"Erolith, gather any human survivors and then converge on me,” says Lara. “We will retreat and try to save as many of these humans as we can. The fugitive Kylanthansa Uthmandir shall not be harmed."
"Captain, I must—" protests one.
"That is an order," Lara says.
"Yes, Captain," they all say.
Lara dismisses her communicate spell after the floating heads give their assent.
"Are you happy now?" she asks me.
"Dude, stop calling your brother a fugitive,” I say. “He saved my life. I don't understand what the big deal is. All he did was heal me for crying out loud."
Lara scoffs. "Healed you? You think that's what he did?"
"Well, yeah. I was dying and he..."
"He did not heal you,” she says. “No one could have. You were already dead."
"What? That's impossible."
"Now, human, you understand the severity of his crime," she says. "He is what he is. He did what he did. However, under these new circumstances, I have decided that his sentence shall be postponed, pending a hearing with Silanthanos' High Council."
"Well, I guess that's the best I can get." I press on my earbud applicator. "Call Lev," I say.
"Hey man," Lev answers. He's huffing and puffing.
"How are you guys doing?" I ask.
"Well, I'm okay," Lev says.
"And Kyle?" I ask.
"Yeah he's not doing so well, man," says Lev. "He's bleeding all over the place. Out of his ears and nose and shit."
"Is he conscious? Can I talk to him?" I ask.
"Nah, man. He's having a rough time,” answers Lev. “He's not speaking coherently right now."
The rope bridge we're on screams and roars, falling apart under Lara and me. Lara gathers some Field energy into a gray crystal. Then she takes the crystal and attaches it to the small of my back. I feel her warmth as she wraps an arm around me. A surge from the crystal travels up my spine, and all through my nervous system. I look into her violet eyes. At this distance, they are something else.
"Don't think about falling," Lara says to me, holding my eyes in a glance.
Then, as the bridge we're standing on collapses, Lara and I remain floating in midair, her arm around my waist.
"What the hell was that noise?" Lev asks.
"A rope bridge collapsed," I say.
Lara pushes away from me.
"You're still in the building?" Lev asks.
"Yeah. Where are you guys?" I ask.
"We're in the carports, man," Lev says. "We've finished getting some people to their cars, and we're waiting for you."
"Don't wait," I tell him. "I'll meet you back at my place. Get Kyle out of here, and get him some rest."
"Why? What are you gonna do?" asks Lev.
"I'm going to stick around, and see if there are more people we can get out of this place alive."
"What? Are you nuts?"
"Don't worry," I say. "I made friends."
Twenty-Seven
Lev, Kyle, Lara, and I are back in my apartment. It's nearly midnight. Kyle is recuperating on my bed, Lev is in my bathroom taking a shower, Lara is walking around my living room, and I'm sitting on a stool at my kitchen island table watching her.
I never met Lara in real life before today. I've only seen her through Kyle's communication spell, which is as true to life as it can get, I suppose, but it's nothing like seeing her in person. The lights in my apartment hit her face a different way every time she moves. And every new angle reveals something undiscovered, but, once known, is a wonder to look at.
She's a pure elf. Elves were the first intelligent living beings on Earth, and are closer to Earth's Field structure than other humanoid races. They're like vampires in that there is an element of the celestial inside them. Vampires, however, are possessed by Field energies derived from demonic spirits. While elves possess the Field energies coming from the spirits of nature. It's this touch of the divine that gives them such beauty.
It was around 3500 BCE when human, elf, and dwarf relations became strained. It was a population thing. Humans were growing and spreading faster than the dwarves and elves. There was suspicion we humans would one day take over, and there was nothing they could do about it. However, even though suspicions were there, contact between races was not uncommon. It wasn't until The Treaties, four thousand years later, that humans were segregated from the others. All that mistrust came to a crest. Rules were established to weaken the human race and keep their defender, their de facto ruler — my mom — in check.
Lara looks like she hasn't spent much time on human lands. She walks around my place as if she is part investigator and part tourist. Her violet eyes take in all she sees with judgment and scrutiny. She walks over to my display case filled with a hundred and fifty-six painted miniatures.
"Why do you have so many tiny sculptures of demons?" Lara asks me in Elven. "Are these your trophies? Did you have one made for every demon you vanquished?"
"What? No,” I say. “They're miniatures. Before the whole holographic revolution happened, people used them to play tabletop games. I paint them to relax."
"Games?" she says. Lara picks up a young blue dragon from the shelf and holds it in her thumb and forefinger. "This is what you have been doing with eternity?"
I get up off of my stool, hobble over as fast as I can, and snag the miniature she picked up out of her hand. Then I put it back, carefully, where she got it.
"Well...as the old saying goes," I say. "Don't knock it till you try it."
"I will not be trying it."
The door to my bathroom vestibule slides open with a hiss. Lev comes out. He's wearing a bathrobe. His shock of orange hair is damp, dark, and shiny. He's using the corner of a yellow towel to dry his ears.
"Feel better?" I ask him.
"Yeah, man," Lev says. "I needed that."
His mouth says one thing and his body another. His right hand is shaking, and it's not from being cold when he got out of the shower. His face wears the horrors he saw. There are dark circles under his eyes, his cheeks are sunken, and his lips are dry from dehydration. I know the look. Tired but still keyed up. Wanting to sleep, but not wanting to see what horrific images his dreaming mind will conjure up. He sits down on a stool at my island table. I walk back to my kitchen and sit with him.
"You sure you're okay?" I ask him.
"Yeah...I'm...I don't..."
"I know. You went through a lot," I say.
"Does that kind of stuff happen all the time?" Lev asks.
I shake my head. "No. I've never seen anything like that. My mom used to tell me stories about that kind of stuff. And now that I’ve seen it in person, I don't ever want to see it again."
He looks down at the surface of my island table and nods. I put a hand on his shoulder.
"Lev, I'm sorry,” I say.
"For what?" he asks.
"I shouldn't have brought you,” I say. “I was selfish. I wasn't thinking. Kyle was gone. Astraea's been abducted. I'm weak, injured, and a big part of me didn't want to go in there alone.
"You fought bravely, but now it's time for you to go home,” I tell him. “Your part in this is done. If you need money to tide you over until you get your footing, I'll be more than happy to give it to you."
He looks up from the table and meets my eyes.
"What about you?" he asks. "What are you going to do?"
Lara and I both look at each other.
"This whole mess started with me," I say. "I've got to finish it."
"What? How?" Lev asks.
"I need to go after Thaddeus and the army of vampires and ogres he created,” I answer. “Then I've got to find Marchosias. I need to stop her from summoning her thirty legions and letting them loose on our world. "
"That's a lot of stuff," Lev says. "You say it like you're going out to get groceries or something. And what happens if you don't do all those things? What'll happen if you fail?"
"Then all the more r
eason for you to go home right now, and start enjoying your life. Because if they win, then it's game over."
"That's not good enough, man! You know what you have to do. Now tell me how you're gonna do it."
Everything happened so fast. We got out of Club Rapture after rescuing over a hundred people. Then Lara sent her erolith back to Superior, and we came back here. I didn't have much time to formulate a plan.
"To be honest, I have no idea," I say
"No idea? What the hell, man! What do you mean you have no idea?" Lev says. "Don't you think you should at least do a little bit of planning?"
"Human, calm yourself," says Lara. "Let it be clear that I do not think much of Nyyx's level of competence, but in this situation, he is right. This matter needs more consideration than we could give it in the amount of time we had."
"Wait...who are you again, man?" Lev asks Lara.
"I am no man," returns Lara with a baleful sneer.
"Lev, this is Lara. She's—"
"My name is Larastrumbala Uthanasa! Mispronounce my name again, human, and you will—"
I throw my hands up. "I am sorry, Larastrumbala," I say in Elven. "It will never happen again. Please sit with us so that we may speak with each other peacefully."
"W-what was that?" Lev asks.
"Sorry, I was speaking Elven," I say.
Lara scoffs. "If that is what you call it," she says, sitting down.
"Lev, this is Larastrumbala Uthanasa — daughter of Rolanthis Uthanasa, a respected arcanist in the Elven Nation of Superior,” I say. “Larastrumbala, this is Lev. He's new to the whole situation. Up until two days ago, he had no idea about Field energies, elves, angels, and demons."
"Perhaps it should have been kept that way,” says Lara. “This is hardly the time to be bringing in amateurs."
"Tell that to the flaming haired demon lady that trashed my place of work," Lev says.
"That's on me," I admit. "Astraea and I were grasping at straws trying to figure this whole thing out. We went to his work to follow the only real lead we had, which turned out to be a bust anyway. I had no idea Marchosias was tracking the Bearer. We led her straight to the barn."
"I am confused," says Lara. "If you're not the Bearer, why was Astraea with you? Isn't she supposed to be serving as a spirit guide to the new Bearer?"
"Well, that's the thing. Astraea is the new Bearer."
"How is that possible?" asks Lara.
I explain to Lara everything that happened. I tell her how Astraea found herself inside the body of a woman named Roxx, who was Kyle and Lev's friend and co-worker. Then I give her a detailed description of our showdown with Marchosias at the barn, Lev's bravery in coming back for us, and Astraea's capture.
"So Bearer and spiritual guide are one?" Lara asks. "I wonder what other sorts of mayhem you and my brother's stupidity have caused."
She said it. She said Kyle's her brother. Which means not all is lost. It tells me she's put her erolith hat away and is now speaking freely.
"My people will have to look for more disturbances related to Ashyanthinasi," she says.
"You think there are more Field anomalies?" I ask.
"The Treaties go far beyond the effects it has on Earth,” explains Lara. “We are but a mere part of that agreement. The Omega Treaties, as we call it, encompassed all of Ashyanthinasi, across the universe. Being part of such a Treaty required us on Earth to add our stipulations. We attached provisions which were pertinent to this planet's survival. So you see, your stupidity could have far-reaching effects, well beyond the borders of our world."
"Unbelievable," I say. "So what are we talking here? How big are the repercussions?"
"It could be nothing,” says Lara. “Perhaps your actions were so small that this one incident of the Bearer and spiritual guide existing inside one person is all there is. Or it could have completely unraveled the entire Treaty, causing havoc throughout the universe, which will plunge everything into disorder."
I look at her blankly. "Well, that's perfect," I say.
"So that's it," says Lev. "Either it's nothing, or it's everything?"
"I have to say. If you are correct in your assertion that Thaddeus planned this entire thing, he is to be commended for his foresight."
"Whoa, let's not go that far," I say. "Thaddeus didn't plan on breaking The Treaties."
"How do you know this?" Lara asks.
"Thaddeus said so himself,” I say. “What he wanted was Marchosias to have an easy path to domination, and the only way to do that was to kill me and grab the new Bearer before he or she knows how to handle him or herself in a fight. He did not plan on me coming back to life. I can tell you that much. Nothing would have made him happier than if I remained dead."
"Okay great, he didn't plan on it," says Lev. "What about us? What are we planning to do about it?"
"Lev, you don't have to do anything," I say. "We'll take care of this thing. It's our job. Not yours."
"Man, you and I are the same," Lev says. "You're a normal guy. You're not this Bearer person anymore. This isn't your job either. You can fight, sure, but you're hobbling around like a gimp right now. Why aren't you the one backing off? You should be letting her handle this. If she can make with the magic as Kyle can, then she and the elves are way more equipped to deal with this than you are."
"Why are you so adamant about coming?" I ask him.
"Because if my two options are to sit at home and wait to see if a demoness takes over the world, or try to do something to stop that from happening, then I choose to do something."
I smile at Lev. His hand isn't shaking anymore.
"Sounds fair," I say.
"So what are we going to do?" Lev asks. "What's your plan?"
Lara is the first to look away from the conversation. Her violet eyes look over my shoulder. Whatever life was in them, turns to stone. A corner of her lip curls, and she grits her teeth. Her hand moves to the hilt of her shortsword, and she stands up. I turn my head. Kyle is in the corridor leading to my bedroom. He is leaning against the wall. His normally golden brown skin looks pale and drawn.
"We need to go to Silanthanos," Kyle says. "They plan to attack the Elven Nation."
PART TWO
Twenty-Eight
Unlike my apartment, my T240 Tracker is spacious, even with the four of us inside. Lara and Kyle are in the back seats. Kyle looks depleted and defeated. He's slumped against the upholstery, looking out the window with a heaviness in his green eyes.
There is a mask with a caged opening over the lower half of his face. Carved into the metal are intricate arabesque patterns. His wrists are bound in manacles of heavy black iron, which have the same carved arabesques as the mask. When Lara put him in these restraints, the carvings glowed a dull green. Their glow remains, pulsing, reminding us they're magical.
Lara is sitting beside Kyle, with the middle seat separating them both. She is meditating with eyes closed. Her breath is even and silent. She's so still, Lev wondered if she was alive. Elves don't have to sleep. I mean, they can, but they don't need to. They can go into deep meditation, which recharges them in as few as two hours.
Lev and I are in the front. I'm in the driver's seat, and Lev is sitting in the passenger's. We're playing chess on a floating holographic board between us, above the G-drive throttle. I put the car on auto-drive when we left the city, setting the coordinates for the Canadian Taiga; somewhere in Northern Alberta, northwest of what used to be Edmonton. It's a ten hour trip give or take.
We're flying over prairie wheat fields. It's the tail end of the winter wheat harvest. There are large, rolled-up bales of hay, left behind by red, hulking, harvest combines. The machines have the word 'Halcyon' painted on their sides. And as we flew over a few maintenance barns, I could swear I saw Lev look out at them with longing. A secret wish for simpler times, I suppose.
"You ever been to Superior?" Lev asks me. He moves his rook. "Check."
I survey the chessboard and move my bishop to protect.
"Nope, I've never been. Humans aren't allowed there."
"Not allowed?" Lev asks.
"They don't like us very much," I say.
Lev moves his queen. "Check. Did you say they don’t like us? But we're on our way there. What are they gonna do to us?"
"Don't worry, Larastrumbala will get us in," I say. I move my king.
"Why? Who is she?" Lev asks. He moves his other rook.
I go to move my king.
"Checkmate by the way," Lev says.
"What? Damn it, Lev."
"What do you want me to do? You're bad at this."
Frustrated, I clear the board.
"So, who is she?" Lev asks again.
"Larastrumbala is the sole heir of house Uthanasa," I say. "She can trace her blood back to when elves were the first ones on Earth. She’s a member of Superior's royal line."
"So like, kings and stuff?" asks Lev.
Kyle chimes in from the back. "There has not been an Uthanasa king for two hundred thousand years," he says.
I turn my chair around, surprised.
"But their bloodline is respected and revered to this day," Kyle continues.
"I thought you couldn't talk," I say to Kyle.
"This mask prevents me from speaking arcane words, but I may speak normally."
"Good, 'cause I have a bunch of questions to ask you. First off, you resurrected me?"
"I am not allowed to speak of my crimes until I stand in front of Silanthanos’ High Council," he says.
"Yeah, 'cause we've both been so good about following the rules throughout this whole thing."
Kyle smiles behind his mask. I smile back.
"Okay, if we can't talk about that then can we talk about Roxx?" I ask.
Kyle's face perks up at the mention of her name. Whatever life was lost in his green eyes is brought back by a brief spark. His smile grows softer, the corners of his mouth rise, characterized by a fond remembrance, mingled with regret.
"How did you find out about us?" Kyle asks me.
"We went back to the barn after I woke up from the accident,” I explain. “That's how I met Lev here. He was kind enough to show us footage of what happened the night I came and visited you. It turns out that Roxx came to the barn before I did."
The Irispire Portal Page 17
