his glass and refilled it. He cast a long gaze at Pepper before speaking again.

  “You do not want to die,” the Oracle said.

  “That’s hardly the stuff of prophecy. No fairy wants to die.”

  “You took a long journey to get here,” said the Oracle, “and you can see true magic. Do you really need convincing at this point?”

  “Not at all, Oracle,” said Pepper. “Forgive my impatience. You’re right. I’m disturbed by a prophecy about my own death.”

  “A death not of your own making, to come before two blood moons have passed.” The Oracle chuckled softly and looked at the ceiling. “Hard to tell the phases of the moons from here, though, lad.”

  Pepper smiled politely. “You have ways.”

  “I do, indeed,” the Oracle laughed. “You have a year, at least. Most fairies don’t have any idea when they will be faced with death. We must live every day like it could be the last day we spend here. After all, our counterparts, the humans from whom we receive life, live their lives and they can die at any time. All of this is completely outside our control. And when someone’s human counterpart dies...”

  “So does the fairy,” Hish said. “We’re thinking that Pepper’s human is on the path to death.”

  “Indeed,” the Oracle said. “Indeed. But, then, they all are, aren’t they?” He drank again, taking small sips until he’d drained his glass. Then he refilled it again. “And you want to know how to keep your human alive.”

  “Or,” said Pepper, “to sever the connection, the link between us, so that when they die, I might live.”

  “That is impossible.”

  “Nothing is impossible,” said Pepper.

  “Perhaps not. But this is.”

  “Then what is another option?”

  “You know the options. You seek justification. You seek confirmation. You don’t seek answers,” said the Oracle.

  “You’re partially right. I am seeking confirmation, maybe something to justify what I might need to do. I’ve heard legends, we all have, and maybe I’m trying to find out if they’re true.”

  “Go on,” said the Oracle.

  “That if a being slays their counterpart by their own hand, then they shall have life unending,” Pepper said, paraphrasing an ancient legend. “It’s supposed to go both ways. If a human kills their fairy, or if a fairy kills their human, then they’ll live forever. It’s the only way for one to die without the other sharing in death.”

  “All true,” said the Oracle.

  “Then how do I do it?”

  “You want me to tell you how to murder someone so that you can live? You’ve taken life after life, and that hasn’t gotten you any farther from your own impending death.”

  “I’m not here to be judged,” said Pepper. “I’m here for answers.”

  “Our answers,” said the Oracle, “come from the path we’ve taken, the decisions we’ve made, the choices we’ve yet to make. And, yes,” he continued as Pepper was about to speak, “I know you are here about the choices you have yet to make.” He drank again from his glass, many small sips, but this time, he did not refill his glass. “It’s true. Kill your human and you won’t die. I don’t know about living forever. Immortality... Well, I’ve never seen it. But you won’t die, you won’t age, at least, not in any meaningful way. I suppose it’s possible you’ll live forever. That, though, is beyond the scope of even my sight.”

  “How do we know this,” Pepper asked, “if we can never get to the human Realm?”

  “We could, a great, long while ago. There were several Bridges between the Realms. It was possible to cross over freely. Centuries ago, fairies were known to meddle in human affairs, until the humans gradually became less and less superstitious, more observant, more... scientific. It became more and more dangerous to interact with them, so the Bridges were sealed and our Realms were cut off from the human world. That’s how we know it’s true.”

  “Did anyone do it? From back then?”

  “Oh, yes,” the Oracle said. “And I’m sure there are some of them still around. The youngest of them would still be hundreds of years old by now, though. But, again, that’s not why you’re here. You aren’t here to ask about the past. You want to know how to change your future.”

  “I want to know how to open a Bridge, and find my human. I want to know how to change my destiny.”

  “Change your destiny,” the Oracle laughed. “Ah, there is nothing like the spirit of the youth.”

  Pepper raised his eyebrow at this but didn’t say anything.

  “The golden arrow you carry,” said the Oracle, “it points you toward what you seek. It will bring you to your human.”

  “It is only enchanted for a limited time.”

  “It will be enough.”

  “All right,” said Pepper. “So I can find my human. But how do I open a Bridge? How can I get to the human world?”

  “One of the Bridges is in your own Realm: The Reaping. The volcano is keeping it hidden and safe, but with the right key, it will move its lava aside so you can access the Bridge.”

  Pepper sat back in his seat and thought for a moment. “We can’t divert the lava flow on our own. Where is it?”

  “That is not important right now. You’ll never find the key in time.” The Oracle continued, but seemed hesitant now, reluctant to speak. “You know that every Realm has an essence, yes? The magic of each Realm is powerful, unique. There is a lot of magical energy to be found in the Heart of the Realm.”

  “I’ve heard that every Realm has a Heart, yes.”

  “The power of seven Hearts is enough to open a Bridge. Tap the Heart and you can use it to open the Bridge.”

  “Seven? How am I supposed to tap the energy of seven Hearts? Only the Walkers tap the Hearts.”

  “You collect its mana, like a bee collects pollen. Place your hands upon a Heart and draw the energy into yourself. It’s not difficult.” His eyes narrowed and he glared at Pepper.

  “What?”

  “I know what you are going to do, and I do not condone it.”

  “What am I going to do? You can’t judge me on things I haven’t done yet!”

  “I absolutely will judge you for things you haven’t done yet,” spat the Oracle. “After all, that’s why you came to me. To find out the answers to questions you haven’t asked yet; to gain wisdom that isn’t your own; to,” he sneered, “‘change your destiny.’“

  Pepper returned the Oracle’s hard stare. “Tell me what I need to know.”

  The Oracle crossed his thin arms across his chest and leveled his gaze on Pepper.

  “Tapping seven Hearts will take far too long. I know that I can take far more power from a Heart by destroying it than by tapping it. How many, then? How many if they were to be destroyed instead of tapped?”

  The Oracle closed his eyes and shook his head.

  “How many, Oracle?”

  A tear rolled down the Oracle’s cheek. “Three. Only three.”

  Pepper stood up. Hish followed.

  The Oracle called out, “You know that when you destroy the Heart of a Realm, you are damning that Realm and all its inhabitants to the Void.”

  “It’s better than death,” said Pepper.

  “Marginally. A sky of
pure gray. No stars, no sun. Flat, featureless ground. Little grows. Enough to live on, perhaps. But you’ll be removing the fertility, the life, the essence of the Realm. You will truly be sacrificing those who dwell in the Realms you will destroy.”

  “But they, and their humans, will still be alive. And so will I.”

  The Oracle shook his head again. “This is reprehensible. You know as well as I do that I have to stop you.”

  “And you know as well as I do,” said Pepper, “that you will fail.” He flexed his wings and lifted slightly off the ground, then he slipped two wicked, curved daggers from his sleeves and dove toward the Oracle. He drove the twin blades deep into the Oracle’s body - one in his throat, the other into his abdomen. The Oracle reacted too late and all he could do was jerk and twitch with the daggers inside him. Blood poured from his mouth when he tried to speak, but no words came with it.

  “I thought you’d have seen that coming,” Pepper mused. “But you knew you couldn’t stop me. And if you hadn’t have told me, then this wouldn’t have come to pass. You’re a slave to fate like all the rest of us.”

  He eased the Oracle’s body to the floor. “Except for me,” he said, coldly.

  Hish stood next to the table, arms folded across his chest, watching. He didn’t say a word.

  chapter 8

  “No, actually, I think it’s brilliant,” said Andi. Her boss, Mr. Clark, had brought her up to his office to explain Great Lakes Casualty’s new line of business: life insurance viatication. The company would buy a terminally ill person’s life insurance policy for more than the surrender value of the policy, but for less than the benefit amount. The client would have money available to pay medical bills or to blow before they died, and the company would profit on the difference.