by DM Fike
Nobody pulled back from her. “What’s that? More ghosts from your past?”
Avalon furrowed her brows. “I didn’t know anyone else was here.”
“Avalon!” the voice called again, closer this time.
Nobody’s ears twitched. “Not just anyone else.”
The treetops swirled as a wind gushed overhead. Riding in its wake, a pair of translucent wings flew overhead, slamming onto the ground not far away.
Avalon gasped as Kay rose to his full height, wearing a dirty Covert K uniform under his haggard face. “No!” she cried. “Not you too!”
Nobody had a much different reaction. “Well, at least he didn’t outlive me too much longer,” he chuckled. He threw a hand open toward the fairy. “Welcome to the afterlife, Winged…”
Nobody never had the chance to finish his nickname for Kay. The fairy punched him in the gut, silencing any other words the gremlin might have said. Nobody caved into a heap on the ground.
Avalon was too in shock about Kay’s death to care about Nobody. She stepped over the gremlin’s moaning body to run toward him. “You should be alive! I teleported Braellia away from you!”
Kay didn’t hear her as he examined her from head to foot. “The bruises have vanished!” He grabbed her into a fierce embrace, his arms crushing her. “Praise Omni!”
Avalon struggled to pull herself away. The joyous expression on his face made her angrier than anything else she’d experienced in this messed up scenario. “Don’t you dare celebrate. You weren’t supposed to die.”
“Die?” Kay repeated dumbly.
Avalon resisted the urge to shake him. “If you died, then it all meant nothing!”
“Avalon,” Kay said calmly, “I’m not dead, and neither are you.”
She snorted. “Right. And I suppose he”—she gestured at a woozy Nobody coughing from having the wind knocked out of him—“isn’t dead too?”
A shuffling in the background brought a new voice into the clearing. “What is going on here?”
Bedwyr, dressed in a deep brown tunic and silver hair pulled back into a short ponytail, marched onto the scene, mouth agape. Avalon threw a hand out to him in triumph. “If Bedwyr’s here too, we’re definitely all dead.”
Bedwyr ignored her theatrics, instead drifting over to Nobody. His skin grew pale as he stared down at the gremlin, then at the tree with the gaping hole, then back down at Nobody. “This is impossible,” the dryad breathed.
Nobody glared up at him. “No really, I’m fine,” he said dryly. Rising back to his feet, he added, “But thanks for offering to help me up.”
Kay focused on Avalon. “You’re not dead. None of us are. I swear it.”
Avalon folded her arms in front of her. “That makes no sense. Before this, I was with Bedwyr. We jumped around from place to place all over Earth, including the hospital room with my dying mother. You’re not about to tell me she’s alive too, are you?”
Bedwyr interjected before Kay could respond. “You remember all that?”
“Of course, I do,” Avalon said. “And just recently Nobody and I left Mt. Hornley together.”
“It’s true,” Nobody interjected.
Bedwyr looked as if Vimp could have knocked him over.
“So, unless I have acquired some fantastic time traveling magic, I’m pretty sure I’m dead,” Avalon declared.
Kay rubbed his forehead with his hand, clearly frustrated. “I don’t know how to convince you of the truth. It’s a miracle you’re alive.”
“A miracle, yes,” Bedwyr murmured. He stared down at Avalon’s leg. “I don’t suppose that any of that time travel was accompanied by a dull ache and bright lights.”
Nobody snapped at Bedwyr. “How’d you know about that?”
Kay rounded on him. “What’s going on, Bedwyr?”
“I have a theory.” He walked up to Avalon and pointed at her gash, still oozing blood. “Heal yourself, Avalon.”
All three of them stared at Bedwyr as if he’d asked Avalon to grow a second head. Nobody broke the silence first, sputtering with laughter. “Sure, doc, she’ll get right on that.”
“I mean it,” Bedwyr insisted. “Use your light magic.”
Avalon took a step away from him. “I don’t have light magic.”
“And she’s not supposed to tap into any magic,” Kay added. “That’s what caused her injuries in the first place.”
“Her body is likely healing itself, the same as mine,” Bedwyr said. “Pull on that aching light. See what happens.”
Avalon decided she had no reason not to try. She closed her eyes, feeling around inside herself for any stir of magic. She had to mentally block out the flurries and sizzling in her gut that Kay’s vicinity brought her. She bypassed the deep void of dark magic too. Beyond that, she felt nothing.
“This is even more ridiculous than the existence of marsupials,” Nobody complained. “All you’re doing is convincing me she’s right. We’re dead.”
Avalon would have agreed except a flash of light buried deep within her surged to life. She gasped as the sensation hummed inside her, pooling in her fingertips. Opening her eyes, she found them glowing once again. Kay drew in a deep breath, and even Nobody became silent.
Avalon showed Bedwyr her glowing hands. “Wh-What do I do now?”
He raised his own palm with a similar shine. “Place them over your injury. Concentrate on mending it together.”
Avalon slowly bent over, her hands hovering over the gash on her calf. A buzzing sensation prickled her skin, running like a current between her hands and the gash. In amazement and a little bit of pain, she watched the jagged flesh of the gash fold back in on itself, a reverse flower in bloom, until nothing but soft pink skin remained. She released that brilliant ache in her chest, and when she did, the light disappeared. She ran her now normal fingertips along where the bloody scrape had been.
It had healed itself completely.
“Avalon Benton,” Bedwyr announced, “you are a caster of light magic.”
CHAPTER 32
AS IT TURNED out, Avalon had never died. Kay filled in the details on what had happened after the battle with Scawale. Avalon had hovered near death, covered in Miasmis bruises and barely breathing. Kay first took her to Jalamir, but after the briefest examination he declared there was nothing he nor anyone else could do for her. That’s when Kay knew his only hope of saving her was to find Hamad and hope Bedwyr lived. Kay stashed her aboard the wind chaser and flew through the night and the better part of the next day to reach the Arteme Jungle. Even then, he searched above the jungle for hours with no hope of finding Hamad. If it hadn’t been for Vimp waving at him in the treetops, he would have never found the place.
Vimp led him to Bedwyr, who had resigned himself to live a hermit’s life in Hamad after all he had done. With his magical abilities, Bedwyr had survived Braellia’s attack, but his army had fallen, either dead or scattered back to their homelands. The only other person Bedwyr had found even remotely alive had been Nobody, clinging to the barest thread. Bedwyr used the same magic he had used long ago on his dryad people to place Nobody into a tree, doomed to rest in limbo for a cure that Bedwyr was now convinced would never come.
Bedwyr agreed to heal Avalon, if only to atone for his foolishness. The dreams Avalon had of her mother dying and roaming the Saluzyme office had actually been orchestrated by Bedwyr inside The Deep. Bedwyr felt he had some success calming her mind, but her body remained damaged, covered from head to foot with Miasmis bruising. Bedwyr had never seen anything quite like it before, even at Saluzyme. Without his Earth equipment, he decided to use an old light magic technique generally reserved for severe burn victims. He buried her under a layer of treated soil, hoping that over the course of months, they would recede and she might revive.
Instead, Kay and Bedwyr found Avalon pulling Nobody out of his coma. Not only had her Miasmis bruise shrunk back to its normal size, but Nobody appeared to have no lingering aftereffects from his own near-de
ath experience.
Bedwyr had a hard time accepting that Avalon could simply bring Nobody back to life with newly acquired light magic. He insisted on a closer examination of the gremlin. He led them through the thick Arteme forest and into the ruins of Hamad. He ushered them inside a small clay hut on the outskirts of town. The house had a lived-in feel to it: fresh air circulating through the room, the remnants of a meal and its utensils sitting on a kitchen table, and worn blankets folded on top of a few sturdy wooden chairs. Bedwyr offered her a place by the fireplace as he took Nobody into a back hallway.
Avalon hadn’t realized how cold she was until Kay draped one of the various blankets around her shoulders. The thin, sleeveless robe did little to stave off the cold chill of autumn outside. And yet, that dull ache pulsated in her core, sending bits of warmth throughout her. She rubbed her ordinary, non-glowing hands together in her lap.
Kay stunned her by giving her another fierce hug. His chin rested on top of her hair. “I am so grateful you are alive.”
A warmth not connected to the blanket spread through Avalon. “Me too.”
They allowed themselves a few minutes to hold each other. Avalon wished she could stay in his arms forever, where she felt safe and Braellia seemed a million miles away, but then she remembered the chaos of Emerged Falls.
Avalon pulled back, staring deep into his gray eyes. “What happened to the Guardians?”
Kay betrayed only a hint of fear. “They’re alive but unresponsive. Jalamir was trying to resuscitate them when I left.”
“Oh, Kay.” She put a hand on his face, knowing he must be devastated about his parents. “I’m so sorry.”
“It’s another reason I’m here,” Kay said. “If I could find Bedwyr and have him heal you, perhaps he could do something for them as well.”
“How will you convince him to do that?”
Kay gave a deep sigh. “That is the challenge.”
A thought occurred to Avalon. “If you’re here, and the Guardians are out of commission, who’s running things?”
Kay gave her an apologetic look before saying, “Desert Rose.”
Avalon reddened. “Of course.”
“Who else would you have it be? There are more experienced Covert K knights, aye, but none know the inner workings of the city better than Desert Rose. She has the personality to meet the occasion.”
Avalon hated that Kay always had an excuse to back Desert Rose up. “She also has the personality of a selfish brat. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if she ordered you here to get me healed. Emerged Falls needs me alive to finish Braellia off for good. I’m her means to an end.”
A vein throbbed in Kay’s forehead. “Sadus, woman! Have you already forgotten how vehemently I was opposed to you sacrificing yourself to stop Braellia in the first place? Even Desert Rose transforming me into a statue couldn’t hold me back. How else other than pure terror do you think I redirected that lightning to release me?”
Avalon gasped. “Hold on! You’re the one who redirected the lightning blast from the Earth Tower?”
Kay grabbed her shaking hands into his own. “I thought you would die. I could not let that happen.”
Avalon swallowed. “Kay, I am so, so sorry I didn’t tell you about Gaea’s prophecy sooner. I should have, but I was scared. She said I would summon the five Guardians once more, which meant I would die. I didn’t want to do die, of course, but once I saw Braellia approaching Emerged Falls, I knew I couldn’t stand back and let her kill everyone else to save my own skin.”
“The right choice isn’t for you to die,” Kay insisted. “It can’t be.”
“C’mon, Kay.” She squeezed his hands. “Can you honestly say you wouldn’t do the same?”
“Nay, but that’s different. I’m a knight. I’m sworn to defend.”
Avalon bristled at this. “Well, I’m a protector now too. Whether I asked for them or not, I have these crazy magic powers. I won’t let others die because I’m too chicken to use them.”
Before Kay could respond, Bedwyr returned with Nobody, Vimp hanging on his shoulder. Nobody grinned at the two of them. “Doc McCrazyTree gave me a clean bill of health.”
“It is remarkable,” Bedwyr said, dazed. “Given how you both describe your encounter at Mt. Hornley, Avalon must have healed him in The Deep.”
“Only great healers can access The Deep,” Kay said.
“You are correct, which makes it even more impossible.” Bedwyr slumped onto a stool.
Nobody slapped Bedwyr’s back hard. “Get used to it, Doc. As one of her Guardians, she’ll be one upping you all the time. It really sucks.”
Avalon gasped at Nobody’s words. “What did you say?”
Nobody sneered at her. “Don’t go sharking for compliments. We all know you get to have ridiculous magical power with no training.”
“No,” Avalon said. “You said Bedwyr was my Guardian.”
Bedwyr raised an eyebrow. “Come again?”
“Avalon now casts light magic,” Kay realized in awe. “She can only do that when one of her Guardians is in the vicinity.”
Avalon closed her eyes, focusing on the magical energies in her core. “I can sense the lightning, wind, and dark magic and now that ‘aching light’ as Bedwyr called it. It’s strong too.”
Nobody gave Bedwyr a mocking salute. “Welcome to the team, Doc.”
“Ah,” Bedwyr rubbed his chin. “That explains the reports Scawale would give me about Avalon sometimes not having any magical abilities. It was a contradiction I never understood.”
“She couldn’t use magic,” Kay said, “not without a Guardian of that type around.”
Avalon stood. “That’s great and all, but that’s not the point. The point is I have five.” She held out one hand with all fingers spread. “Gaea told me I would need five Guardians to defeat Braellia. I thought she meant the original five, since at the time I only had four, or three with Nobody dead. But you guys plus Desert Rose and Isolde are it. My new five Guardians. Together, we can take out Scawale.”
“All the elemental magics in addition to light and dark magic.” Kay shook his head in awe. “Incredible.”
Nobody put his pinkie finger in his ear and swirled it around. “‘Take out Scawale?’ Did I just hear that?”
“Oh yeah?” Vimp echoed.
Avalon filled him and Bedwyr in on her visions at the Temple of the Heavens. Once finished, she smiled in triumph. “We finally have a way of beating her.”
But Kay was already shaking his head. “I won’t let you absorb Braellia just so we can kill you.”
“I hate to say it, but I agree with Winged Wonder here,” Nobody echoed. “I’m not a big fan of noble gestures or funerals, and you’re giving me the grandmammy of both.”
Bedwyr, who had been silently brooding through all the explanations, straightened. “What if there was another solution?”
They all turned to him.
“You said the Guardians originally planned to pull Braellia out of Kryvalen and put her back into the statue, setting her soul free, correct?”
“Yes,” Avalon said slowly.
Bedwyr crossed the room in front of Nobody. Before the gremlin could stop him, he snatched something from around his neck.
“Hey!” Nobody shouted.
Bedwyr ignored him, displaying the shiny piece of emerald green hanging from the string he had retrieved. “Why not use it again?”
“That might work,” Kay said, “but I doubt a piece that small could contain Braellia. The original statue was easily the length of my arm.”
“Fortunately for us, I have more than this little trinket.” He threw the necklace back at Nobody, who bent over to pick it off the floor, grumbling.
“That’s right,” Avalon said. “You mined Mt. Hornley for statue pieces. We even went through the very tunnels you dug to access the temple. But I thought you used them all in your Miasmis experiments.”
“The remains I have may not be complete, but it is a sizable
amount.”
Kay grasped onto this idea. “It’s at least worth a shot. Something, anything, other than sacrificing your life, Avalon.”
Bedwyr raised a finger. “I do have one caveat.”
“Here it comes,” Nobody muttered.
“Oh yeah,” Vimp sighed.
Bedwyr ignored the pair. “If I agree to this plan, I will insist on a payment.”
Kay put his hand on his sword hilt. “You told me when I arrived in Hamad that you would atone for your actions. Have you changed your mind so easily?”
“Not at all. If anything, I’ve only strengthened in my convictions.” He walked over to stand in front of Avalon. Kay scooted closer to her, slightly wedging himself between them.
Bedwyr ignored the show of force. “Avalon Benton, I will give you all the statue pieces at my disposal in exchange for your help in reviving the dryads.”
CHAPTER 33
“REVIVING THE DRYADS?” Nobody made a raspberry. “You could at least ask for something Avalon can actually do.”
Kay drew an inch or two of his sword.
Avalon, however, marveled at Bedwyr’s request. The dryad had killed, lied, cheated, made deals with devils, and committed any number of atrocities all in the name of helping his fallen tribe. He hadn’t figured out a way to revive them. Yet, without even knowing it, Avalon had single-handedly healed Nobody from a leafy coma as her first feat of light magic.
“I want to help, but I’m not sure if I can do it again.”
Bedwyr made a move to get closer to her, but Kay blocked him. Scowling at the intrusion, Bedwyr kept his focus on Avalon. “I have devoted my life to bringing my people out of their induced slumbers, to no avail. If you could bring Nobody back from the brink of death, surely you could do the same for my people. I will do whatever is in my power to help you achieve that end.”
Kay glared right back at him. “That’s the part I don’t like. You’ll do whatever it takes, including sacrificing Avalon, to help your people.”
“She revived Nobody without any injury to herself,” Bedwyr said. “There should be a way to replicate that.”
