Elpis

by Aaron McGowan

  “They weren’t by Terico,” Lanek said, “and I believe Augurc had little energy left at that point. Terico’s associates all fought him, and he probably wouldn’t have been able to fight any longer.”

  “He is probably experimenting on the Elpis as we speak,” Rilv said. “We will have to retrieve the fragments from him as soon as we ascertain his current location.”

  “Does he want the same things his brother wanted?” Lanek asked.

  “Possibly,” Rilv said. “Augurc’s greatest concern has been with his experiments, with creating the perfect army. Now that his brother is out of the picture, there is no telling how Augurc will choose to use that army.”

  Lanek sighed. “And what of Terico’s associates? Kitoh, Areo, and Borely?”

  “Kitoh has returned to Vursa with his parents,” Rilv said. “He lost an eye and suffered a few other bad wounds, but he will live. There is still no word on Areo—she is likely still being held captive by the Brotherhood. What Augurc intends to do with her, I can not imagine. As for Borely, it seems he has left with the vampires who came from Istal. What business he has with them, I do not know.”

  Lanek let all this information sift through his mind a bit before he nodded. “Sounds like everyone is worse off.”

  “Misfortune always accompanies a battle,” Rilv said. “In the end, Delkol was defeated, and the city suffered no civilian casualties. War has been averted, potentially saving thousands of lives. This is about the best one could hope for.”

  “I suppose,” Lanek said.

  Perhaps in the end, in the great scheme of things, things had worked out quite favorably. But how could he go on with his life like this? Every day felt hollow... empty.

  It was going to be a struggle to get up each day. To keep working on this airship. To go to sleep every night.

  It was always going to be a struggle, Lanek realized.

  Lanek stared up at the full moon, unable to sleep. After gazing at it for some time, he tinkered some more with a few airship parts. He didn’t get much of anything done. It was just to fill the time. He couldn’t sleep, and there was nothing that could satisfy him anymore. Minutes passed. Hours passed. It was all the same to Lanek now.

  He sat down on the ground and focused on the cool, soft breeze. He stared out at the fields, which not so long ago had been covered in blood, craters, weapons, and corpses. Beneath the soft glow of the moon, everything looked pristine once more.

  There were footsteps. Light, gentle footsteps, barely discernible beneath the soothing wind.

  Lanek squinted toward a faint glow in the distance, and his eyes slowly adjusted to the small, white lights. Two figures. A boy and a girl.

  Terico and Suran.

  They walked through the field, hand in hand. Lanek smiled, and his heart suddenly felt a little lighter. And yet at the same time... a little less empty.

  Lanek blinked, and they were gone. How long the spirits of Terico and Suran lingered, Lanek couldn’t be certain. But he continued to gaze out across the field all through the night, thankful that these treasured souls had at last found peace.

  The End.

  The Potential for Unlimited Power is Revealed...

  In a world where magical abilities are utilized through the Nexi Stones, there is one stone that stands high above the rest, shrouded in myth and mystery—the Elpis. Broken into four fragments centuries in the past, the Elpis waits to be pieced back together, and to grant its user godlike powers that could reshape the world forever.

  Raised in a quiet town, Terico would much rather be traveling the world and fighting monsters than working at his parents’ shop and dealing with school. His life ambitions change dramatically, however, when his village is attacked and everything he holds dear is taken away from him. Delkol, leader of the feared Brotherhood and ruler of the aggressive Shire Kingdom, seeks the pieces of the Elpis, and is willing to burn Terico’s village to the ground in order to find one.

  When the terror has passed and Terico stands at the greatest crossroads in his life, there is only one thing on his mind—one goal that encompasses his very existence. Revenge.