by Kate Sander
"I am a God to them," Ujarak said gruffly. "A concept that is new to me. The Melanthios do not have Gods. We do not think about those things. We live and die and go to the spirit world. That is all. The term had to be explained to me when I woke here."
The villager ran in with two filled tankards of wine. Ujarak nodded to him and he all but ran away.
"Must be nice," Senka said, drinking deeply.
"It is not," Ujarak said. "I do not like the concept of an all knowing, omniscient being, but they will not accept any other reasoning."
"The Melanthios had the Shaman," Senka countered.
"The Shaman was the connection to the spirit world," Ujarak said.
"Tory always thought he was a scam."
"I believe she would think differently now."
Senka looked at him questioningly.
"That is a story for another time," Ujarak said. "You asked where we are. We are in a country called Nerane'I. It is much larger than Langundo, though the people are more primitive. It is surrounded by large oceans and has a thick jungle in between."
"You don't have to tell me about the jungle," Senka said. "I know plenty about the jungle."
Ujarak didn't smile. "And you asked me how I came here. That is less clear, even to me. I woke here. They pulled me out of the ocean a few weeks ago."
"You just went to sleep and woke up here?"
Senka thought she saw the corner of his lip turn up, but she wasn't sure. "No. I went east of Carabesh. I went over the end of the world in a ship. I ended up here."
"Okay maybe you should start before the beginning," Senka said. The wine was starting to make her head woozy and she drank more, glad of the reprieve. "Why were you in Carabesh? Start from when I left."
Ujarak nodded. "You died, leaving Tory broken. She was the General in charge of the war and she took your loss... especially hard."
A wave of guilt wracked Senka. She'd barely thought of those she'd left behind after she'd woken, other than Jules. Quite selfish, really, to never think of how her death would affect them. She hadn't died, but there was no way for them to know that.
"Who is alive?" Senka asked. "What happened after I died?"
"Jules lived through his injuries," Ujarak said.
"He lived?" Relief and guilt rushed through her. “That’s impossible. He took a knife to the chest, Ujarak.”
“I know, but …“
“A knife to the fucking chest.” She spun the ring on her hand aggressively. Moved on. She’d moved on. Jules had loved her. She’d loved Jules. But he was dead. If he wasn’t dead, what did that make her? What kind of a betrayer was she?
“He lived,” Ujarak said calmly. “You both thought each other had died, Senka. I think he will understand.”
Nodding, but still spinning her ring, she said, “So he lived.”
"As did I, Tory and Eli. You were the only one of our group who died in the war, taking the false king with you."
Senka shuddered at the memory.
Dying sucked.
"What about Tory?"
"The Shaman sent her north to find her father. I went east. There was a revolt brewing by the Melanthios and the soldiers who defected from the Sun Gods. The man who took the throne, the Black King, the Mad King, King Sebastian the First, ran the country into the ground. He was ruthless, killing and torturing everyone, even his faithful.”
Ujarak sighed and rubbed his face.
“Whole towns, Senka. Children. Elderly, everyone.”
“Sounds like the Sun Gods,” Senka muttered. “Watched them kill a whole bunch of kids.”
“This was so much worse,” Ujarak urged. “Add the raping and killings to the drought and the famine,” he shrugged. “It was chaos. So many people died. So many lives ruined. Without Tory, I was lost. I joined up with the Revolt. A group started by Jules and his buddy Vick.”
The name rang a bell to Senka, but she couldn’t place it. Still shocked that Jules was alive, she didn’t even try to place the name.
“I went to Carabesh to find Prince Sol and bring him back to Langundo,” Ujarak said. “I failed, but managed to give Sol an edge in the government. I went to prison, and then..." he faltered.
Senka had been leaning forward, desperate for information about Langundo.
"And then what?"
"I'm not sure if you'll believe me."
"That Melanthios ghost came to visit you too, eh?" Senka said.
Surprised, Ujarak faltered. "She visited you as well?"
"I thought I was hallucinating," Senka mumbled, lost in thought. "I was dying. This Melanthios woman came to me, told me to take some pills that would send me here and to "die angry". She said Tory sent her..."
"She told me to go east, over the end of the world. She told me that Tory sent her. She disappeared, I listened."
"There's nothing east of Carabesh," Senka scoffed. "Everyone knows that."
Ujarak smiled to himself. "Well everyone is wrong. She helped me escape from prison. It didn't take me long to meet Captain Jimmy Spring. The crazy son of a bitch who would help me in that quest."
"You went east?"
Ujarak nodded, a glint in his eye. "I went east."
"The silent benefactor graces us with his presence," Captain Jimmy Spring, named for his ability to jimmy a lock and the spring in his step as he left you broke behind him. "Managed to pull yourself out of your chambers, did you?"
The ship rocked on a wave and Ujarak had to turn and vomit over the side railing.
Captain Jimmy Spring laughed and patted him on the back, causing Ujarak to cough.
"You'll get used to it," he said. "Or you won't. But we will be dead soon enough so it shouldn't be much of a problem."
"Why would you come?" Ujarak blurted out. It seemed dangerous to talk and his stomach turned in the waves. "If it was a suicide mission." Ujarak closed his mouth quickly to stop any more vomit from escaping.
"Ah, the adventure, lad!" Captain Jimmy Spring said with a smile. The crew stepped lightly around their captain and worked efficiently. Captain Jimmy Spring might be happy and carefree, but he had the reputation of making a sailor walk the plank at any sign of disobedience. "Seems to me that no one has ever sailed this far east. Can you imagine the spoils? The treasure?" with a wink. "The women?"
Ujarak would love to imagine the treasure, but his stomach heaved with the waves. "I thought you said this would go away in a few days."
"It usually does, lad," Captain Jimmy Spring said. "We are well beyond the farthest anyone has sailed. I've never seen someone hold on to the sickness as long as you."
Ujarak wanted to respond, but instead, he had to vomit over the side of the ship. Captain Jimmy Spring laughed.
"Captain!" The sailor in the crow's nest yelled in her shrill voice. "We are coming up on something!"
The Captain smiled, "It seems an adventure has caught up to us." He winked at Ujarak, whose nausea seemed to be worsening. "What do you see?" he yelled at the sailor.
She had a spyglass to her eye. "The sea... It ends, captain. Just sky."
"Pull down the sails," the captain yelled. The sailors immediately began attending to their duties. "Is there any way around it?"
The lookout took her time, scanning the horizon. Captain Jimmy Spring waited patiently. "No," she called. Her voice wavered a touch. "No, sir. The sea ends in a haze. I can't tell if there's anything beyond. Only sky, as far as the eye can see."
"We're picking up speed, sir," the first mate yelled from the wheel.
"I told you to tear down the sail!" the captain snapped, tearing his eyes away from the horizon. The sails were tied to the mast. The ship was, indeed, picking up speed. It was being sucked by a current towards the end of the sea.
The Captain smiled. "Raise the sails! Point it directly ahead. Men, this is what we signed up for. We will meet this adventure head on!"
With the sails raised, the ship barrelled straight ahead towards...
"Nothing," Ujarak gasped. "Captain! Turn
it around! There's nothing there!"
"Bravery, my dear boy, bravery," the captain said, slapping Ujarak on the shoulder. "We couldn't turn this ship around if we tried. We are trapped in the current. Our only hope is to gather as much speed as we can and meet this unknown head on."
"Grab on to something!" the sailor in the crow’s nest called.
The men and women on the ship, faces white, but trusting their captain, grabbed on to the nearest part of the boat.
The sky rushed at them, the vast emptiness more terrifying than any monster, human or otherwise.
The captain skipped to the wheel, relieving the first mate. "It's been an honour serving with you all!" he cried.
Ujarak grabbed the side of the ship. Why, Tory? Why did you send me all the way out here just to die? He closed his eyes and thought of his Tory, his woman, his love.
The ship tilted forward and fell over the edge of the earth.
"The last thing I heard was the Captain hollering something. Then I woke up here," Ujarak said, gesturing around him. It was dark and they'd moved outside to a fire that the villagers had lit for them. They hung back respectfully, eyes averted. "They tell me I was on a piece of driftwood, floating in the middle of the sea. A small fishing boat found me."
Senka was sitting silently, staring at the flickering of the fire.
Ujarak ended his story and slipped back into his familiar and preferred state - silence. A young man, probably in his early twenties, seemed to decide something and ran up to Ujarak. Gasps followed him and his mother called out quietly. The man bowed at Ujarak and started babbling in a language Senka didn't understand.
"I'm sorry," another man, this one older, said. He kept his eyes averted from Ujarak. "He should not have interrupted. He will be punished."
Ujarak held up his hand. "What did he want to tell me?"
The older man snapped the younger man a silencing look. "Tuk wanted to tell you of the last Gods to enter Nerane'I."
"Other Gods?" Senka said.
"Yes. This is a legend of our people. Only the great Ujarak is a God, the others are only legends. Tuk thought you should know but it's not his place to interrupt."
"What is your name?" Ujarak asked.
"Po," the man said.
"Po, tell me about these other Gods."
"Three Zoya were found over a hundred years ago. The elders tell the story. They were cruel and unjust Gods. Not like our Ujarak. No, they ruled and commanded with iron fists, killing and torturing. They demanded conformity, and destroyed anyone who disobeyed. But only legends, not real."
"What were their names?" Senka asked. She had a nagging feeling.
"I cannot speak them. Bad omens."
"But they are only legends," Senka responded. "If it wasn't real why are you afraid?"
Ujarak held up his hand. "I am telling you to speak their names," he said.
Po took a deep breath and glared at Tuk, who was averting his eyes in embarrassment. "The white witch Malin, the mind wielder Roald, and..." He drifted off. "The titan of worlds, Freudman."
Senka jumped up, "How long ago did you say this was?"
"Generations," the man mumbled. "Before my grandfather's time."
"That's impossible," she snapped. She grabbed the front of his shirt and he all but melted in fear before her. "When exactly was this?"
"I don't know!" he sobbed.
"Senka..."
Senka shook him, "I asked you when this was!" Po's head flopped around and his feet left the ground.
A rough hand on her shoulder stopped her from killing him. “Senka,” Ujarak said calmly next to her, “I need you to calm down. Put him down.”
Senka seemed to gather herself. She dropped Po. He scrambled away to the villagers, who helped him stand and brushed him off. Embarrassed, Senka turned away from them.
"I'm sorry," she said. Annoyed by his sobs from behind her, she snapped. "Oh suck it up, I barely touched you."
Ujarak stared at her, confusion on his face. "What happened to you?" he asked.
A howl of pain erupted from the edge of the woods. Senka abruptly turned around. The villagers started wailing and rushed to their huts.
"Bad omens! Bad omens!" Po called as he ran.
The howl sounded again, wretched and shrieking. Senka's heart sank.
"Kai," she gasped.
She ran towards the sound, leaving Ujarak standing alone and utterly confused.
6
Senka
Senka ran as fast as she could, leaving everyone in the village confused. Ujarak barked orders to the fleeing villagers behind her but she neither stopped to listen nor did she care.
Kai's scream of pain erupted again from the top of the cliffs in front of her. So loud she was able to hear it clearly over the thundering of the waterfall.
"I'm coming!" she yelled as loudly as she could, hoping her voice would reach him. "Hang in there, Kai, I'm coming!"
She scrambled up the slippery, rocky path, self-preservation completely out the window. Closer to the top of the cliff, she heard the scuffles and snarls of a raging battle.
"Kai!" she yelled and, with a bounding leap, crested the top of the cliff.
Skidding to a stop, she took in the bloody scene. Kai was locked in battle with what looked like a giant wasp. It darted in the air above him, wingspan easily over eight feet long. Its foot long stinger jabbed down at Kai's back and he barely was able to get out of the way. Kai's injured shoulder was slowing him down, and he snarled and batted weakly at the wasp.
Senka looked around in a panic. In her hurry to respond to the desperate call of her friend, she’d forgotten to bring a weapon. A rock the size of her palm stood out to her. She picked it up and heaved it at the wasp, following the rock as fast as she could. The rock missed the target, because why wouldn't it, she thought as she launched herself at the wasp, who wasn't as distracted as she needed it to be. It dodged her easily and she landed in a roll, coming to a skidding stop on her back against Kai’s shaking legs.
"Hey buddy," she said, gasping. "You alright?"
Kai collapsed next to her and licked her hand weakly.
"I'm going to get you out of here, don't worry."
The wasp darted in for another attack. Kai was fading. Senka knew she had to kill this thing fast. It darted towards her, stinger extended, pincers snapping at the air.
Senka only had one chance. Leaping as high as she could (a considerable height with her speed and strength), she jumped up to meet the wasp. Surprised at her bravado, the wasp pulled up its head a little bit. Banking on that reaction, Senka reached forward and grabbed the giant pincers. They were slimy and sticky in her hands but, gritting her teeth, she managed to keep hold.
The wasp let out an odd buzz. Senka held on to the pincers and pulled the wasp with her to the ground.
With a guttural "umph", she landed on her feet and flipped the wasp over her head, smashing it on the ground in front of her. The stinger grazed the top of her head but didn't break the skin. Stunned and on its back, the wasp tried to flip itself over with a buzz of its wings.
"Not likely," Senka said as she lifted up her foot and stomped as hard as she could on the wasp's head. Bright green brains exploded over her foot as her leg sank to her knee into its head. The wasp gave a final twitch and died.
"Ugh," she mumbled. Her foot was stuck in the brains of the wasp. Moving her leg side to side, she managed to break the suction and free her leg from the foul smelling, green goo.
"Kai," she said and she ran to her downed panther. "My boy, what happened to you?"
Kai was lying on his side, breathing heavily. The wound from the Azreal was still open on his shoulder and was emitting a white pus. There were tiny cuts all over his body. Senka ran her hands all over him and confirmed that, thankfully, there were no stings.
His eyes opened and Senka gave him a hug around his neck. "I got you, Kai. I'll get you to help." He licked her hand gently, love and pain coming from the eyes of the four hundred pound cat
.
A low buzz hit her ears, coming from the forest a few hundred yards away.
"Senka!"
Ujarak crested the cliff. He was carrying his warhammer and puffing from the climb. Leather wrapped his forearms and his long hair was tied back away from his face.
This was the Ujarak that Senka remembered. Hardened and battle ready.
Jogging to them easily, his eyes went wide when he saw Kai and stopped a few feet away from the panther. Kai lifted his head painfully and growled at him.
"Shush," Senka said. "He's a friend, rest while you can." The big cat’s head fell back to the ground.
"Friend of yours?" Ujarak asked.
"The best," Senka said.
The low buzz was becoming louder, Senka could feel the ground start to shake under her feet. They both turned at the same time.
A swarm of giant wasps emerged from the trees. They flew low, buzzing together, only a foot gap in between their eight foot wing span.
Ujarak squared his shoulders.
"My count is fifty-seven," Senka said.
Ujarak set his warhammer down with a thud and tossed her a couple of things off his belt. Senka caught them gracefully. Two short swords in leather sheaths. She quickly unsheathed them. They were well made with wooden hilts and had good balance.
"Stole them off Po for you," he said.
Senka smiled wide. This was heaven. Side by side with Ujarak fighting against overwhelming odds.
This felt like home.
"Nice to be here with you," she said.
Ujarak grunted his agreement.
With a yell that made the birds fly from the treetops, Ujarak and Senka charged the swarm head on. Spinning the swords in her hands to get the feeling of their weight, Senka easily outpaced the massive Ujarak and leapt gracefully towards the leader.
The swords were sharp and easily cut the head off from the wasp. It fell to the ground with a thud. The wings kept buzzing awkwardly and kept the body flying for a few seconds until they slowed to a stop. The body slanted to the side and crashed to the ground in a puff of dirt.
"One down," Senka mumbled as the rest made a direct line for her. Ujarak roared something as he caught up and ran by, smashing his hammer into the nearest wasp's head, sending a fountain of bright green brains into the air.
