“What does the teal one do?” he asked.
Areo tossed the stone to Terico, who was too weak to catch it in the air. It bounced off his shoulder and landed on the mattress, near his right hand.
“Oh, you’re still recovering,” Areo said. “Are you going to be okay?”
“I’m doing better,” Terico said. “I’m just very sore, and very tired. And I have a bad headache. It will go away eventually... But right now I need to figure out how we’re going to find the remaining Elpis fragments. If this teal Nexi will help us, I’m going to use it.”
He picked it up and slowly raised it in front of himself. Areo and Borely both got up to get out of the way, just in case the stone released something dangerous.
“Are you sure you should try it?” Borely asked. “I mean, we’re all recovering from the fight down in the council room, and you shouldn’t drain yourself even further.”
“I don’t feel so drained,” Terico said. “Beaten up and weakened, yes. But the Elpis gave me the energy I needed to wield Nexi power. I need to find out what Jujor’s Nexi does. He never used it around me, but it must have some purpose if he always had it with him.”
He activated the power of the Nexi, causing it to glow a little brighter. Nothing came out of the stone, and Terico didn’t feel his body affected in any way.
“Is anything happening?” Borely asked.
“No,” Terico said. He tried accessing the Nexi’s power again, but still nothing seemed to happen.
“One moment,” came a woman’s voice. Terico looked around, but there wasn’t anyone nearby, other than Areo, Borely, and Kitoh. And that wasn’t Areo’s voice. It sounded a bit older—though the person it belonged to probably wasn’t older, of course.
“Who said that?” Borely asked. He and Areo were glancing around as well.
“I don’t know,” Terico said.
“Okay. What is your status, Jujor?” the woman asked.
The voice was so close, but there was nobody there. Terico looked at the teal Nexi and wondered if somehow he had summoned a spirit that was speaking to him. The spirit had mistaken him for Jujor, it seemed.
“I’m not Jujor,” Terico said. “I’m Terico... But who is this? Are you a spirit?”
There was no response for ten, twenty seconds, and for a moment Terico worried the spirit left. If she had some connection with Jujor, Terico intended to figure it out.
“Where is Jujor?” the woman asked, her voice consistently terse and to-the-point.
Terico wasn’t sure where to speak to, so he simply spoke out to the empty air in front of where he sat. “He has been killed, I’m afraid... How do you know Jujor?”
“He is dead...” the woman said, a hint of sadness in her voice. She didn’t say anything more.
“He died fighting an aide of the Brotherhood,” Terico said. “An eigni who worked with Delkol Shire.”
“You are still in Vursa.” The woman’s tone made it more like a statement than a question.
“We are,” Terico said. “But I still don’t know who you are, or even what you are... I’m Terico Obisious, and I’ve been traveling with Jujor in order to find the pieces of the Elpis stone, in the hopes of bringing down Delkol and the Brotherhood.” Terico decided it didn’t matter at this point if Borely and Kitoh knew the truth about his objectives, considering how they had witnessed the power of the Elpis firsthand.
“I know all about you, Terico,” the voice said. “Jujor has kept me well-informed for years now.”
“For years?” Terico asked.
“Allow me to explain,” the woman said. “My name is Rilv. I am the head servant of the Fiefs royal court, and commander of the kingdom generals. Jujor was an operative of the royal court who reported directly to me. We corresponded through the use of teal Nexi stones. The teal Nexi is very rare, and the connection between each of them is strong enough to send one’s voice from one stone to another. I am currently in the royal castle of Setar.”
“So you’re not a spirit,” Terico said. “And you’re in Setar?” It was incredulous, the very notion of speaking with someone all the way in Setar, the capital of Fiefs Kingdom. Of course, the Nexi made the impossible a reality—but Terico had never heard of a power like this before. It really sounded as if this woman, Rilv, was right there speaking with him.
“Yes,” she said. “I relay pertinent information to the king when needs be, but I am generally left to discern on my own what actions need to be taken to ensure the safety of the kingdom.”
“Why was Jujor watching over me?” Terico asked. “Why would I be important to the kingdom?”
“At first Jujor was primarily assigned to keep in touch with your father,” Rilv said. “Your father was stationed in Edellerston for the purpose of making sure nobody would ever locate the Elpis fragment below ground.”
“My father worked for the royal court?”
“Not officially. But it was in our interests to always be aware of his location. He was one of the few in the world capable of accessing the power of the Elpis. And as his son, you are also one of those few. In recent months, the ruling brothers of the Shire Kingdom have been seeking the Elpis fragments, and it has been important for the court to take effort in keeping the Shires from obtaining them.”
It was all so much for Terico to take in all at once, but one question jumped to his mind. “If you knew all this... why was it Delkol and his men were able to march straight to our village and destroy it? If you knew all about the Elpis piece there, why didn’t the Fiefs army help protect it?”
“We did not believe Delkol knew of the possibility of an Elpis fragment in Emoser Helena,” Rilv said. “And in hindsight, it was a mistake to not station more guards in Edellerston. However, we did not wish to draw attention to the village. On top of this, our country’s armed forces have had to deal with many hit-and-run attacks staged by the Brotherhood in dozens of significant locations. I imagine you would be less familiar than most with the state of our kingdom in recent months, considering how remote of a location Edellerston was situated in.”
Terico didn’t feel any better with how the Fiefs Kingdom had handled the situation with Delkol, but it was true he didn’t have a good understanding of the country’s state of affairs.
“So you know we have an Elpis piece,” Terico said. “Delkol also has one. And now he has a golden Nexi that will lead him to the other two.”
“Time is of the essence then,” Rilv said. “We will need you to come to Setar as soon as possible.”
“Our boat has been destroyed, unfortunately,” Terico said. “All the ships docked here were destroyed.”
“A ship would take too long,” Rilv said. “We will send an airship to pick you up, along with any of your companions who wish to assist.”
An airship! This was precisely the sort of thing Terico wished to hear. “How soon can it arrive?”
“A couple new operatives are currently traveling by airship not far from your location,” Rilv said. “I have the means to speak with them via teal Nexi, and can ask them to pick you up within seven hours.”
“That’s perfect,” Terico said. “What will I do in Setar, exactly?”
“We have an Elpis fragment in our possession,” Rilv said. “It is hidden in an undisclosed location, but can be brought out to you upon your arrival. Once we give you the fragment, our wish for you is to use the power of the Elpis for the sake of killing Delkol Shire. Doing so could prevent a full-scale attack on the capital, which we have reason to believe may ensue within the week.”
“I... have no problem with that,” Terico said. It was a little troubling to think his goal to kill Delkol was precisely what the government wished him to do. In some ways, it felt like his whole life was being orchestrated by outsiders. Terico thought of his father, then of Jujor, then of this unknown woman speaking to him. Everyone was connecting Terico to the royal court—a strange premise when there had never been anything in his life, or in all of Edellerston, that would conce
rn the outside world, let alone the Fiefs governing rulers.
“Good, I expect to meet you by tomorrow evening,” Rilv said. “If there is nothing else, I have several matters of business to attend to.”
“Okay,” Terico said, not sure what else he could add.
The teal Nexi glowed a little dimmer, and the mysterious woman didn’t say anything more. Terico felt his connection with the stone dissipate, and his whole body turned numb for a few seconds. He wasn’t sure if this was an effect of using that particular Nexi, if he was still recovering from the Elpis poisoning, or if his body was just reacting from the shock of so many revelations all at once.
So Jujor worked for the royal court. And father was connected as well. And the kingdom has held an interest in me all this time.
But why? I can use the Elpis, but why?
And now he was going to be ferried by airship to the capital city. Straight to the royal castle. It was... strange. Incredibly strange. Even after all the chaos Terico went through that day, this was still a lot to grasp.
His thoughts turned back to the Elpis. Delkol could be heading straight to the capital in order to get his hands on the Elpis fragment held there. Rilv understood this, of course—but was she prepared to hold off the Brotherhood? Setar had to be the best-defended city in the kingdom, and if the Elpis fragment was in the castle, it should be especially unlikely for Delkol to reach it. But there was no telling what Delkol had planned. The man had a piece of the Elpis himself—perhaps he could just blast apart the castle all on his own, rampaging to his heart’s content.
There was nothing for Terico to do now but wait. The best thing to do would be to rest and recover from the pain his Elpis fragment caused him.
“So we’ll be heading to Setar,” Borely said. “I’ll come along, if just to get back to Fiefs.”
“I’ll come too,” Areo said. “I still wish to help.”
“Thanks,” Terico said. “There’s still a chance we can work this out. But at the very least, it won’t be long before the rest of the Elpis fragments are obtained.”
Kitoh’s parents arrived shortly thereafter, and Kitoh was able to explain the day’s events to them. Terico thought the boy’s parents took everything rather well, and was a bit surprised at how... unsurprised they were when Kitoh detailed how he managed to keep control of his mind while the rest of the city fell prey to Ganto’s power. Or when Kitoh explained how he used a Nexi stone to turn into a giant dragon.
“You have done well,” Kitoh’s father said. He was an eigni about Terico’s height, with wiry black hair and a thin, pointed mustache. He was dressed in robes with thick, multicolored stripes running vertically. He looked to Terico and smiled. “Kitoh has always had a vibrant connection with Nexi energy. Even before he began his schooling, he had better control of Nexi stones than most adults.”
Kitoh’s mother tussled the boy’s thick white hair and took him by the shoulder. “What you did was very brave, Kitoh. We’re so proud of you.” Kitoh’s mother was as short as her husband, but had long, wavy white hair, and wore a long red coat and black trousers.
“It’s thanks to him we were able to find Ganto,” Terico said. “And he likely saved all our lives when he turned into a dragon.”
Kitoh looked to the ground, afraid to make eye contact with anyone. He whispered a thanks, but had a nervous frown on his face.
“Shy lad,” Borely said.
Kitoh’s father nodded. “He’s always been a quiet boy, but... as you might imagine, it is difficult to live a normal life when everyone sees you... the way they see Kitoh.”
Terico could imagine there would be a great weight of responsibility, and an even greater weight of expectations. The fact Kitoh was largely responsible for saving the city would only add to this, Terico realized.
“You’ll probably keep quiet about all this then,” Terico said.
“It’s up to Kitoh,” the boy’s mother said. “It seems nobody is certain about what happened since Ganto took over, so nobody has to know if he doesn’t want anyone to.”
Kitoh didn’t respond, but it was assumed he didn’t want to let the city know of his role in saving everyone. Terico thought it was good of the boy to not seek any praise or reward, but felt a bit bad for him. There would likely come times when his assistance would be readily noticed, and there would only be more expectations and responsibilities for him to deal with. Choosing to not help everyone would lead to disdain and derailment, while choosing to help everyone would put him in constant danger. And all the while eigni of all ages would envy the boy’s power, or seek ways to use Kitoh for their own purposes.
Terico wondered if Kitoh had any friends in this city. It seemed that a child as powerful as Kitoh would be either feared or shunned. And given the boy’s personality, Kitoh would likely just accept the poor treatment, rather than fight against it.
“You are all probably hungry,” Kitoh’s father said. “How about I fix up something for all of you to eat.”
“It sounds like you have a lot ahead of you,” Kitoh’s mother said. “Sorry there’s no room for you all to sleep inside.”
“No need to apologize,” Terico said. “We’re just glad to have somewhere to recover.”
Kitoh’s box-shaped house looked just big enough for perhaps two small rooms, Terico realized. It was fine for him and Areo and Borely to sleep outside, though. This area was secluded, and none of the eigni passing down the road in the distance noticed them there.
While Kitoh and his parents busied themselves inside, Terico remained sitting up, fiddling with the Nexi stones Jujor left behind. It was going to be difficult without Jujor, but it seemed the old man still had a way of helping Terico know where to go next. As long as Rilv was trustworthy, there was hope Terico would be able to obtain the rest of the Elpis.
Areo and Borely both sat on their mattresses in silence, simply thinking to themselves. Terico realized they probably just weren’t going to be able to speak to each other again. It likely wouldn’t be much longer before they parted ways, though Terico did wonder if they’d be able to work together if the situation called for their cooperation. There was a chance everyone would have to fight with the Brotherhood in order to obtain the Elpis piece in Setar.
Kitoh and his parents returned with a plate of food for Terico and another for Borely. Areo explained that she had already eaten, so after a few rounds of reassuring them she wasn’t hungry, Kitoh’s parents relented and let her sit in peace.
The meal was some kind of pinkish soup with chunks of fish and papery brown things floating around in it. Stirring it with his wide white spoon, Terico saw the soup was as thick as a stew, but cold, almost icy. Terico took a bite and nearly threw it back up on reflex.
He gulped it down and took a couple deep breaths. “What is this, exactly?”
“Needlefin salmon, renkun, nephlatipi seaweed, mevarala snapper, and plores,” Kitoh’s mother said. “We knew humans eat these fish, so we thought it would be a safe choice.”
“Any chance we can... have the fish cooked?” Borely asked. “Not to say we don’t like this, or anything.”
“Oh, I heard this once,” Kitoh’s father said. “Humans always cook their food over a fire before eating it. Including fish.”
“Well, we cook fish,” Terico said. “But we don’t cook everything...” The fact the eigni didn’t know such a simple fact seemed difficult to believe, but he realized he didn’t know a lot of basic things about the eigni, either. Kitoh’s parents likely lived in Vursa their entire lives—not so different from how Terico lived in Edellerston his whole life, until recently.
Terico used a red Nexi stone to heat up the fish pieces on some rocks he washed off with a blue Nexi. Once the fish was cooked, he and Borely tried the soup again. The strangely-colored liquid was still difficult to swallow, but the fish had a taste that was a bit unique—a bit juicier than the fish Terico had back at home. But it had a good taste to it.
Once he finished eating, Terico lay back
down on his mattress. The airship would likely arrive in about six hours, so he asked Kitoh’s parents if they could wake him up in five. Kitoh’s parents said they weren’t tired at all for some reason, and agreed to wake Terico, Areo, and Borely up before the airship would arrive. They were glad to help in what small way they could, considering Terico and the others helped restore things as they were to the city at large.
Terico fell asleep quickly, his thoughts drifting from Kitoh and what would be in store for him from now on, and then to Jujor and all the things the old man had given up for Terico over the years.
More and more people were becoming involved in Terico’s quest for revenge, and Jujor’s words on the subject made Terico wonder if all this fighting would truly be worth it in the end.
The road toward vengeance is a bloody one, and often connects to many other bloody roads, Jujor had said.
That’s fine, Terico thought. I will accept the consequences. Turn the road into a sea, and I will dive in if I have to.
Kitoh’s parents woke Terico up just as they said they would. Terico felt far too tired to wake up, and the sight of stars still in the sky only seemed to make him more exhausted. Areo was already up, and Terico wondered if she had even gone to sleep at all. Now that Terico thought about it, he wasn’t sure if Areo even needed to sleep.
Kitoh walked out of the house and joined his parents.
“I guess this is good-bye then,” Terico said. “Thanks for all your help, Kitoh.”
Kitoh looked to the ground and didn’t say anything.
“Is something wrong?” Borely asked.
“We spoke with Kitoh,” the father said, “and we suggested to him that he go with you. Our city has been saved thanks to the three of you, and to your companion who died fighting Ganto. While you go on this quest to stop the Brotherhood, you would greatly benefit from Kitoh’s assistance.”
“Kitoh’s already done more than enough for us,” Terico said. “We couldn’t ask him to go with us. We’ll be traveling a dangerous road...”
Elpis Page 19
