by Joshua Cook
________
Marcus opened one eye. Grellnot’s attack had not been unexpected, though the pain had been worse than Marcus had thought. Blood still seeped through the places Grellnot’s claws had ripped. The Keystone had saved him, stopped Grellnot from eating him. He wasn’t sure how.
Cendan had killed Grellnot; that was surprising.
“Still, even a traitor can do something useful sometimes,” Marcus mumbled. Standing, he held his wound closed with one hand. Cendan still lived, he could see. “Not for long,” Marcus said as he slowly made his way to Cendan’s prone form. He kicked something on the floor and heard the ring of metal. The Key!
There the key! It must have fallen out of Cendan’s grasp during the battle with Grellnot. Ignoring his pain, Marcus reached down and grabbed the precious thing. Marcus did not believe for a second that Grellnot had beaten the Slyph. There was only one way to end this. One way to make sure they were free forever of the danger of the Echo world.
Marcus would end this. Marcus would be the hero of the ages. Jasmine would come to him willingly. Everyone would know that Marcus, not Cendan, was the savior of the world! He kicked Cendan’s form as he passed by, getting a small groan in response. Good. Marcus wasn’t going to kill Cendan. He wanted him to know that he had won.
Marcus imagined Cendan’s face, knowing that all his betrayals of the Bridgefinders, betrayals of the world, had gotten him nothing. Marcus would win. Marcus had won. Slowly he moved down the hall, blood dripping behind him. Grellnot’s claws had worked into him deep, but Marcus had this job. To break the connection to the Echo world. Keep the earth safe.
Finally arriving at EVA’s room, Marcus paused, trying to gather his strength. He drew in as much as he could; he only had a little father to go. The ladder was there, to the keyhole. The key would turn it and use EVA to break the bonds. EVA’s voice came now, weak, but audible.
“Don’t do this Marcus. It’s a mistake.”
Marcus snarled. “Don’t talk back to me, machine. I will save us all.”
EVA’s voice continued. “Do you know why Oakheart never used it? The key will destroy me. I will end. On top of it, breaking the binding between our world and the Echo world doesn’t get rid of anything. It just means that instead of Bridges only being formed between our world and the Slyph’s, it means Bridges can be formed from anywhere to here.”
“LIES!” Marcus yelled. “Oakheart was too weak to do this. Makers should never be given that much leeway. I will end this!”
Marcus started up the ladder, his bloodied hands slipping in places, unable to get a grip.
“Don’t do this. Please I beg you!” EVA’s voice came plaintive. “We don’t know what could be out there. The Bridges could lead to things far worse than the Slyph.”
As he climbed to the top, Marcus growled. “I don’t want to hear any more of your lies!”
He took the key and placed it in the keyhole, making a soft click as it slid into place.
“I, Marcus Wheeldon, leader of the Bridgefinders, will now end this!” Marcus said proudly. He imagined himself standing before an adoring crowd, cheering for him. Jasmine at his side, his wife. He reached out and turned the key.
Chapter 24
Cendan awoke, opening his eyes to the sight of Heather standing over him, her face a mask of worry, sweat, blood, and dirt.
“Cendan! Are you ok?”
He could only nod in response. He hurt. Every scrap of him hurt.
“What happened?” Heather asked, helping him sit up.
“Grellnot... Gone. I... unmade him. I ended Oakheart’s part of the pattern,” Cendan mumbled. “Marcus let Grellnot in, to kill me. Grellnot killed Marcus, but I…” Cendan lapsed back into silence, the pain in his head pounding.
“Marcus didn’t die,” Heather said slowly. “He…”
Jasmine’s voice came in now. “Marcus did something. I don’t know what, but he did something.”
Cendan raised his head. “What do you mean? His body is right…” Cendan pointed, but the body he expected was gone. “What…”
Heather slowly helped him up.
“Cendan. Do you remember what Rivenwood told you, about the Spinner? Valkith? Marcus... somehow... broke the bindings.”
Jasmine shrugged. “I know nothing of that. But I know this; the moment Grellnot died, all the Bridges closed at once. What few creatures were left behind died, flopping in the sun. The Shrouded helped get rid of them. I think, I think we won.”
Cendan rubbed his head. “We won?”
“Only sort of,” Heather said. “The threat of the Slyph, the threat of Grellnot, those are gone. Even the threat of the Echo world; that’s gone.” Cendan felt a small smile build through the pain.
“Then we did win,” he whispered.
“Cendan, listen. Marcus broke the bindings. The earth is now open to anything that can make a Bridge to it. We don’t know what that could be; maybe nothing, maybe a thousand things. We don’t know if they are friendly; we don’t know if they make the Slyph and Grellnot look like a cartoon villain. We don’t know.”
Cendan held his head. “Why does my head hurt so much?” he mumbled.
Jasmine looked at him sadly. “Cendan. He... whatever he did, Marcus... he destroyed EVA. She’s gone. The room is a wreck. Maybe you can fix her again, but…”
Cendan, with a start, realized she was right. The presence, even the muffled presence of EVA, was gone. Jasmine held out his focus, its metal bright in the light.
“This was in EVA’s room.”
Cendan held the key; its smooth presence calming him. EVA, gone? No. He would repair her. He wasn’t going to let Marcus take that away from him! Marcus, where was Marcus?
“So, where is Marcus? I swear he was dead when I saw him here. Though, with the attack by Grellnot, I didn’t check.” Cendan winced; even talking didn’t feel good.
Jasmine sighed. “We don’t know. There was a trail of blood, his blood, from here to EVA’s room. But after that?” She shrugged. “We didn’t find his body.”
Heather looked uncomfortable. “Cendan, Marcus broke the binding. He was there at ground zero. He was probably pulled apart into nothing by the resulting magic release.”
Cendan glanced at her with barely open eyes.
“You used the word, probably. That’s not making me feel better.”
Cendan looked at his focus, trying to make sense of this all. They had won, but by winning they may have just opened themselves into new dangers, new threats. He raised his head, taking in the light of the Garden. The maybes would have to wait. For the moment, they’d won.
________
Sand crunched under his feet. The smell of the ocean brought a smile to his face. The human world once more. The human, Cendan, had been smarter than he’d thought. Fulfilling the letter of the bargain, but in such a way that he didn’t think the Elves would get an advantage. But without the Slyph, without Grellnot, he, King Lachnin was the power on the Echo World. And there was so much to do.
What that Bridgefinder hadn’t known, hadn’t realized was this the Bridge he created to the Echo World, the Slyph’s…. no he corrected himself, the ELVEN World, was protected from the cutting of the worlds from each other. This had always been a possibility though one that he had considered somewhat remote.
But now, here he was, King Lachnin of the Elves, ruler of their own Echo, possessing the one Bridge between their world and the Human world.
Putting them on an island was only a minor setback, one that they could overcome, given enough time. And time was something they had plenty of.
grayscale(100%); filter: grayscale(100%); " class="sharethis-inline-share-buttons">share
