Aster Wood and the Blackburn Son

by J B Cantwell

  I slunk towards it, circling around the army in a wide arc until I came to the place where I could observe the tent unseen. Several muffled cries rose up from beneath the canvas, and my blood ran cold.

  They were inside.

  I hid behind a boulder and watched as a small toddler, probably not on his feet for more than a month or two now, burst from behind a tree, running from the tent in my direction. I crouched further down, but his big eyes seemed to lock, impossibly, onto mine as he fled. Then, a soldier came after him in pursuit, his enormous strides reaching the child before he had a chance to slip out of sight. He scooped him up with one arm around his middle, and a cry of fear escaped the little boy’s throat as he was swept away. As the man strode off with the boy, his little head popped up over his shoulder, searching. Then, when his large, round eyes found mine again, he wailed, reaching out his arms towards me. I could do nothing but duck down deeper into the grass as he disappeared back into his canvas prison.

  I retreated, fleeing until I was running outright up the hill behind me. For several minutes I ran, desperate to put distance between myself and the weird and dangerous situation that seemed to be unfolding down below. But the memory of Rhainn’s determined face finally halted my escape, and when I had found a shallow valley where one hill met another, I stopped.

  Rhainn had been right about one thing. The children were being held against their will. I wondered how many there were and, more importantly, how many grown men it took to care for them. I tried to imagine the fully armored soldiers sitting inside with a group of tiny children, but the image didn’t seem right. How were they caring for them?

  My stomach twisted when I considered that maybe they weren’t caring for them at all. Maybe the soldier had been there only to protect them, not from harm, but from escape.

  If I were to storm into that tent right this minute, how many soldiers would I have to fight in order to rescue little Cait?

  The whole idea was stupid, I told myself. Why focus my attention on saving the one boy and girl when there were so many others here suffering, too? Would they all look at me the way that little boy had just now? If I were able to make it inside the tent at all, would I be able to leave with just the one child when the time came?

  I found a place to sit on the hillside where I could watch the camp below. I sat for hours as the fires in the distance slowly burned down to embers, one by one.

  I tried to imagine what my mom would have done if she were here, if it had been her about to storm into that tent to rescue just one child among so many. Maybe she wouldn’t be able to leave the rest. Maybe she would stay and try to tend to them all, to protect them by becoming captured, herself.

  Would she have been able to stay focused on just the one girl? Would I?

  Thoughts of Rhainn dominated my mind. His resolve. His love for his sister. His unbelievable courage. Everything about him seemed so extraordinary. I wanted to be like that. So clear and certain and true.

  I couldn’t leave them here. I had to try.

  I sat thinking, planning, trying to figure out a clever way to get Cait out. But I had no magic. And I had no physical strength to speak of, at least nothing that would help me in a fight.

  But I did have speed.

  When the entire camp was finally dark, I stood and made my way back down the hill. I kept my circle wide as I stalked around the perimeter until I was finally back where I had started, looking down on the brutal group of men that was Rhainn’s assignment. All were sleeping from what I could tell, the dead of night now upon us. The only sounds were the loud snoring of drunken soldiers and my feet sneaking through the grass.

  I found Rhainn easily enough. The best spots by the fire, now cold, had been taken by the men, and he had been left to fend for himself on the edges of the group. Only one soldier slept still farther out, and I slunk between the two, holding my breath as I placed a trembling hand over Rhainn’s mouth.

  His eyes shot open, and I could feel his lips part beneath my fingers. I hastily put my forefinger to my mouth.

  Quiet.

  He swallowed his scream and nodded.

  The man on the other side gave a loud, long snort. I froze as he rolled over, smacking his lips and grunting with the effort.

  I took Rhainn’s hands and slung him, piggy back style, over my shoulders as I sneaked away from the group. It wasn’t long before he started protesting.

  “I told you to leave me alone,” he whispered in my ear. “Now they’ll find me gone and—”

  “I just want to talk,” I said. “You’ll be back before they ever know you’re gone. I want to show you something. Hold on tight, okay?”

  He sighed in protest.

  “Okay,” he said. “But I can’t be gone long.”

  I ran, a straight shot away from the group, and as fast as I could. I needed to convince him, and myself, that I could get Cait out of there, and this was the only way. Speed was my only gift.

  I heard his breath catch in my ear as my feet flew across the grass, and I pushed myself harder. I think if we had been under different circumstances, he might have laughed at the discovery that his new friend could run like the wind.

  Finally, when there were miles between us and the army, I stopped, releasing his arms. He slid down to the ground, overwhelmed and weak with the excitement. I, myself, felt better about this mad plan, having been reminded that it might actually be possible.

  “Where did you—” he panted. “How did you—”

  I shrugged.

  “It’s a gift I have,” I said. “Listen, I can get Cait out. I found out where they’re keeping her, and I think I can do it.”

  “You found her?” he breathed.

  “Well, I didn’t see her, but I saw another kid, a little one. I’m sure that’s where they have her.”

  He stared, struggling to decide.

  “So if you get her out, then what?” he asked.

  “I have a link,” I said. “We can jump as soon as we find her.”

  His face remained confused.

  “Jump?”

  I pulled the gray rock from beneath my shirt and showed it to him.

  “This is called a link,” I said. “If I speak the command, it will take us far from here. All you have to do is hold my hand, and we can disappear. We can get free of them.” I inclined my head back towards the men in the distance.

  He didn’t speak for several long moments, and when he did his voice was more cautious than before.

  “What’s your name?” he finally asked.

  “Aster,” I said.

  “Aster, you’re crazy,” he said.

  I burst out laughing. I couldn’t help it. It felt strange after so long.

  “I understand why you’d think that,” I said. “But did you ever think a kid could run that fast?”

  “No,” he said, considering. “Doesn’t mean I should believe you.”

  I stayed silent. He was right.

  “I want to help you,” I finally said. “I have a friend, a young girl, kind of like your sister. And I couldn’t save her. But maybe together you and I can save Cait.”

  “Why?” he asked. “Why do you care?”

  I kicked at the grass with the toe of my boot. The burning sensation I had felt in my stomach when I had first met Rhainn returned.

  “Because you’re brave,” I said. So brave. “It’s not your fault you’re not big enough to take them on all on your own.”

  He crossed his arms over his legs and looked across the darkness towards the camp.

  “What if we can’t get her out?” he asked. “What then? What if they catch you. What if they kill us all?”

  “They might,” I agreed, kneeling down before him. “It’s possible. But you’re getting nowhere on your own. Are you?”

  He shook his head.

  “Would it be better to try?” I asked. “Or to stay until—until they’re done with you?”

  His eyes met mine, frightened, and he turned away again.

/>   “My pa told me to protect her,” he said quietly.

  “Before they killed him?” I asked.

  He nodded.

  “What happened?” I asked.

  In the dim moonlight, I saw his face scrunch tight as he fought back tears. I sat down beside him.

  “It’s okay if you don’t want to tell me,” I said, picking a blade of grass. I stared out over the plains, silvery blue beneath the cosmos. “I have stories that are too scary to tell, too. Even thinking about them sometimes makes me think I’ll go crazy.” I tore at the strip of grass with my fingernails. Piece by piece I dropped the tiny bits of green to the ground.

  Rhainn sniffed, big fat tears now rolling down his cheeks. He leaned his head against my shoulder.

  For a moment I stiffened, surprised. But then I recognized his trust, and I relaxed. I put my arm around him as he cried.

  “He came,” he said between sobs, “right in the middle of the day. Everyone was in the fields, working. Nobody had seen him. But I saw. He was so tall. I kept thinking it was a joke. I thought maybe it was Pa wearing a mask.” He lowered his head again, overcome.

  I waited for the wave of tears to pass before speaking again.

  “What happened next?” I breathed, curious and terrified.

  He sniffed again and wiped his face.

  “He raised his scepter. And that was it. The adults all fell. They screamed at first, and rolled around before they died. I shook my ma after she lay still, but there was no life left in her. I ran for Cait and we hid in the little closet behind the pantry in our house. We stayed there for a while, listening, and I thought that the man had gone. Then I smelled the smoke.”

  My breath caught.

  “He burned the whole village down,” he cried. Suddenly, his sobs were coming hard and fast. “Cait and me made it out of the house just in time, just before he set it on fire, too. And we ran. But he caught us. And he hit me.” He put his hand to the back of his head and rubbed it, remembering the blow. He bowed his head against my chest. I held him there, hugged him, as he mourned the loss of his whole world.

  When his tears slowed, and finally dried, he looked up at me, deadly serious.

  “I have to save Cait. I just have to. There’s nobody else.”

  I imagined Jade. Lost and hopeless. Somewhere out there she faced the Corentin. Alone.

  “Let me help you,” I pleaded.

  Finally, with a big sigh, he nodded.

  He was on my back again. With all of the fires burned down to ashes, and no other way of making light, we decided he would accompany me into the tent, quietly calling for Cait. It was a bad plan, I knew. But all we needed was to get a grip of her little hand and we would be in the clear.

  I crept towards the tent, the canvas covering the opening flapping slightly in the breeze. Through the fabric I could hear the snores of men, though how many I still had no idea. Rhainn’s hands gripped hard, wrapping around my neck.

  “Rhainn,” I whispered as loudly as I dared. “You’re choking me.”

  His hands released, but only for a moment. As soon as I slipped beneath the door flap, his fingers twisted back into a tense knot.

  The inside was completely dark. The soft breathing of children joined the loud, grunting snores of the guards, but everyone here slept. I nudged Rhainn with my elbow and knelt down to the floor, crawling across it with the link in my fist.

  He stayed silent. I nudged him again, but he still didn’t speak.

  “Call her,” I breathed, moving silently on all fours across a carpet laid over dirt.

  “Cait,” he whispered.

  Nobody answered.

  I crawled on through the sea of little bodies, warm and seemingly peaceful in their slumber. I was glad nobody was awake to confuse my focus, to beg to be rescued alongside the little girl.

  “Cait,” he called again.

  The sound of someone’s breath catching in their throat nearby cut through the quiet.

  “Cait?” he asked.

  “Rhainn?” The voice was tiny in the darkness, unsure.

  Before I could stop him, Rhainn flung himself off my back and launched towards the little girl, all but blind.

  “Rhainn!” I hissed.

  I could hear the shuffle of their bodies as they found each other, their muffled sobs once they were in each other’s arms. I moved towards the sound, and as I did so realized that the other sounds in the room had quieted.

  They were listening.

  Suddenly, I was desperate to reach them. The absence of snores set my brain on fire with alarm, and I opened my mouth, intending to throw caution away and yell out for them.

  But too late.

  The world turned upside down, and I felt myself flying through the air. I landed with a thud on hard ground, and all the air in my lungs was sucked away with the force of my back against the dirt. Stars twinkled down at me. How far had I been thrown? Rolling over, I stretched my mouth wide, searching for cool air that would not come.

  “Aster!”

  I heard the cry, so desperate and urgent, and impossibly far away. Rhainn was still inside the tent.

  I pushed myself upright, lungs still empty. But as I got to my feet, I was thrust backward again as though hit with a wrecking ball.

  “Aster, help us!” came Rhainn’s cry, louder than before.

  I opened my mouth to respond, to tell him I was coming. But no sound came out. My chest had collapsed again.

  This time, when I tried to roll over, something sharp brushed against my throat, and I stopped dead.

  “I don’t think so,” said a voice, calm, dangerous. “Who are you?”

  I opened my mouth again, this time to scream, but still no sound came. The sword, a long, thin spear, gleamed in the dim light. It jabbed at the skin beneath my chin. Then his face appeared, hovering upside down over mine. Black, seeping eyes stared hungrily down from a starved, skeletal face. The sides of his lips were crusted, and when he smiled they cracked wide. His head slowly turned until we were eye to eye, and I wondered absently if he were actually floating above me. I gripped onto the grass with frantic fingers, wishing for just a little of the precious night air to relieve the pain that was moving now from my chest to my throat.

  Like a beast ready to devour his prey, the skeleton breathed in deeply, an action that made his body shudder. My chest stayed closed, refusing to unclench. His lips lifted into a snarl, revealing a row of sharp, jagged teeth.

  “They are mine,” he whispered.

  Bright bursts of light popped in front of my eyes as I started to lose consciousness. He leaned back, tossing his sword away. He smiled, his intentions clear. He didn’t need a sword to do away with me. His teeth gleamed like daggers, and he arched his head back, his attack imminent.

  A tiny space opened up inside my throat, and I felt cool, delicious air seep into my chest. Slowly, too slowly.

  But as his ragged jaws descended upon my throat, I managed to gasp a single word, the word of power Kiron had attached to his link so many years ago.

  “Forasha.”

  CHAPTER FIVE

  I was alone. I flipped over, choking on my own lungs as I fought to suck in more air.

  My skin felt frozen, but I was drenched with sweat. I had felt the beast’s body get blown back by the blast of the jump. He hadn’t been touching me, hadn’t needed to to keep me pinned down. My terror had been enough to hold me. So when I jumped, I had escaped alone.

  But fear still pulsed through me as my throat still fought to open, so slowly. Finally, my airway started to relax. But the pain remained, radiating out from my chest into my arms, my throat, my head. I rolled onto my back, gasping now. Slowly, the dizziness faded and the popping lights dimmed.

  Then, suddenly, I felt my throat closing again. I gripped it with my hands, confused and alarmed, until I felt the hot sting of tears in the corners of my eyes.

  I let myself cry for a minute, let that part of me that was still a child bubble up to the surface. And in that
moment I wished for my mother, wished for her voice telling me that everything was alright, that it was just a dream.

  But it hadn’t been a dream. And here in this place there was no one to protect me from the viciousness of these worlds.

  I angrily dried my tears and stood up, facing back towards the camp.

  What were they doing now? Terrible thoughts of Rhainn, somehow now in pain, swirled with logic in my mind.

  I wanted to go back, wanted to fight off the murderous warden of the children of Aeso. But I understood the difference between us. In a fight, I wouldn’t stand a chance. The only way for me to help now was to go.

  I never should have tried to do it.

  The terror of this thought overcame me, and I realized my insistence to rescue Cait and Rhainn might have killed them both.

  I needed help.

  As I pointed the link over my shoulder, away from the army, I hoped with every cell in my body that Rhainn still lived.

  I’ll come back. I’m sorry.

  I jumped the whole night through. Each time I landed I was haunted by the face of the beast, white and ghostly. The Coyle. He had burned Rhainn’s village. Killed so many.

  Not Rhainn. Not Rhainn.

  Each moment I was away from him my worry grew more unbearable. I jumped again and again, desperate to make my destination and find those who could help. I was certain that the boy was suffering. And it was my fault.

  When I finally landed in the outskirts of Stonemore, in the center of the small valley, I fell to my knees with relief and exhaustion. I had run from Cadoc in these hills, just outside the city wall.

  But after only minutes of rest, I was back on my feet. Rhainn might not have much time left, might be already dead, and I couldn’t let myself stop now. Now was not a time for rest.

  Still, I approached Stonemore with caution. I had no idea what awaited me behind those gates. Had Kiron and Owyn survived after Cadoc? What about Chapman, the little round Almarian who had helped us break into the dungeons? If they were gone, or dead, who would I turn to?

  The threat of that great army besieging the town would be enough, I told myself, no matter who remained. They would arm themselves, prepare for the battle. And in the process the children would be saved. Somehow.