by Jason Letts
“Actually, you’re still on it.”
A powerful jet of air burst forth against the river’s current. It stretched out a few yards and held for a short time as the bubbles sprung to the surface. Then it withdrew, collapsing into itself and disappearing into nothing.
Gasping for breath, Will broke the surface, wiping the water from his face and replenishing his lungs with fresh air. He looked expectantly at Cybil, who dipped her feet in the water by the side of the river. She cast her eyes downward, hung her head, and shook it.
“No change. The training hasn’t increased your output at all. I’m sorry, Will, I thought we were on to something.”
Undeterred by her unbroken chain of apologies, Will held his legs in his arms and bobbed at the surface.
“Well at least I can do this!”
He blew at the surface, spraying water at Cybil, who playfully tried to block it with her hand. His gust sent him spinning backward in the water, splashing water into the air. By the time he stopped, Cybil had taken a step into the river. She scooped at the surface, creating a wall of water that bowled over Will and didn’t stop until it traveled as far as he could hurl a rock.
“I never get tired of seeing that,” Will laughed, swimming back over to her side of the shore. “Do you think you could make it to the cavern from here?”
They were about one hundred yards away from where the river water plunged into the deep, dark depths. The hot sun shone down on the kind of beautiful day that is above all else best used for swimming.
“Maybe if I had some wind,” she said, raising her eyebrows at Will.
He shot her an easy smile. As she slapped at the water, Will expelled another forceful breath. A massive wave climbed to the surface and raced the current for the edge. It swelled to a height several times that of a person before crashing into the river water and tumbling over the edge. They laughed.
“We’d make a fearsome team in a game of splash!” she mused.
They spent some time skipping rocks and searching for minnows before Cybil put an end to it and swum out into the river downstream from Will.
“OK, let’s get back to work. We can’t forget; this is serious business. It is absolutely, vitally important for this next exercise that you avoid getting wet. OK?”
Will stood about waist deep in the river a little left of the middle. He secured firm footing amongst the rocks at the bottom, and he nodded to his mentor. Bringing back her arm, she swung down with lightning speed, cutting into the water and creating a liquid wall that raced upriver to Will. He blew at the rapidly approaching water. Despite gusting into it, and perhaps even delaying his own drenching for an instant, the water swept him up and dropped him back down.
Flailing to regain himself, Will floated down the river until Cybil caught him and plucked him out. It took a moment for him to recover his footing and settle himself in the swiftly moving current.
“And that’s why I need to be downstream,” she said.
“No fair! You were too close. I might’ve withstood it if it had come from any reasonable distance,” he whined.
“Alright, alright. Go back out there however far you want. Just don’t get any ideas about escaping back to Corey Outpost or anything.”
Will worked his way much further up river this time, almost fifty yards. He turned back to Cybil, who shook her head, placing her hands on her hips. The drop-off into Darmen Underside was difficult to see behind her, and he thought of that first raft ride when it had snuck up on them so suddenly. Darmen Topside was off to her left, and the clay buildings and white towers shimmered in the sun.
He signaled his readiness and waited for the oncoming wave. Soon Cybil’s arm sliced into the water and finished over her opposite shoulder. The river lurched up an instant later, seeming to reverse directions entirely and come at him like a comet. It had only lost steam slightly when it reached Will, overpowered his weak defense, and lifted him off his feet. Caught in the wave’s crest, it carried him for some distance before disappearing and dropping him near the side of the river next to some reeds and plants.
Landing on algae covered rocks in the shallows proved far from pleasant, and the fall knocked the wind out of him. He heard Cybil call and then start to run. Laying on his side with his head amongst the water plants, he couldn’t manage to move. He peered in the only direction available to him, where he saw something black hidden and waterlogged near the bottom of the brush.
He reached out to touch it but had to roll onto his stomach to do so. The black mass felt filmy and cold, but he could tell it was some kind of fabric. Pulling it closer, he stared at it, puzzled.
“Hey Will, are you OK?” Cybil called, jogging up near him.
“Yeah,” he said, pushing himself to a seated position. “But look what I found over here. I thought it was some kind of garbage at first, but it looks like clothing.”
He handed the black piece to Cybil, water continuously dripping out of it.
“It feels strange,” she added while untangling the piece of clothing. Holding it from the shoulders, it turned out to be a body suit. “I’ve never seen anything like this.” She turned it around so Will could see the front.
“I have,” he said, getting to his feet. “I recognize this insignia, the sun and the cloud. These were the same suits the men who came to attack Mira in Corey Outpost wore.”
“Really? I’m shocked.” Her brow furrowed in concern. “Do you think it floated all the way down the river?”
“I have no idea how it got here. Maybe a military caravan from the warfront dropped it.”
Cybil took the body suit and held it up against Will.
“No one would mistake you for a big guy, Will, but you wouldn’t have a prayer of fitting into this. Still, maybe it wouldn’t be too hard to adjust.”
“Yeah, well, we’d better check around for clues about how it got here or anything that came along with it.”
They combed the riverside, picking through the brush, kicking at stones, and checking the bank. The opposite side of the river received equal treatment, but none of their searching turned up any interesting artifacts. Finally after climbing up the riverbank onto the plain, they did see something.
“These wagon wheel tracks could be related to it,” Cybil considered. “Maybe it got away from some traders who had it. At the very least, it looks like you picked up a free souvenir in exchange for your bumps and bruises today.”
Will didn’t respond right away, and it wasn’t until they had started back to the city that he finally said something.
“I guess it’s impossible to forget there’s a war waiting for me out there. And it’ll come upon me some day, whether I’m ready or not.”
Cybil stopped and looked at him for a moment, impressed with something.
“It is an awful shame these things are lying in wait for you. You don’t deserve it, and it didn’t used to be this way. I still remember hearing about the first attacks. All of a sudden everyone started talking about forming an army. Do you want to know the real impact of all this fighting? When was the last time you saw anyone in their twenties?”
Will had to think for a moment. It was a part of life that shadows went off to fight and didn’t come back. He only knew two people in their twenties, Natalie, Corey’s assistant, and Yannick. That he could only name two reminded him again of the catastrophic loss they all lived with, and this black uniform was part of the reason why. Squeezing it, he yearned for a way to end it.
“It can’t go on forever,” he whispered.
The way the land sloped and the arrangement of the trees gave Mira a sneaking suspicion she’d been here before. Though they’d been living in the woods for months and had seen countless valleys, mountains, trees, streams, and rocks, the ones near her now seemed purposely vexing to her heart.
Widget had allowed an unusually relaxing morning, which added an ominous apprehension for the rest of the day’s events. The mysteriously hostile surroundings and the grueling prospects ahe
ad made Mira feel tired of life in the woods.
“Have some more bacon. You’ll need it,” Widget said. His voice grated on her. What she wouldn’t give for a nice comfy bed or a chance to talk with her friends. She ate the bacon, despite having eaten so much of it lately that the taste had left her.
“Do we have any fruit left? I’ve been missing fruit,” she said.
“Nope, I don’t think so. I’ll have to keep an eye out. You never know when an apple tree will pop up.”
Mira finished eating, set down the small plate and fork, and sat silently on a stump. Widget had been making some notes on scraps of paper, and now he flipped through them hastily. Mira now knew his habits well enough to know this meant he would begin a lesson. She did enjoy the lessons, but today she wasn’t in the right mood.
“Are you ready?” he asked.
“Yes, I’m ready,” she said, looking up and giving him her full attention. She never knew when she would be tested on this information later, so paying attention now would make things easier later on.
“This is important,” he began, raising his bushy white eyebrows and nodding his head. “It’s time we expand our discussion of chemistry and begin to consider the chemistry of life. It’s not enough for you to know that water is made of hydrogen and oxygen or carbon is found in the soil, the sand, and the clay beneath our feet. You’ve got to understand how the elements of the universe combine to form the chemicals and the solutions that exist within our very bodies.
“Let me imprint upon you this very basic fact. There is no difference between the elements in our bodies and the elements found in non-living things. Completely interchangeable. And you can find the same combination of elements in all forms of life. These most essential building blocks are hydrogen, oxygen, and carbon. Together, they make up ninety-eight percent of all living things, me, you, and everyone else. Isn’t that incredible?
“These elements bond together in different ways to create the various structures of our bodies, and we can tell exactly what they do based on the shape they take. We absorb these elements through our food. Our stomachs break apart what we eat into these essential molecules. Then they replenish our system so we can function as a living thing. This process of obtaining energy from outside sources for use in our body is called metabolism. Do you understand everything I’ve said?”
“Yes, I understand,” Mira confirmed.
“Good,” Widget went on. “Combinations of these elements form the four most common molecules in our body. They are carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, and nucleic acids. They have many variations, and their different combinations make up cells, and cells form every single part of our body in the most spectacularly complex arrangement imaginable. You know I could go on and on, but I’ll save the details for another time.
“So from these tiny building blocks we get all of these specialized parts of the body: different forms with different appearances for every living thing that exists performing different functions necessary to carry out life on this grand scale. And, as you’ll see in a moment, these wild and intricate arrangements of cells can be awe-inspiring and even terrifying in their totality.”
Almost giddy, Widget hopped up from his seat and scurried off, stopping once to beckon Mira on and make sure she followed. As he bound up to a rocky ridge and scampered over the boulders, Mira trailed behind with much less energy and enthusiasm. She couldn’t shake the unpleasant feeling this place gave her, and it didn’t take long to figure out why.
Mira climbed up next to Widget as he peeked over another boulder. Beyond the ridge, the wooded hillside curved inward before a rocky arm dissected it. A large hole in the rock face cut into the center of this curve, and Mira recognized it as the cave she had passed during her miserable journey from Darmen to find Widget. It struck her they must’ve traveled in a massive circle. Darmen and her friends were surely within a few days’ walk.
She remembered the awful condition she had been in the first time she came through these parts. It helped now that she could put her finger on the exact cause of her ill feeling and tell herself how her situation had drastically improved since then. She told herself that, but it didn’t help as much as she thought it would.
“In there. You’ll be going in there,” Widget whispered.
“What’s in there?” Mira asked.
“A beautiful example of the ferocious complexity of life,” Widget replied. “You’ve got to go in there and flush it out. Make no mistake, this beast wants to tear you limb from limb, and there’ll be no arguing with it and no avoiding it.”
“If this is all to witness a creation of nature, can’t I just go in and look at it? Why do I have to fight it and evict it from its home?” Mira caught his eyes and tried to see into them. Sometimes the things he said made so much sense, but other times they didn’t seem to fit together. What he had asked her to do and the way he said it made it sound both dangerous and cruel. How could anything good come from that?
“Mira, why are we here?” he asked emotionlessly.
“We’re here because you guided me this way after we woke this morning, and we stopped here because you decided to stop,” she blurted.
“No, why am I here with you? I thought it was because you wanted me to…” he trailed off.
“Help. Yes, I need your help.”
“Oh, phew, I thought for a moment you had changed your mind. It’s OK if you’re no longer interested in reaching your potential, finding out what you’re made of, and becoming someone who can make a contribution to the world. Just let me know and I can leave now. Wait, why are you doing this all again? It’s suddenly slipped my mind,” he added, taking a small step away before Mira stopped him.
“It’s my sister, the one I never knew I had. She’s trapped somewhere and no one will help her if I don’t,” Mira said solemnly, dropping her eyes to her feet.
“Right, and the people who did that to her need to pay for what they did. That’s only fair, and there’s only one way for you to accomplish that goal. You need to be smart enough to break through their defenses and strong enough to overpower them.”
Using his index finger, he lifted her head so she could see into his pale blue eyes.
“Now I’m trying to help you. You can test your skills here and have them pushed to the limit. If we keep pushing that limit, you’ll be ready one day.”
Keeping herself composed, she nodded her head.
“OK, I’ll do it.”
“Good, OK. Now let’s be smart about this. How can you equip yourself to make a successful outcome more likely?”
After a moment of reflection, Mira turned and hopped down from the boulder. Once on the ground, she marched back to their small camp. She grabbed a hefty, sturdy stick on the way and a handful of fallen leaves. Tossing the leaves onto the smoldering pit to kick up the fire, she lit the end of the stick and watched the flame twist and dance as she returned to the ridge. Passing Widget without a word, she climbed over the boulders and cautiously sidled up to the entrance of the cave.
Except for a few birds chirping occasionally from a nest in a tree, silence blanketed the surroundings. Mira checked the ground in front of the entrance for tracks but found none. She flipped on the static charger and then set her hand on the dark stone forming the archway. Her eye drifted around the edge while she held the torch behind her.
The cave gradually descended into the hillside. A floor of gravel and small stones led down through a surprisingly roomy chamber. Mira slowly peered around the corner and took her first step into the cave. Keeping silent, she listened for any signs of the cave’s occupant. Scanning what she could, she kept track of the surrounding walls, the ceiling above her, and the loose stones at her feet.
Quickly, the walls became uneven, and chunks of rock poked out at her from all directions. The odd shapes gave her something to look at as she crept through the cave. Putting her hand on one as she passed, it felt damp. Listening, she thought she could hear the gurgling of water. Glancing forlorn
ly at the bright glow of the entrance in the distance behind her, she pushed onward.
Further down, the cave weaved slightly. The walls appeared to be made from weak sandstone, something water could easily erode over a few million years. Passing the torch around a particularly scraggly formation, something shiny reflected the light back. The orange tint initially seemed a reflection from the firelight, but upon closer inspection she could see the mineral really had a reddish-orange luster. She recognized it as copper immediately, and it surprised her because this metal was rarely found in such a pure state.
The shiny reflections became more numerous as she went on. She noticed the higher water content of the air, and the pieces of copper took on a greenish sheen. Water unmistakably ran in the distance, and a further bend brought an end to the tunnel, which emptied into a wide underground cavern that housed a shallow stream running from one end to the other. The water wasn’t even deep enough to make a good puddle, yet it had chewed a massive expanse into the rock and carried it under the wall on its way out.
A crack up above shed additional light on the area and revealed to Mira the fragile nature of the walls. Seeing the water, she flipped off her static charger. It would do no good if the water kept robbing her of any charge she built up. She had yet to detect any other forms of life, but then she heard wings gliding and folding somewhere above.
Stepping out of the tunnel into the underground expanse, she stared toward the roof. Dozens of bats clumped together in one cluster. She waded into the water running over the ground, beginning to wonder if Widget had sent her to get rid of the bats, a refreshingly easy task, until she caught sight of a large round boulder in the shadows behind her to the left. A second look revealed that this particular boulder was covered in brown fur, and had a foot with sharp claws.
Seeing the bear made Mira freeze, her eyes fixed to the bulky mass in front of her. She held herself and the torch painfully still, and the bear did the same, lodged in a dry corner above the water. Only when she thought it might be asleep did she begin to consider how many times larger and heavier than herself this creature was. The water soaked through her shoes, and she kept looking at the exit, wondering if she should make a run for it.
