Galen Vesa
“It appears I still fail to understand humans.”
Large frown spread over Cora’s perplexed face as she fiddled with the hem of her maid dress. Her emotions and her thoughts were running rampart inside her core giving me a headache. She just offered the impossible. To save the life of someone dear to the wolf and yet, instead of praising her, Altina kicked us out of the inn. I could still feel her bloodlust. It burned like live fire and the flames in my veins responded to it, making my blood boil.
“Does she not want for that girl to live? I thought...”
I stretched. My back hurt again for some odd reason. Same stabbing pain that plagued me back in the elven forest, returned to once more complicate my life. As if moral ambiguity wasn’t enough. Well, at least now I can see a pattern emerging. The better I eat, the more rested I am, the faster my mana recovers and, oh gods... A spike of pain choked me as if someone rammed a nail into my back. That’s enough of stretching, I think.
“Oh, she wants to save her alright. I’d be damned if she didn’t. It’s just the solution you proposed she has trouble with.”
Okay, stretching in the open while on a busy plaza wasn’t such a clever idea. These pants are too form fitting for that. Now even more people stared.
“Why?”
“Religious reasons, I think. Twiddling with one’s soul is a tabu in every culture I know of. Even people on that island thought of it as evil and were against the practice. Well, at least the victims did. Perhaps that’s why they were sacrificed?”
Stars began to twinkle here and there on the inky sky, soon one of the moons should rise and, Cora had this shiver inducing stare aimed at me. It’s strange when she listens to me but when she begins to weight and dissect each word I spoke, Fear starts screaming we should run. Can someone silence him?
Something deep inside me went ‘thwack’ and the noise died down.
Thank you.
“Even if we use it to save a life? I can make her a new body any time we want. We won’t need a sacrifice. Why would she oppose?”
I had to stop and look at this troubled girl to remind myself that this was an ancient monster that tried to kill me when I invaded her resting place on a sunken ship. It would be easier to believe that if we hadn’t look like twins.
“Faith. Well, when she calms down, I think she might also consider the repercussions of what you proposed. How it would affect Vittoria.”
It would turn her in a monster. Something that is neither a dryad nor a human.
“From what I understand dryads can be considered immortal. You live as long as your host supply you with mana?”
“Yes. If my core is safe, I cannot die. I do not age... I...”
“If you lock her into that kind of existence, she will be forced stay in the shadow of her tree and watch everybody around her grow old and eventually die. She will remain frozen in time and watch as her loved ones pass away. She might never be able have a family. Do you think she would willingly accept such life?”
“No.”
Cora lowered her head in remorse. Such oddly human gesture. I felt like I should pat her head, which I did. Tears began to drip from her chin.
“I wished to help...”
“I know. Where I come from there is a saying, the road to hell is paved with good intentions. No matter how noble one’s intentions are, sometimes it just doesn’t work.”
Or worse. Sometimes it leads to hell being brought down on earth in the name of all humankind.
“Come, we are not welcomed here.”
And the people were beginning to gather again so best if we move and stop sticking out like a sore thumb. Two elves parading around the plaza had the unfortunate ability to gather all manner of unwanted admirers.
“Where are we going, my heartless master?”
Heartless. Interesting choice of words. Was I truly heartless? Maybe. I just don’t care about what I cannot change. Should I be kneeling by Vittoria’s bedside, crying my eyes out? Would that change anything? No. Aside from building myself an image of a false saint, such displays were useless. If she would desire my presence, I would spend that time with her. I did so before for people who considered my presence valuable for one odd reason or another. Here however, doing it when it was unneeded or even unwanted? No. No point in any of that.
“Back to the guild house to rest, where else? You heard the wolf. She kicked us out from the inn not from the guild. We have a weed to plant tonight and, if it bothers you, that inn is not that far from here. We can get to her in a heartbeat if necessary. Second floor, third window from the left.”
How did I know that? I have no idea. I peeked through the window and I knew. Cora studied me with that familiar uncertainty in her eyes. Interesting, the more I look at her the more differences I find. Like the slightly bluish hue of her eyes, the shorter hair or the volume of her chest that seemed dependent on her mood. Even the way she walked felt different. More graceful and less provoking compared to mine.
Although her face and the broad range of expressions she wore should be called the biggest diverging feature between us. Like the concern she was showing me now.
“If you are that concerned, you may try praying.”
“Will that help?”
She followed closely behind me.
“Depends on who’s listening. Not my area of expertise so who knows. It shouldn’t hurt though.”
I hope. The longer I stay in this world the more I begin to think the gods of this place have something against me. Perhaps if she’s the one asking, something good may come out of it. For a monster tomato plant, twiggy did show a growing interest in faith and religion. It brought her closer to the wolf.
“By the way, what did you do with Inra?”
“Since you wished to use her after the ritual, I thought there was no need to move her into the inn. She is in the dorms, trying to build up resistance to your charms. In her own curious way. I think we should give her some more time.”
“If you say so. Wake me up when she’ll be ready or if something comes up.”
“As you wish, my useless master without a heart.”
She closed the guild doors behind us and slide in place the hefty iron bar, barring the guild entrance. Usually, it took five guards to pick it up and put it there, but this thin, elven abomination in a maid dress did it with only one hand and no discernable effort. I wonder what the wolf would say to that.
Well, given the flame burning in my veins, I could do that too but without strict control that strength more often hindered than helped me. Even walking among people felt like threading a needle with a thousand-ton excavator. Without Earth’s help and the restrains she put on my body, just brushing my shoulder against someone would smear their remains all over the place. I wanted to be strong, but this bordered on being ludicrous.
Anyway, the green leather couch from the lobby looked inviting so I went there. Indeed. This felt quite nice. I never could afford something so luxurious. A real couch made of real, soft leather. I dozed off so fast it took me a moment to realize what happened. Truth be told, I still have no idea what happened. One moment I was trying to get my pillows into somewhat comfortable position, I blinked and here I was, wading through ankle deep sewers. Okay, not sewers. This was more of an open type of terrain with no walls and no ceiling but the murky, ankle deep slush was there, accompanied by a smell of rotting trash. Rotting trash boiling inside a metal can on a sizzling summer day.
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And the gag inducing stench wasn’t the worst of it. The bubbling slush made me appreciate the beauty of over the knee, platform boots. Wish I had one on me right now. Even the lantern I held in my grasp, kept its tip a good nine inches above this jarring gunk.
“Is this your doing?”
I asked the staff. My fingers were locked in a death grip around its shaft while its tip cast warm, yellow glow. Heh, I really need those meds. I’m talking to inanimate objects. Again.
Ignoring my comments, the lantern began to float, pulling me behind it. Maybe this was its way of saying ‘yes’. Either way, I moved forward while all manner of bile inducing unmentionables squelched underneath my feet. I gagged when something slithered between my toes and licked my ankle.
“Why did you bring me here?”
I asked after cleaning up my lips. Just a moment ago a river of familiar, black, putrid gunk came out of my mouth. The lantern did not answer but continued pulling me onward. Wherever we were going, it became clear that only the gentle light it spread, kept whatever hid within this repulsive darkness from devouring me. A darkness not even my eyes could pierce.
Here.
“Here what?”
We stopped among the field of bubbling nightmare. Wherever I looked, darkness crept on to us, trying to squash the tiny bubble of light that surrounded me.
Here.
The lantern lowered itself an inch or two and instantly, the gunk began to part and spread away like blades of grass under a copter. Waves upon waves of gunk shoved aside as if the lantern was digging. Searching. Sinking deeper and deeper until... a voice? Somewhere beneath all that sludge I could hear a voice. A terrified, pleading cry.
Were my ears deceiving me? How could a child survive under all that? Impossible. But I did hear something. Was it my imagination? I crouched down within the crater cleared by the lantern and brought my ear near the bubbling surface.
How could this be? I could hear her. A child. Trapped somewhere underneath all this bile. Her painful cries made something move within me. Erta trembled in her slumber, her maw opened with a rumbling growl. An instinct I did not knew she had, burned within me. Not thinking what I did, I rammed my right arm deep into the black gunk and searched. There! My fingers closed around the tiny arm and I pulled.
And the darkness fought back, boiling and surging. Raging against the thin circle of light. It squeezed so hard until I could hardly breathe. It pressed so hard I could barely see. Black tendrils rose from the boiling surface and ensnared me. Pulling, squeezing. Trying to snuff my life out of me and shred my body to pieces. All the while the tiny voice grew weaker. Was I too late? My body sunk halfway into the fetid mud. The lantern being my only anchor preventing me from drowning in darkness.
I sank even deeper. Did my grip lessen? Would the lantern abandon me like it did with its previous keepers? Would it let go of me since I failed to complete what was needed of me? Will I die a pointless death in this wretched place?
Why do you doubt?
Sad, disappointed voice rang in my mind.
Why do you doubt?
Weak, dying light pulsed within the tip of my staff. ‘My staff’?
Why do you doubt? I am here.
Gentle hands cupped my palm. It no longer felt as if my hand was welded to the lantern’s shaft but rather as if someone held my hand in a loving embrace.
I am here.
Warm. Calm. Comforting touch. Then it hit me. The previous keepers died not because the lantern discarded them. They passed away because the lantern allowed them to. Because it could no longer watch their torment as they toiled, fighting against the dreadful dark. There was only this much a mortal mind could take. Even the strongest ones would not last forever. At some point their mind would give in to the suffering. When that time came, the lantern would let them go but before that there was a promise.
I am here. Always.
I tightened my grip on my staff and forcing my voice through the blob of gunk that tried to gag me, I sang. I sang of the light and light sang with me.
Always.
No longer alone, my voice sang among the chorus of other voices and light sang through us. It sang within us, and everything became light.
Where darkness reign before, now light spread, burning away everything in its path so only light remained. Light and the child I held in my arms.
Floating suspended amidst the light, I watched black smoke peel off her tiny body. Waping away until the child too became as clean and as bright as the light.
Watch.
Watch what?
Before my thought could leave my lips, the child opened her eyes and I sank within her mind.
Memories of her life passed me by. Some lingering long enough for me to see and hear. Some rushing so fast I could scarcely distinguish when the seasons changed.
I saw a fatherless child of a maid, scrape by on a meager pay. I saw abuse they both suffered. I saw river of tears flow from their eyes. I saw the child toil in kitchens, trying to lessen the burden on her ailing mother. I saw the child grow up on the streets alone with sunken cheeks as they were cast out. I saw a child that sold its own body to afford coffin for her mother. I saw a young woman that thought of taking her own life when compassioned hands stopped her and showed her new way. I saw a man preaching god’s gift to the girl eager for a new life. I saw her life sinking into the dark as her new masters offered her body for the glory of the true one.
I watched her drink the vilest poison as if it were the holy water of life. I watched her suffer and nearly die for the glory of the true one.
I saw a man kicking her lifeless torso, declaring her a fallen one. A failure. One that did not praise the true one. One that was punished for the lack of faith. Now she would die. I knew that man.
I saw a woman wail and beg for mercy as they loaded her body onto a cart, but her body would not move no matter how much her mind screamed in terror. They dumped her onto a crematory pile along other corpses.
I saw her I saw her scream when they began to burn among the rain.
And I saw a wolf pull her out from the raging flames of the pyre.
I saw Vittoria cry within the soft, warm arms.
While she healed, there were questions asked. She did not wish to remember, the wolf respected that.
I saw my awkward self, stealing Vi’s heart. All the odd smiles and hugs I’ve given her. All the nights we spent together. Those meant nothing to me. For hear, little by little, I crushed the wall around her heart.
And then, that cult snatched me away from her arms. Oh, she knew from the start. She felt the man’s presence long after he was gone from that house.
I felt her fear in her heart.
I saw her faint in my arms when I carried her out of the guild’s house.
The seeing ended with me standing among the endless grass, swaying slowly to the gentle breeze in the land of eternal twilight. A place where a river of dreams run between east and west, separating the dead from the living. Or so the girl thought. This was her mind and her vision. Here in this land under a purple sky, the dead welcomed the living to cross the shallow stream and join them beyond the veil of this world.
Vittoria stood at the edge of water. Her long chestnut hairs were cascading down her bare shoulders while her strapless gown fluttered in the breeze. Waves of the rushing stream were spiling over her bare toes.
Fascinating. People who brushed against death always spoke of seeing a tunnel with light at its end. I saw none of such thing. This vision however, I think I liked it more. It gave the illusion of choice. One would need to walk into the water of its own accord while at the same time the rushing stream could symbolize the washing away of one’s sins. Also, I did find this place more serene.
“Are... are you the Guide?”
She forced out a whisper after a longest while. I wonder how she knew. She did not look at me.
“Hmm, no. I am not the one.”
Did I startle her? She turned so abruptly.
“Karin... How?”
“Perks of being a monster.”
I’ve sent her a wink and smiled.
“It’s all in your head anyway.”
I thought of flicking her forehead but, yeah, I better not. No idea how that would end. Instead, I just stood and did What I do best. I stared at her. What else could I do? I never been in someone’s else hallucination.
“Have you made your choice?”
The lantern used my lips out of nowhere, asking the both of us the same question.
“...choice? I have A choice?”
“For now, yes but choose quickly as that opportunity slips away with each heartbeat. Soon, only one way would remain. Across.”
My left arm rose, pointing at the opposite shore where a considerable crowd gathered. Okay, this is getting creepy. No more using dolt without permission. Dolt may become even more bonkers than he already is. Please?
The lantern scoffed at me yet at the same time I felt control returning to me. Luck wanted Vi used that moment to ask something quite uncomfortable.
“Is... Is it a sin for me to wish to live for a longer while?”
Hey, shiny stick, you brought me here for whatever reason. If we go with this whole soul transfer thingy, she won’t get cursed to hell or worse?
...Maybe.
Maybe? That’s the best you have, maybe?
Now would be a suitable time for a facepalm I think.
I don’t do ‘maybe’ when it’s not my skin. Try better.
How impudent! You are testing my patience.
For a chunk of steel, you got quite chatty as of late. Anyway, I may be insane but even I have my standards. Not dragging friends into my own mess, if I can prevent it, is a major one.
Very well. This one time, let it be so.
Power flared within me as the lantern appeared beside me. My body began to sparkle and glow as my left palm closed around the lantern’s shaft. At the same time, I stretched my right hand towards Vi, knowing what the lantern expected of me. Incidentally, my memory bubbled up with another one liner perfect for the occasion.
“Take my hand if you want to live.”
She reached for my hand but stopped halfway.
“Can I?”
“If you can live with the consequences of this choice then yes. Your life will not be the same.”
She paused only for a moment.
“I want to live!”
W with tears running from her amber eyes, she cupped my palm with her hands.
I think the Lantern tried to fry me as I awoke with a motherload of a nosebleed and my clothes at the edge of self-combustion. Plus, there was this unpleasant feeling in my chest. As if I were overstuffed with... Oh no. No. Nope. Somebody tell me it’s not that.
“Twiggy, get your ass in here!”
I rolled off the couch and crawled towards the back exit as walking seemed out of order.
“What is it my useless master?”
“Get that spare body ready, we have a patient here in need of urgent transplant.”
She opened her mouth, most likely to offer one of her sarcastic remarks when she noticed. A certain shit stick thought it a clever idea to stash a third soul inside me.
It is fine. I am here.
I beg to differ. How is bleeding from each possible opening fine? I think I just puked out a barrel of blood. Even the crazy lizard did not mess me up this badly.
“Twiggy...”
She tried to pick me up but my arm came off and turn into a bloody goop just to regrow a second later.
“That new soul is destabilizing your core, master. Try to focus on staying in one piece while I extract her.”
Sure, I can do that. Or I may just lay here and bleed on the carpet. In the end Cora used that carpet to gather my body and carry me out to the backyard as I held on to my consciousness.