by Jason Letts
“Today’s the day,” she declared, and he didn’t have to ask to know what she meant. “He won’t live to see another. I think it’s going to be perfect, but you’ll just have to trust me.”
“How could it possibly be perfect? We can’t even get near him. The longer it’s been the more hopeless it becomes,” Jeremy shuddered.
“You’re turning out to be such a baby. It’s simple. I’m going to go ahead and set a trap for him by drenching the ground in front of him and waiting for him to walk into it. When he steps in it, it’ll at least weaken him enough for your flies to get him. After that we take the carafe and continue on,” she said, wringing her hands and spilling globs of goopy toxins near her feet.
“But what about his body?” Jeremy asked.
“We let it rot!” Gloria insisted, glaring at him.
The worst intentions resided in her face, and in them he somehow recognized himself. How often had he been the creator of such spiteful and tormenting schemes? Through it all he’d never imagined what he must’ve looked like until he saw it on her face. He remembered trying to wrest control of his class in the Final Trial, attempting to eliminate Mira during The Shadowing, and acting to wipe out the lot of them in the battle of Darmen. He’d wanted to destroy them as badly as Gloria now wanted to kill Neeko, but in each case he’d failed.
Why are some people able to achieve all their dreams and rise up to a station of greatness and respect so easily, while he has had to scrape and pick and toil for so many spectacular failures? The injustice of it all seemed cruel and unfair. He wondered when he’d gotten off track. What had happened to make it all go so wrong and block him from getting what he deserved? Surely he wasn’t meant to clean up after a baby and follow some selfish miscreant up and down every hill in the land.
“How do we even know he’s still in there? His body, I mean, when was the last time you saw it? I’m starting to think he is the light. And if he is, you’ll never find a way to stop him using your power,” he responded to Gloria.
“I’ve got to believe, OK? I need something to go on, because I can’t put up with this any longer. So I’m going to go up there and set a trap for him. If it doesn’t work and he passes right through it, then he’ll have to show me how dangerous light is because I’m going in there myself.”
She spat at him as she spoke, making it impossible for Jeremy to doubt her. He felt things were coming to a breaking point too, and he’d much prefer Neeko bear the brunt of it than himself. A cloud of flies trailed a ways off behind him. Without them, all he had were his fists. But with them, he would take control if a moment of uncertainty presented itself. One can only fail so many times before the streak comes to an end.
“Go along then, and try to find a narrow spot where he’ll be more likely to step. We’ve only got one shot at this, then we’ll have to deal with him directly,” he said.
“There won’t be any mistakes. This is the only thing I’m good at,” she whispered over her shoulder to him. Even the distance of just a few steps hid Gloria within the crushing light. She was gone, and now all he could do was slog through the gravel and wait for their companion to die.
The ball of light in front of Mira and her friends reminded her of a star fallen from the sky. They traversed the plateau after scaling its steep side somewhere along the middle. Undoubtedly, they were gaining on Neeko, and it wouldn’t be long at all until they caught them. Nerves started to bubble up in the form of furrowed brows and irrelevant chatter. Clara walked amongst them, and together the two sisters brought each other up to date.
“That’s when this fella named Fortst blasted Arent right in the nick of time. Knocked him clear into a stream, and that’s the last we heard of him. He ain’t been troubling you none, has he?” Clara said, finishing her account.
Hearing the name of their old teacher proved the perfect distraction, and everyone gawked at the strutting warrior girl over the news.
“She’s really sure it’s him? I can’t believe it!” Will shouted, a huge smile stretching across his face. “It’s almost enough to make me forget what a terrible teacher he was.”
“He was a good role model, if he wasn’t the best teacher,” Aoi added. “At least we knew he was always looking out for us.”
“And it seems like even now he’s come to our rescue. What I wouldn’t give to have him by our side. He’d show Neeko his boot and we’d have the carafe back before…” Vern trailed off.
“Before you finished doing your hair?” Mary teased him.
“I was trying to come up with something better than ‘before the sun set’, but that’s all I got,” Vern grinned.
Mira too was excited to hear about Fortst’s triumphant return. It boosted her confidence more than she could measure. Even if he’d been reserved about it, she’d always had a feeling he believed in her even when no one else did.
“At least I’ll be able to sleep soundly knowing he’s with you,” Mira explained to Clara. “But to answer your question, no, we haven’t seen a sign of Arent since we fell into the cave. I don’t see how he’d be able to track us unless he crossed our path. You haven’t seen Goober, have you?”
“You mean that pudgy runt? Not a wink,” Clara replied. Mira pursed her lips. That was one variable still unaccounted for. And after what the twins said, she feared him most of all.
“He’s still out here somewhere, and the only way we won’t have to worry about him is if we get Knoll and the carafe back. So let’s hurry it up!” Mira crowed.
But her encouragement to pick up the pace and close the remaining gap did little to quell fears about what they’d do once they finally caught up to Neeko. Vern walked next to Mira, and she knew he would press her on it as soon as he opened his mouth.
“Neeko is never going to voluntarily let go of it. Plus Gloria and Jeremy won’t allow us to even get near him. So what are we going to do?” he asked.
Mira shook her head, knowing how hard it was to accomplish what she needed to do with how she wanted to do it.
“Please, Vern. We’ve got to stop thinking of them as our enemies. They are people, like we are, struggling to make good choices out of bad options. Yes, we should defend ourselves if they attack, but maybe we can work things out if we’re just there for them,” she proposed.
“You know them, Mira. They don’t care about anyone but themselves,” he rebutted.
“I know they’ve been traveling with no supplies for a long, long time. We could share some of ours. They’re probably desperate for any kind of food they don’t have to scrape off a rock. And Knoll. They don’t know the first thing about taking care of a baby. They’re just kids.”
“And what are we?” Vern asked.
“We’re the only other people out here for miles and miles. Will they really drive us away? Are they really going to kill us if we offer them food?” Mira returned.
Vern peeked over his shoulder at the pack on his back. It wasn’t nearly as full as it had been when they set out.
“We don’t have hardly a thing to give,” he said. “So I hope we don’t end up even worse off than when we started.”
“Me too,” Mira replied, looking up to him pensively, “believe me.”
On the other side of Neeko’s light, Gloria stood in the middle of a long, downward slope. Squeezing her hands and stretching her fingers, she spilled the toxins that flowed never-endingly from her fingers and created a puddle on a rare stretch of solid stone jutting out from the chunky sheets of plate-like rock. The light intensified, and she anxiously pulled down on her forearms to wring out more fluid. It collected in a bright green pool and stretched out along the length of the stone, dripping over the edge here and there.
Taking a quick glance over her shoulder, Gloria beheld the northern end of the mountain chain. There were trees below, but beyond that a flat, empty expanse, devoid even of grass, sprawled toward the horizon. Light irritated her eyes, making her turn back and squint to refocus. The epicenter of the walking star traveled dire
ctly toward her. If Neeko touched her swelling pool, it would eat the life out of him.
Pressured by his approach, Gloria abandoned her pool and climbed around to the side. Perched on a slanted stone plate, she had the perfect vantage point of her trap. The blinding light continued on, and Jeremy and Knoll followed from somewhere behind. It became too bright to see, the whiteness even covering the green pool. Gloria craned her ear, but no outburst or cry resounded.
Seconds ticked away, and the varying intensity of the light signaled its progressive movement. Gloria shielded her eyes and looked in the direction of the trap, finally jumping down from the tip of the rock to get closer. He had to be right on top of it. She waited for that first sound, the painful squealing dissolving into inarticulate cries. When there was a sound, it sent an excited tingle through her body, but her comprehension brought a sensation of pain.
“How stupid do you think I am?” Neeko laughed from within the light.
“Do you want an honest answer?” Gloria asked, mocking him yet slowly recoiling away.
“I’ve heard everything you’ve said, and it proves how incompetent and worthless you are. You have no idea who you’re dealing with. I’ve become invincible!”
His words, deeper and more menacing, rang through the light, coupling with it bizarrely. She could see them coming at her in waves, and they hit her in the face like a slap.
“It was all Gloria’s idea!” Jeremy shouted. “I had nothing to do with it!”
“You’re a liar!” she screamed back in his direction. Neeko continued to laugh.
“It makes no difference who did what. I quickly realized I don’t need you around, and so soon you won’t be!”
Lost for how to defend herself and bewildered about what method of attack he might employ, Gloria stumbled and struggled down the slope, trying to get away. She’d only managed to descend a few of the mangled stone shelves before she caught sight of something climbing up toward them from below. Freezing, she shielded her eyes and tried to figure out what it was.
Crawling and scampering on all fours, it looked like a bear cub, except it was much too clumsy. It kept slipping, losing control, and crashing against the stone. Nothing deterred it though, and it happily scaled the tilted sheets, spilling over the edges onto the one above.
“It’s a boy,” she spoke involuntarily. Nearly naked, his tanned skin was covered in grit, only getting worse as he groped and squirmed up the rock. When he reached the tip of another thick stone slab, it suddenly snapped in half and shattered, leaving him tumbling on the ground.
“What?” Jeremy hollered, alarmed.
Goober approached them, undaunted by the light. Gloria could hear him breathing and whimpering, much like a panting dog, until Neeko’s laughter drowned it out.
“Mira was so afraid of you, but you’re just an ant compared to me!” Neeko boomed.
But his laughing quickly came to an end. The rocks below their feet started to shift and disintegrate. Thrown off balance, Gloria and Jeremy collapsed onto their sides. In an instant, the blinding light vanished, and in its place appeared Neeko, scrambling desperately on his stomach for the clattering shard of the diamond carafe. He looked exactly as he always had, pale and stringy, and a huff accompanied each effort to snatch his lost possession.
Abandoning Knoll, Jeremy leapt downward in an attempt to vie for it. Neeko dove on top of the shiny cylinder, gritting his teeth at Jeremy, who crashed against his shoulder when the rock crumbled.
Gloria fought the impulse to join them, though it ripped her insides apart to do so. Instead, she watched Goober scramble forward, homing in directly on Neeko and the carafe. He crept right up to her toxic pool, seemingly oblivious of it. Crawling up a stone spike leading over it, he slipped near the top and tumbled over the edge. But from the time he fell to the moment he landed, cracks eviscerated the stone, draining away all of her toxins.
“Ugh,” Gloria moaned.
Unable to get there himself, Jeremy had sent a swarm of ravenous insects after Neeko. Goober pointed at them, and the first wave of flies fell apart into dusty, black specks drifting onto to the ground.
“No, no, no!” Jeremy squealed, recalling what few winged soldiers remained.
By now Neeko’s attention was fixed entirely on Goober, who lurched menacingly just yards away. Though Neeko appeared to be in tears, straining his face for the effort, Goober seemed tickled, playful even. His big round belly shook, his tongue hung over his lip, and his eyes gazed unflinchingly at the carafe.
“Stay away!” Neeko howled.
Aoi was the first to notice when the light disappeared. She dropped her bag and bolted forward, racing around the small outcropping that separated them from their targets. Barely a whisper passed between the others, the meaning all too clear, and soon they were all running, leaping from stone slab to chunky boulder, wary of the cliff not too far to their left.
Launching herself forward, Aoi landed on a tilted plate, snapping it in half and falling to the ground. In a second, Mira was there to help her up.
“Was that you?” Mira asked.
“I don’t know,” Aoi responded, and they were on their way again.
Peeling around the outcropping, the sound of shouting and cracking stone caught their ears. The commotion around the corner made them abandon all caution. Desperate, they hastened forward scaling rocks, jumping, and running as fast as they could. What had happened?
The immediacy of it pushed them around the final bend, and they stopped dead at the top of the slope where Knoll floundered at their feet.
“I’ll take care of him,” Chucky said to Mira, scooping the young child up and whisking him back to safety.
Below, Jeremy was held down by a rock. Gloria raised her hands defensively some distance to the left near the cliff. Everyone in the group gasped in shock and horror when they saw Goober crawling closer to Neeko, who lied helplessly face down on the gravel.
“He can’t touch it!” Mira screamed, causing Jeremy and Gloria to jerk back to her group. Neeko was much too busy shouting at Goober, but the boy relentlessly inched closer, his eyes fixed upon him. His stubby arm reached for Neeko, aiming straight through his chest for the carafe hidden underneath. A defensive rage came to the pale boy, who stared through bloodshot eyes, shrieking.
“It belongs to me!” Neeko snarled, slinging his arm out at the boy.
Reaching back, he jerked his hand forward to push Goober away. When he connected, his fingers turned black like charcoal, disintegrating into dust. Death’s unmistakable malignant force raced to his wrist, elbow, and shoulder. He could barely emit a terrified groan before it consumed his entire body, which became nothing more than soot and ash.
“Neeko!” Jeremy shouted amidst the uproar of shocked gasps rifling among the witnesses. But Neeko was gone, and the suddenness of it took their breath away and brought tears to their eyes. After all, any one of them could be next.
Goober appeared undisturbed by the crumbling cadaver falling apart beside him. His eyes remained on the diamond carafe peeking out from underneath. Feeling forward with his wiggling fingers, he reached out to take control of its incredible power.
While the others were still stunned, only Vern had presence of mind enough to act. Extending his hand, he called for the carafe, which instantly eluded Goober’s grasp and fell up and through Neeko’s ashen remains, scattering them into a pile of dust. Visibly perturbed for the first time, Goober watched the shiny cylinder float toward Vern.
“It’s inevitable. You can’t fight it,” he squeaked.
The ground rocked underneath Vern and those near him, sending them spilling onto the shifting stone plates. Vern lost his control over the carafe, which dropped to the ground and skittered against the rock. Jeremy broke from the crumbling stone and rushed after the fallen jewel. And Gloria raced up from further down the hillside. Mira and Roselyn tried to get it first, maneuvering around the chaotic and turbulent slabs.
Roselyn eked out a lead over Mira, who
gave up the chase and instead started hurling rocks at Gloria and Jeremy. A few wasps flew around Roselyn’s head, dive-bombing her and aiming for sensitive areas like her eyes and ears. She swatted at them as she clamored over a sharp plate.
The carafe sat on the ground below her, where Jeremy feverishly attempted to climb up to. He had his arm outstretched just inches away from it when Roselyn jumped down and stomped on his hand. Howling in pain, Jeremy rolled onto his feet and charged at Roselyn as she bent down to grab it. He drilled her back into a shelf protruding from the ground.
“Roselyn!” Will yelled, trying to get to her though he could barely keep on his feet. A crevasse opened up in the middle of the slope, leaving Mary and Vern stuck on the opposite side. Mira’s next throw struck Gloria’s hip, knocking her against the ground.
Knowing their most dangerous enemy freely scampered toward them, Aoi ripped a massive boulder from the ground and sent it flying down at Goober. He raised his head to glimpse the stone, causing it to immediately crumble in mid-air until the harmless fragments pelted him. In return, the section of earth under Aoi slid into the widening fissure, making her leap for the new edge, catching it before she fell.
Roselyn pushed Jeremy away as a wasp stung her on the temple. She reeled to the side, her hand on her head. Turning for the carafe, Jeremy lunged forward to snatch it, but Will stomped on the cracked stone above, breaking it and sending it crashing down on top of him. Will tumbled over Jeremy, who struggled to reach back for the carafe.
When Roselyn’s hands closed around the carafe, everyone present suddenly felt the pain of her injuries. Each and every one of them cried out and writhed as though they’d just been slammed in the back and stung in the temple. This made it even more difficult for Aoi to climb from her ledge, and Mira lost her footing and fell to the ground.
“Oh, what have I done?”
“It’s your power, Roselyn,” Will gawked. “Your feelings and thoughts!”
