by Amanda Rose
The air seemed toxic after the momentary paradise they’d experienced within the garden’s sanctum, and Vince and Suako both started to gasp for air after emerging. Okagwa was as black as charcoal when they came to, the darkness seemed blinding, like walking into a room with no lights on. The complexion of the world was grey, black and muddy brown. Suddenly a strong tremor hit, and Suako screamed and fell to her hands and knees. Yu-Lee came through to the other side just as the tremor hit, and just barely caught herself, nearly plummeting to the ground herself.
Vince assisted Suako back to her feet, “Kagawa villagers were fleeing when I passed through there… it hasn’t let up… it’s getting more severe… we need to get as far north-west as we can!” He called out to them both over the roar of the raging earth. The women both nodded in understanding. Buildings began to crumble further from the incessant shaking. Huge pieces of the once glorious city crashed down to the streets around them as the three fled, dodging the oncoming attack from above. The ground started to split open; their time was short. Chips of stone flew up and scratched threw their clothing; the wreckage seemed to attack them as they scurried to the city limits. The monstrosity of the city became a maze, streets we’re becoming blocked off with debris; Yu-Lee showed the way out as best she could remember.
They struggled but eventually made their way safely out of the deathly entanglement. They continued to run as fast as their legs would carry them until, a few miles away from the city, they fell to the ground panting from exhaustion, with legs that refused to carry them any further. They looked behind them to watch the remnant of the glorious magickal-city enveloped within the opening earth. “Okagwa…” Yu-Lee gasped as she watched in terror, a single tear crept down her cheek.
The earth seemed to be sucking in the structures, the city fell within the now concave earth below. Slowly, bit by bit, it disappeared below the earth’s surface, beyond their sights. Last but not least, the garden to the back of the city slowly fell within the hold of the earth. The swirl of it’s colour was pulled away from them; the brilliant moonstones shone one last time before they fell to a new resting-place, far beneath anyone’s sight.
There was no time for mourning, the split of the earth that had begun in the center of the city wasn’t done yet, and was continuing to collapse the land outside of the city. “We have to go… I’m sorry,” he told Yu-Lee helping her to her feet. Her years of wisdom allowed her to put it behind her, to escape the enveloping earth. It was hard to stand with the earth shaking so violently, never the less to try to run on the shifting surface. Vince’s bike had perished along with the city, so they were left to travel by foot, with an invincible enemy trailing close behind. “Everyone’s headed to the old Ryoko… We should follow, to the north…” Vince called out in competition with the noise. The girls both nodded; anything but the Okagwa region was good for them.
As they started to try and run from the brutally forming pit behind, the earth cracked between them and began to pull apart. Suako found herself trapped behind. The earth pulled her back toward devastation, “Vince!” she screamed. The gap grew in a few short seconds too far to jump across. Vince turned, and looked at her in a panic. He quickly took off his pack and looked through his bag to find a suitable rope.
As Vince searched Yu-Lee got Suako’s attention, with eye contact alone, they spoke. Suako closed her eyes and reached her arms up tall. She began chanting unheard words. Vince couldn’t breath, not his Suako; he couldn’t have her taken away. He quickly glanced up to take a look at her face, but his heart stopped when he saw her; her eyes closed tight, arms held high above her head, stepping out onto nothing. Vince was about to scream at her to stop, but before he could she stepped off. But she did not fall as she pulled her other foot from the ground behind her. He looked briefly to Yu-Lee, and saw her eyes closed, chanting as well. In disbelief Vince rubbed his eyes, and he saw a brief white gathering of energy pulse beneath her feet like electrical surges as she took each step.
All seemed well, and Suako was a few tiny steps away from their plateau. Suddenly a massive quake brought Yu-Lee tumbling to the ground, and Yu-Lee’s sudden loss of concentration disrupted Suako. A heart-wrenching scream gripped their hearts with morbid fear as Suako fell. Vince crawled hysterically to the edge, emptiness bit at his soul. He looked fearfully over the edge, his heart beating through his chest, and saw her hanging from a ledge of rock several feet down. Despite his relief, the darkness below her was still far from inviting.
Life is meaningless if I lose you.
“Suako!” Vince called, his voice was weak and trembling. She looked up to see his eyes burning with his passion to get to her, she fought back her anxiety. The tremor had stopped, for now, and Vince climbed down to her, placing his foot within a divot of the massing rock wall. Chunks of rocks were falling from the rock wall into the abyss below. Suako was within his reaches.
Vince dropped onto the thin rock ledge which she was dangling from, and he took her arm and helped to pull her up. They struggled to get her out of her precarious position, it took all of their strength. Once Suako was safely on the ledge her teary eyes filled with hope and gratitude, and she pulled him close, pressing her body against his. “Thank you,” she cried in a whisper. Vince said nothing, simply enjoying his moment in her arms.
Against his will to stay with her, holding each other for eternity, he dragged himself away and helped her climb up the rock face. Yu-Lee helped Suako up on to safer ground once she could reach her. “Vince, common!” Suako called in desperation, holding out her hand towards him. He jumped onto the rock wall just as the ledge beneath his feet crumbled and plummeted downward. He used all his strength to pull his weight up the rock wall until Suako and Yu-Lee could help him fully up and out from the crevasse.
“Vince… Oh Vince!” Suako exclaimed holding him close. The young ones comforted each other, after facing the pain of almost losing one another, but the rumble of the terrain soon drew them apart. Vince swiped his backpack from falling down the cracked earth just before it fell, never to be seen again. Time was of the essence; they hurried away from the forsaken land before any more incidents could take place. The land continued to crumble away behind them as they ran, for a time. Finally, the massing current of exerted energy ceased, and no more earth fall into the new gorge. They paused to catch their breath, turning back to see a gigantic crater.
After a long day of travel under dark cloudy skies, the three longed to sleep when the chill of night slowed the movement of their already tired muscles. There wasn’t any wood for fire, and the night was bitter, with fierce winds to torment them. Yu-Lee was rather quiet, feeling the loss of her beloved Okagwa. No longer could she ever visit the sacred garden, no longer could she directly call upon the life energy, the planets sources were weakening. The eastern side of the continent was no longer safe, and Yu-Lee felt utterly lost. She was left without a home to return to, the temple would fall into the chaotic grasp of the revolting planet in brief time. Yu-Lee’s heart carried the burden of witnessing all she loved fall to ruin. She was lost in the world.
The night slowly dragged them all to sleep, they were exhausted and it had been too cold to speak anyway. The wind violently whipped the sides of the tent throughout the night, whistling loudly. The three of them huddled together as they slept, to reserve body heat to survive to the next day. The constant swaying from side to side as the wind pulled and pushed on the tent was hard to ignore. The howling of the wind seemed to warn them of the evil plaguing the planet. Vince lulled Suako to sleep with gently sung words in her ear, it was an old song his mother sang to him as a child to help him sleep. It helped them both feel more secure. The day had been one of devastation, all that was left were the people in life to care for.
“Here beneath blanketing stars,
Take us away to the heavens above,
Show me life and love,
Take me up and away…”
Just before morning came, they awoke to numbed fingers and to
es that burned painfully with every little movement. The ache of their muscles competed with the stabbing pain of brittle bones. Vince rubbed Suako’s arms and his own to help circulate their blood. Yu-Lee followed his lead, and began to rub her arms. “The sun ‘l be up soon…” Vince spoke through icy lungs, he breath visible in the air.
Grabbing his bag Vince took out a small container of food which he’d scoured from Kagawa, and he split an apple between them. “We need to find food… I’m running low,” he said, looking sadly at the diminishing rations. The sun cracked along the horizon, and the radiant heat soon made them forget the cold, and regret wishing for the heat. After a silent breakfast Yu-Lee was finally ready to speak. “So, who are you, sir?” she asked sipping from a water canister. “I’m sorry… this is Vince. We’re part of a group of mercenaries. We’ve been fighting against the C.D.F.P. together for years,” Suako quickly filled in, then turned to Vince, “Yu-Lee has been teaching me about magick and life energy.”
“Life energy… wait, does this have something to do with how Suako crossed that gap?” Vince questioned, his voice filled with intrigue. “Yes,” Yu-Lee nodded, “yes, that’s exactly it. Life energy is a flow of energy that runs threw all living organisms, on this planet, and throughout the Universe. I’ve been teaching Suako how to manipulate it to her will,” her eyes moved away from Vince to the floor, “Okagwa was where the density of life energy was strongest on earth. Unfortunately, Suako will be the very last blessed child from that ancient place. As you saw the garden there flourished without any difficulty, the life energy was able to sustain that small piece of this planet. It resembled what the earth should look like. It seems the C.D.F.P.’s poisoning has finally taken grasp of that last bit of old stable land,” Yu-Lee said with a heavy heart.
“That place…” Vince said, his eyes filled with reflective thought, “I’ve never seen anything like it… but I have a book of pictures from just before the C.D.F.P. rose to power. My grandmother was an artist, until yesterday sketches were the only way I’d ever known the world was different from the rotting corpse it’s become,” he sighed shaking his head in his disappointment at the world.
Suako was about to take her drink of water, then a question suddenly dawned on her, “Vince, why are you here?” she queried. “We never expected you to be gone for so long… I had to come and find you, we thought you might be in trouble. Everyone else had to keep going. The world’s falling apart. We really need your help… I, I needed to get to you,” he explained, his cheeks slightly flushed.
Suako took a sip of water to try and disguise her now rosy face. Yu-Lee broke in after allowing them a moment, “Fighting against the C.D.F.P.? How?” she looked to the two of them. “We’ve mostly been trying to destroy their generators. The only thing is, our group is rather small. We can’t knock them all out, and the C.D.F.P. has enough money to build them faster then we can bring them down. We’ve been trying to gather some intel… Mack, our leader hasn’t said it out loud, but… I think he’s planning to cross the western ocean to go to the Imperial continent…” Vince told them. Suako’s eyes shot open wide, “What?!” she exclaimed. Vince just looked worriedly to her, “…That’s why we need to hurry and catch them before they leave. I know they’ll wait a while, but the severity of the company’s generators isn’t only being felt here. As we go north you’ll feel just how intense the sun is, most of the animals are dying in their tracks now. We must be careful travelling by day, and by night is best if we can stand the cold…” he sighed, “We can’t wait to long though… We won’t be able to take much time to sleep or rest.”
Yu-Lee sat quietly pondering for a few minutes. She closed her eyes and let out a breath, after making her decision, “If I may, I’d like to go with you. Okagwa is no longer, and it won’t take long for Kagawa to be consumed. I may be of some use to you.” Suako smiled, “Of Course Yu-Lee, I wouldn’t have it any other way. If we can we’ll save Kagawa,” she tried to comfort her, placing her hand on Yu-Lee’s.
Don’t suck away all that was once precious on this earth; promise some return.
Chapter 10: Old Ryoko
“Damn Mack, look’it that!” Kato groaned. Not too far off in the distance from where they stood, the earth had an old river canal that reached from the gorge by the Great Mountains all the way to the northern sea. “That’s a lot of water to have disappeared so quickly,” Jenko added, taking his map out to revise it. “That’s awful… those bastards!” Mei kicked the ground. “Guess we should get movin’ before we save a place that ain’t got nothing left for us to live off then, hmm?” Mack asked and walked on. Kairu looked ahead at the morbid scenery.
A half-hour later they reached the rim of the old waterless river. “Well that’s a wee bit of a steep drop, eh?” Jenko chuckled looking downward. “Great. The trench is nearly twenty feet down. Guess we need some rope,” Mei said pulling her backpack about her body to retrieve her rope. “Just a little detour,” Mack said, lighting a cigar before they would travel on, “at least the sun’s behind the clouds today. Makes this easier,” he said sucking back on his sweet-smelling cigar.
“Is the world like this everywhere?” Kairu’s quite voice spoke out from behind the crowd. His eyes peered wearily at the empty riverbed. “It’s getting there,” Mei said remembering her old life’s sudden halt and retirement. “I see,” he wandered up and down along the edge of the swooping scooped out land.
“With any luck we be changin’ the lan ‘scape ‘round ‘ere,” Kato called to Kairu as he walked away. “Let’s keep hoping. If nothing else the Empire’s going to feel the peoples anger,” Jenko added. “Kato, help me with this,” Mei said as she prepared to attach the rope to the ground. “C’mon Kairu, we’re goin!” Mack called as he dropped his cigar and stepped on it with his mighty boot. Kairu slowly meandered back over to the group.
“’Kay, everyone, let’s get moving. We’ll rappel down the rope, hike across the bottom, then climb up on the other side,” Mei said as she secured the rope about her body. She slowly lowered herself down with the rope, hopping off the moist river wall, until she landed in the wet sediment below. The tiny bit of dirty water left in the riverbed splashed up soaking her legs. “Oh great,” she rolled her eyes. “Ok everyone, next one down!” she called up removing the rope from around her waist, “Just watch how hard you land!” Mei added.
Jenko was the last to come down, and when he was three quarters of the way down his boot got stuck in the muck of the wall. “Oh, son of a…” he mumbled. He used his other leg to try and propel himself off the wall. After several attempts, with a large suction noise, POP! Jenko came loose, but lost his grip on the rope, and he fell several feet landing on his back in a muddy puddle. “Oh my god, are you okay?” Mei rushed to his side. “I’m just peachy,” he said rather annoyed. Mack couldn’t contain his laugher. “Yea, ‘Ha, Ha, Ha!’ Real funny Mack,” Jenko said as he stood up. The others couldn’t help but chuckle too. Jenko’s entire backside was covered in grime. “Guess it’s not as dry as we thought,” Kairu said in his quiet way. “Oh, not you too!” Jenko shook his head, and their laughter roared.
After a short walk to the other side they all found themselves covered up to their knees in the remnants of the old river bed. They struggled to climb up the other side other the river, their footholds kept sinking down under their bodyweight. It took them an hour to finally reach the top, and by that point all of them head too toe covered in dirt.
As they emerged back onto firm ground the sky cleared, and night was closing in. Purple and magenta hues decorated the entire world in the magnificent sunset. “Wow, would ya lookit that!” Kato exclaimed mesmerised. “That’s amazing…” Mei said as she hiked herself up. “This is what we’re fightin’ for people. Let’s move it,” Mack insisted.
They trotted across the terrain throughout the night. The air became crisp and cool, and it started to get very thin as they made their way further north. Everybody yawned often, their bodies were starved for oxygen. Kai
ru kept sipping his water to reenergize himself. Vitality was low, fatigue was high, and the landscape they passed some became repetitive in its scenery.
As the sun was peaking from behind them Jenko couldn’t keep going on. “Mack… huff, puff… I don’t think I can keep going on… without… some sleep,” he dropped to his knees and took in several long breaths. “I agree,” Mei said resting her arms on her legs. “Yea… I think so too,” Kato said with heavy eyelids that were continuously sliding down. Mack turned around just in time to see Kairu shaking his head in agreement. “Alright, we make camp now. Right after the sun passes its highpoint we move out again,” he said, and began pulling his tent from his pack; everyone signed of relief, extremely grateful.
The break seemed to slip away all too quickly; each of them slept like the dead until Mack woke them. Mack had barely slept, he had stayed awake just watching the world around him, deep in thought. His body was exhausted but his mind was sharp, and sleep would not take him. He looked onward, eager to go, and once they were up, Mack marched the party nearly another twenty-four hours before allowing them to rest again. His body was about to give out, and Mack’s will was all that was left, driving him to continue. The group noticed his new quiet mannerisms, and once all others were asleep, Jenko stayed awake to speak with Mack.
“Hey buddy,” Jenko whispered as he crawled over from the other end of the tent up behind Mack. Mack was shaken by the sudden voice breaking his concentration, “Jenko? What is it?” he said back in a quiet voice, to prevent waking the others up. “What’s been eating away at you? Is it him?” Jenko planted himself next to Mack. Mack sighed, “Yea… I have a gut feeling that we’re close. He knows what I never learned… I tried to get him to come with me, tried to tell him that he couldn’t trust the General or anyone else in the Company… I waited for him, but he never came. I never got to find out what it was that he knew. It might be what we’re looking for,” Mack said, then looked back to the northern sky. “Don’t worry,” Jenko tapped Mack’s shoulder, “we’ll find him, don’t worry. Get some rest though. You’re bushed, so if we find him you’ll be too tired to listen to anything,” Jenko laughed under his breath, as he lay down on his back. Mack still looked over the horizon for a while longer, “Yea, you’re right,” he whispered for no one to hear, then finally went to sleep.
