The Spark

by Taylor Gibson

  We sat down and watched Bradel and Larou enter the comfort quarters in the back of the ship with a few women to keep them company in their cabins. Two hours later, all preparations were made for the launch. The two of us spent that time talking to each other about things we had been seeing, which were probably lucid hallucinations. George claimed to have kept seeing a shadowy figure following him, with a heavily eerie, ambient purr that never seemed to leave. I told him about the woman and the old nobleman I saw in the port. George claimed that the man was an ally of his when we were in the city, but the mysterious woman I spoke of was unknown to him. George never gave me the man’s name because he had forgotten it a long time ago. He didn’t bother to be reminded when they were reunited at the inn, simply because of how much he had changed. He said the old man was a slaver now, whereas before, when they were friends, he used to be a freedom fighter. The conversation shifted of course, but the main focus that we were trying to uphold was on the current problem. We were told that there was a cure, but we were never told exactly what it was.

  Without a hint of what the cure for the jauish brand could be, I was left to wonder why we even trusted the man who set us up on this epic adventure through space. We were so caught up on the idea of trying to find a cure, that we didn’t even bother asking what the bloody thing was! We were escaping reality as we knew it, and soon enough, I pondered about the future if we failed. There was not going to be anything existing at all. Life would simply cease to be; the curse that was created by those few jaqae would have surely been the cause of a fate most unspeakable.

  But instead of letting despair take my mind, I held onto a single thread of hope that we were going to defeat this evil within us and continue our original campaign against The Black Beast. In order for us to know what to do, we needed to find Äbaka. But in order to find him, we needed to find an antidote to the jauish curse. Doing that was all about staying focused and hanging on to what sanity still resided in us. No simple comforts could keep our minds off of the terror that was the jauish curse.

  Eventually the shuttle’s doors closed, and we were locked in with many people of different races. We were about to go beyond the world we always knew and expand the universe in which we never thought existed. The vague memories continued to elude me every time I was tempted to delve deeper into my brain and risk a horrifying image to steal my breath. When the rocket we were attached to turned up the heat and started to roar, there were voices on the intercom giving out live feed from the headquarters where the tests played. I held George’s hand and listened to the calculations and estimates that the pilots, copilots, engineers, and technicians were making. The vibrations of the engines shook and gave us a relaxing feeling that made us lean back in our seats as the shuttle turned to face the heavens and attach to the rocket.

  “I hope we make it through this together.”

  The announcer stated that the tests were all successful and that we were all ready for takeoff.

  “All systems go in ten seconds.”

  “I know that we’re going a long way from home, Sui, but your forefather will know that we made a wise decision.”

  “Ten…”

  “I don’t know if my parents would be as particularly understanding as him though.”

  “Nine…”

  “I know your mother and father would jump to conclusions, but misunderstanding is a whole other concept than not having faith.”

  “Yes, that’s what I meant. I know that if they knew where we are now, they would run on water to get to me.”

  “Eight…”

  “All we need to do is follow Larou wherever he goes. He’s our only hope of getting rid of this curse.”

  “Seven…”

  “I know. I wonder if my forefather knows him.”

  “Sui, I think that old wizard knows everyone.”

  “Six…”

  I laughed at his remark, knowing the likely truth of it. “And you had better know what you’re doing, George. If he tricks us, I mean.”

  “Five…”

  “Don’t worry about him, seriously. He isn’t the strangest man I’ve ever met. There are far more important things to worry about like-”

  “Four…”

  George ceased his words without warning. It was something that he had been meaning to say for a long time judging by the nervous expression on his face, and the passionate gleam in his eyes. I pressed on him impatiently, “Like what?”

  “Three…”

  “Like… you and me.”

  “Two…”

  “I love you, George.”

  “One…”

  “I do too, but, I mean, uh- you, of course,” he said with a tickled smile and flushed-face.

  “We have liftoff!”

  Just before we were lifted up the rail to the summit of the clouds, we kissed. There was honestly nothing that could have broken the moment. Not even the children in the rows behind us, trying to distract us with their Tigerman and Lizard Girl action figures. The old men singing new songs in the front were not even enough to sway our eyes and lips. But as soon as the ship made her way to the very top of the rail and shot out into the sky, we were forced back against our seats from the weight of gravity that pressed us down. I guess we stood corrected by nature in that frightening turn of events.

  After about thirty seconds of hyper speed, we were outside of the air we breathe and, oh, how our eyes lit up in awe. The very space we were observing behind the shatterproof window came to life as though it were a spectacle of the ages. Planets near and far appeared to wave at us, and the stars winked at us with a supernatural radiance. This cosmic wonderland had more life in itself than a person or animal does on a single planet. The whole area seemed to be filled with life of different types to our eyes.

  It was a long ride across the dark emptiness, but the vast beauty made me want to stay out there forever. George sang the old Shimbian hymns he grew up with until I fell asleep on his shoulder. As for Bradel and Larou, after enjoying the comforts of the catering services, they sat together in the back of the shuttle’s passenger lobby, conversing as though they knew each other forever. Just before I fell asleep, I heard George’s soft voice fade into my unconscious “Sui, did you hear what Bradel just said back there?”

  I couldn’t answer. The exhaustion of traveling overtook me with the blanket of sweet, long-needed slumber, and I was unable to acknowledge that George was even there with me anymore. I tried to fight it, but my mind was shutting down too quickly. All reality was gradually departing from us. “The cure is someplace on Salidiah Pulse, the cure is someplace on Salidiah Pulse,” I kept repeating this to make myself as comfortable as I possibly could. “The cure is someplace on Salidiah Pulse.”

  Chapter 10

  Those who see my life’s work on discovering the Fancore’s existence can never deny that I was truly a pure genius, and a boy who grew up with peculiar visions into distant worlds. Some, on the other hand, may be unappreciative of my findings. If they call it rubbish, I think they name themselves naysayers to the apes and gods before them. In other words (if my theory is correct), they are denying the concepts to which they believe, and that the generations who bore them into this world were not apes or divines all of a sudden. Only those who study the mind can understand that the origin of man came onto the table through theory and speculation. Life as we know it is just a theory. No one knows how we came to be, but we are the creators of our own destiny. But are we also the creators of other’s destinies? Don’t deny it on behalf of your current religion or view, just consider that maybe, we ourselves, are the gods.

  ~Aloli-Ta Äbaka

  Soon after I was fully healed, I met with Diruiyal to seal our agreement. Espersia showed me the way out of the serene room. She transported us back to Imga XII where the Archmage looked after poor Jimmithon, the only surviving student. He was the one who had lost a fam
ily member, his brother Harri. As we made a landing through a wormhole, Espersia brought me to another campsite in The Fields of Eternity; one that was set up for the few who survived. Two tents and a campfire were all that was needed that night when we settled in under the stars. Jimmithon was sitting alone by the fire, staring into the flames as though he saw his brother calling out to him from the other side.

  “Jimmithon,” I called in a calm voice, trying not to startle him. He sat on the ground as still as could be, not acknowledging me. I continued to walk closer with Espersia at my side until I got close enough to sit next to him. When I tried, he immediately scooted away before I could even set my bottom in the grass. With a sigh, I stood straight on my feet and decided that I would give him some time to himself. I knew how he was trapped in gloom from his heavy losses, but someday, the child would have to become a man and realize that sooner or later he had to move on with his life. Remembering what I was there for, I faced the she-elf and politely addressed her, “Espersia, where’s Diruiyal? I want to put this deal of ours into action so that I can go home to my family. They’re probably worried sick about me.”

  “Of course, your compensation; he should be right in that tent.” She pointed to a small leather tent on a hill. “Go on in and see him. I’ll take you into the teleportation device right away after you’ve settled things with him. But be warned, he isn’t in the best of moods, master.”

  I nodded to her with a gracious smile and entered the tent. Inside I found a devastated Diruiyal sitting on his bed of furs, weeping for the brave teachers and students who had lost their lives by the hands of the jaqae. Though he did not want me around at the time, I persistently chose to sit by him on the pelt bed to ease his pain with a talk.

  “The stars are shining brightly out there,” I said in a calm tone, trying to decrease his pain little by little. “I never expected the Archmage to miss the opportunity to gaze upon them on this night. Would you care to join me? Care to clear your mind by staring into the sky with your idol?”

  “No, master,” he said drolly, shaking his head, “I just can’t believe it has come to this. Only one student and one teacher have survived the massacre. What am I going to do?”

  “You are going to pull yourself together and train that boy out there,” I said firmly. “That’s what you are going to do. Enough of this moping, Diruiyal. Jimmithon needs a master to aid him, and I am not the one to do it. The chosen one and her guardian need me more than anything right now. If you’re going to build a college to repay me, I suppose I can allow you to join it instead of having to rebuild such a disastrous mess in that rocky valley.”

  He sat silent for a moment, taking in the things I said, and stored them at the bottom of his heart. In a low, exhausted voice he replied, “I suppose you’re right, Master Äbaka. Remember when I told you that we want the same thing? To be out of our prisons of the mind and discover what we can accomplish? I think I just found what I was looking for all along. The key to exiting the cage I’ve been trapped in all these years: it’s you. Without your aid back there, I would have never gotten my land back. We would have all died if it wasn’t for your presence out there. But I will not join the college that I am going to build for you. We put too much effort into reclaiming that land; lost far too many lives. I can’t allow their deaths to be in vain. The only thing left to do is clear the bodies, perform the ceremonies for our dead, and rebuild my college for future generations. The college fortress I am building for you, keep it as your own with your own students. Wherever you are, I shall contact you when the construction is completed. Thank you, Master Äbaka, for everything.”

  His words gave me confidence that he would do well with the remaining years of his life. Only around fifty-five, and already, he was almost as wise as a wizard. His seeking me out for help had really taught me a lesson. He was trying to remind me that I had much more to live for before I let myself give in. I had a family who loved and cared for me, which I let down in the past by not taking any risks for them. He wasn’t trying to barter with me in that dark room beyond space and time; he was indirectly showing me that he would be willing to do anything for a family, including taking on a whole army of jaqae to take back that old place and live with them until he died.

  “You have a family, Diruiyal: Espersia and Jimmithon. Can’t you see? Become a family and take the next step.”

  “I— I do love her. For the longest time I’ve held my feelings for her as a secret. You’re right! You’re absolutely right! I’m going to go out there and tell that beautiful elf how I feel and make that boy our son! Thank you!”

  “No, Diruiyal, thank you.”

  So when he ran off into the open planes and proposed to Espersia, I watched by the tent. Immediately she responded in an open voice. It sounded as if she had been waiting for him to ask the question for many years. He didn’t have a ring to offer, but she didn’t care. The ancient elf was so overjoyed to finally have the man she always wanted. She had been waiting for him to ask her to marry him after all those years. So she answered with an ecstatic, “Yes!” The boy sitting next to the fire was finally swayed away from death and loneliness as he admired the couple who hugged each other in the starlight. Somehow all of his darkness and depression gradually vanished and transformed into mild anticipation for a brighter tomorrow. The joy of becoming part of a new family was all he needed to perk up a bit. Seeing that my work here was finished, and I had been enlightened by this man, I knew that it was time to stop feeling so aged. I was going to have to pick myself up and give Sui and George many more lessons when I returned home to Rïdeneer. The only way that I could do that was by defeating the weakness that tears me up from within when I fight. The elderly decay that made my body too sensitive to physical and magickal labor. Sui and George were counting on me.

  After rejoicing over the newly formed family, the three of them laid out a circular stone teleportation device in the grass, and with a wave of my hand to them, I stepped on to it and vanished to Imga I. This place was home to me; I left Imga XII a long time ago. I had to ensure that I never forgot how blessed I was to have such a treasure as family. Thinking back on the battle I fought with Diruiyal, I was actually putting myself in his shoes, seeing what he had to go through so many times in his life. But love, love conquers all wounds.

  ***

  Time after time I listen for her voice. Time after time I receive an assured tone, but I feel she is not telling us the truth of what’s really transpiring.

  ~Sellina Jane Ozborn

  Sui and George had been calling in to us every night as we had asked them to. Every night, Sui reported that everything was alright, but there were no signs of Äbaka anywhere as they made their way through the jungles. I had the feeling that they had been in those confounded, wet woods for far too long. The fact that they were unable to find the wizard in such a time was suspicious. Jon believed their claims, but I had a feeling that Sui and George were hiding something from us. It was something important that we should have been aware of from the beginning.

  One night, just before my husband and I fell asleep, Sui had called us on the com device late at night. When she called us she seemed wide awake, but something about her voice felt nervous and unsettling. I could hear odd noises in the background, but it could have just been the active wildlife. Sui was the first to speak.

  “Hello?”

  “Hey, Sui, how are you and George up there?”

  “Ummm… We’re doing fine… still no sign of our forefather anywhere out here, but we’ve been looking.”

  “Well, as long as he eventually shows up everything should be all right. Before you know it, he’ll be popping up from behind a tree before you can say his name twice.”

  There was a long pause between what I had told her and what she said next in a low, whispering sort of voice that was unintelligible, trying not to let us hear what she was saying to George. She then spoke back to us afte
r a few seconds.

  “Yeah, you’re right.”

  “Sui, is everything all right over there?” I had to discreetly let loose my concerns.

  “Yes, Mum, ummm, why do you ask?”

  I tried to think of a reasonable reply that didn’t make my suspicion of her evident. I came up with the first thing that flew into my mind.

  “Well, I was just wondering, you know. Those jungles are known for their parasites and diseases.”

  She laughed and replied to me with a sweet voice, “Mum, we know what we’re doing out here, Mr. Wild Expert especially.”

  Jon and I looked at each other with a smile, mine being of false assurance, and then just before we hung up for the night, we told her how much we loved and missed them. For the most part, I felt that they were much farther than the jungles of Matta Shimbib. I felt as though they had completely gone off course. Of course, Jon wasn’t capable of feeling such shifts in nature as I was, but I knew that something was not in place with her claims. Sui and George were not telling the truth about their whereabouts.

  Unable to prove it to Jon, I let it go for the night and tried my best to get some sleep. After about two hours of restlessness, I finally fell into a blanket of slumber beneath the covers. But just at that very moment, I was awoken by the front door opening very calmly, yet unexpectedly. Jon had been fast asleep since we got off of the com with Sui, so I had to investigate it myself. I armed myself with a golden dagger, slipped through the bedroom door, and into the hallway as silently as my bare feet on a wooden floor could take me. As I moved through the darkness of the house, there was someone fiddling in the kitchen.