Winter 2045
Ally Fae
“Now!” Jace called.
His voice roared in her ears and she gripped tight as she grunted and thrust the wooden spear into the orange tinted water. The momentum of the thrust sent water flying into the air when it had made contact. She had one arm latched onto the riverside and was bent down on a rock that had been jutting out. It was imperative she not fall in as this color of water was infamously poisoned with large iron deposits.
She learned from fishmongers in Bannes that rivers that ran orange like this had all flowed from the iron mines near the north—dozens upon dozens of hours away. On one hand it was amazing to hear how connected the lands could be through simple channels of water, on the opposite hand it made local fishing a very dangerous sport as the amounts of iron in the local rivers was toxic to the touch. Water this color would make her sick to the touch and it probably would be fatal if the exposure were prolonged—like if she were to fall in.
Stories had passed about local children who had been playing around the area. One of the local merchant’s had a son who had tripped when playing some game of pretend. The toxins were so concentrated that the boy was dead within the hour. She shuddered at the thought and saw the red cloud fill the area where her spear had connected. She grinned and pulled with all her might.
Jace offered a look of excitement and she could feel him hovering over her shoulder. She continued pulling hard up on the spear and the weight of her prey had sent her reeling back on the grass behind her. The wriggling trout flailed in the air and landed on the grass as it bled onto the grass.
The fish itself wasn’t edible due to the nature of the water it was pulled from—but it would make for some good bait once she was able to prepare it right. After all, she had enough fish to eat on to last her until Draymont—but what she had her eye on was much bigger.
“You sure you’re ready for this? Probably the biggest game you’ve hunted ever.” Jace began. “I mean I’m more than handy to pitch in if you need me to.”
“No, what kind of growth would I have if I needed you to keep stepping in for me at every available opportunity?” Ally asked. “Besides, I hunt better than you.”
He flashed a smile, flashing that too-charming white smile of his. “Well then at least call me your win-con and I’m sure you can justify it to yourself.” He leaned back—seemingly against some invisible wall. “You can’t tell me that it wouldn’t be awesome, though.”
“If all my decisions were made based on what was awesome I’m sure I’d be a much more exciting individual,” she said, wrapping the fish in sticky plastic and covering all but the face. It looked like some freaky deformed sushi roll. “Excitement is one thing I honestly believe I can do with a little less of. Come on, I’m ready to move on from here—the sun’s going to be setting…” She sat still as something in her changed.
She wasn’t sure the origin of the feeling, but it felt like a wave crashing over her...something told her it was related to her friends. They weren’t dead, that much was a relief...but they weren’t here either. She didn’t know fully what she had meant by that, but they were alive somewhere else. It was as unsettling as it was reassuring.
The feeling left as quickly as it had come, and she would have taken time to think on it longer but the rustling from the woods on the other side of the river brought her back and she tensed back into motion, nodding to Jace and pulling away from the river.
Just in time she avoided the sight of the prowling menace who stalked these woods. Bannes children deified the creature that hunted and killed at its own leisure. It looked like a bear that had ballooned to the size of a small mountain. Its arched back arched so its silhouette through the trees looked like a shark in the wood. Its skeleton must have been bent at odd, unnatural angles to achieve that shape—but it clearly had no negative affect on its hunting abilities. Even though it was large as a house it could clear the largest distances in seconds, flat.
Ally had ducked behind a large stone set in the field and tentatively counted from one to ten. When Jace had appeared next to her she held out her hand—the fish wrapped in plastic was aimed at him comically. He took the sign to stay one of his quips and he looked out from their space.
“It’s smelled you, for sure,” he said.
She shook her head, “No, it’s smelled the fish. I’m sure its senses have been fine tuned to hunt the local fish game—otherwise we’d have heard a lot more stories about it coming and wreaking havoc on the town.”
“Aren’t the stories you heard enough?” Jace asked.
“Those were told by children who had very obviously invaded its territory. It’s not used to hunting people...yet at least.”
“Yet?”
“I have a feeling once the fish population dries up here it’ll adapt. And once it gets the taste of our kind of flesh it won’t want to go back. Hence why I am taking care of it now.”
“Assuming it’s the only one out there.”
“Yeah, I may be putting a lot of faith into that. I’m pretty good at listening to my intuition though.”
“Oh, so a name change this late into the story,” Jace grinned.
“Couldn’t help yourself, could you?”
“I trust you. I’ll keep a lookout in case it signals to any friends it may have.”
“Beast that big ain’t having friends far away,” Ally said, but she nodded at him all the same. “I’m going to ready into position.”
“Roger roger,” Jace said, fading from view.
Ally’s plan was simple. She needed to get some height—something to at least separate her by some metric from the creature’s range. The stone she had hidden behind was not nearly tall enough to get her the distance she desired, then she eyed a tree off in the distance—it had fused with two other nearby trees at the trunk—it looked like it could withstand a bashing or two from the beast. A bashing or two was all she needed.
She dashed out from her place of safety and made a beeline for the tree—from where she last saw the beast it had been on the other side of the river. She felt the moment it had noticed her as her chest ran cold as if someone had dropped a vat of ice water right across it. She willed her legs to continue running and she leapt over an ingrown root as she heard the sound of water splashing behind her.
Ally leapt and kicked off a stone onto the first branch that was just over her head. She grappled it and swung herself over on top. If she stopped to look back at the bear she knew she’d freeze and not even be half its height yet—and then it’d be done for her. She leapt up—the force enough to crack the branch and have it dip down—but thankfully she grabbed a hold of a branch that connected the two trees—as now she was above the bisected trunk as its many branches yearned for the skies above. She went up another two branches and finally held the tree tight with her one free arm around the edge.
The bear had closed in and leapt up on hind legs Ally couldn’t see, its blackened face reached just below the tier of branches she had gotten off of. Her plan had to work—it was now or never. She gripped the fish and lobbed it into the air—as far from the tree as she could manage. She could have just dropped it and hoped it would pick up the scent—but if it missed it entirely her life was forfeit. She had to ensure that it saw the fish and that it had to work for it.
The fish flew in an arc, spinning end over end. The bear’s eyes followed it with a devilish look in its stare. It kicked off from the tree which sent Ally sinking back—the tree itself was partially uprooted. She stumbled and used her newly freed hand to catch herself before she fell fully. From the view she saw the beast land and the ground shook around her—she didn’t know if the trick had worked.
It turned and put its nose to the ground and turned back to her. She tried to work her way back up the length of the tree—but it was a much harder task since it had been pushed.
The bear had caught her scent and perked up.
“Well...at least you were right about it not caring about you until this moment.”
“Not...helping,” she said. Come on...it should be working right...about…
The bear had begun to heave—it turned its head and let out a cough. The cough turned hoarse and it stopped completely—focusing on the air escaping its lungs. The bear lashed its head around in an arc and dug at the ground, and then at its own fur. Terrible sounds erupted from the beast as it slashed at its own throat—realizing its terrible mistake.
The fish had copious amounts of iron saturated in its meat. To a bear that size—it would barely register a problem. At least, not the problem that it would register if Ally were to cook it up upon catching it. However, that iron isn’t the issue. Ally had wrapped the fish up in plastic that was coated in a mixture of poisons she had made from some of the local wildlife as well as from some of the merchants in Bannes. A devious concoction which thanks to the dark titan berry completely eliminated the odor of the other poisons allowed the weapon to pass along unassuming right into the belly of the beast.
The beat had continued suffering until it made its final move and fell over onto its side, wheezing and exhausting the last of its breath.
Ally sighed and finally shimmied her way back down to the surface. Her problems didn’t end with the death of the bear—far from it. It was progress, sure, but it was only a problem by another name. Since she had used poison to kill the bear—its meat was a danger to all life that lived around this area—much less for those that lived in Bannes.
If stray coyotes or birds happened this way they’d find meat that would carry a multitude of problems for not only them, but also their predators, and then back up to the humans. Transporting a body of its size was out of the question—it must have weighed a ton. She did have a knife, but she doubted that she was going to be able to break its bones to be able to move it in pieces...and where would she even bring it?
So, her answer was fire. She had used the remaining sunlight she had left to gather enough kindling and she began slowly with the blaze. It was enough of a stench that perforated through her make-do camp—it was enough to wean her off the idea of ever thinking of a creature this large as food anytime soon.
The moon had begun to rise and she kept the fire burning as long as she could to erase the risk this bear’s corpse could continue to have on the environment around it. A few times some smaller animals like squirrels or strange mutated rodents she couldn’t place approached her site and she had to shoo them away with a long stick she had used to pick at the fire.
When the blaze had died down for good she felt a wave of exhaustion sweep over her. The sky seemed to be a lighter purple in response to the glowing scarlet embers that sent ash offerings to the void of space. She felt at peace for the moment for having done something for a greater good—knowing the people of Bannes would have one less thing to worry about carried her into her slumber.
When her eyes shut fully she opened them immediately and knew she was dreaming. She stood in a darkened void with a single spotlight over her figure—illuminating a grassy field underneath her feet—but outside the spotlight the void continued.
“How long are you going to walk?” A voice from the depths echoed—it was one part unsettling and one part familiar.
“Until I can’t,” Ally responded. She felt an inner strength come from her voice—even if she didn’t feel it within herself. “I will keep going until I am satisfied.”
“Satisfied...will you ever be satisfied?” The voice boomed. “How many will you try to save? How many will you fail?”
Ally thought on the question—it was one that long ago would send her to her knees in denial. She expelled those thoughts from her mind and took a step out toward the darkness.
“It doesn’t matter how much I fail. I will not let that keep me from trying.”
A second spotlight clicked on, and standing in the center of it were Rosemary and Josephine Higgins. They were some of Ally’s closest friends back when she was at Nassau Middle School. They unfortunately did not make it to the end of the term as they were embroiled in the plot Lilly had cooked up to get revenge on Ashley Evans, who also did not make it to the end of the term.
It was a strange distinction—as it was most likely that none of her classmates were still alive in this new world, and that thought was the first to make her sad here. Her spotlight dimmed, closing in around her feet.
“You couldn’t have saved us,” Rosemary began, but she realized her tone could have been misunderstood, she looked down and then she corrected. “It wasn’t your responsibility to know things you couldn’t. I didn’t know the whole plan...and I’m attached to her.”
Rosemary and Josephine were conjoined twins—that fact did not make them very popular at Nassau when the student base already had a problem with a very noticeable class divide. It was unfortunate, because the two of them were the nicest girls Ally had the pleasure of meeting—even in this new world. Their lives had ended much too soon—they could have been such a force of good in this world.
“You still can be, for us,” Josephine said. She looked more down than her sister, after all she must have felt responsible for having some responsibility in what happened. “I’m...sorry, Ally. I never wanted what happened. I didn’t think it would spiral out of control...and I never knew just what Lilly could do—that power of hers.
“I’m sure I’ll see her soon on this path. I’ve read enough stories to tell that this is my mind healing itself—making that take place with the images of you all—the people I loved.
“You say that as if in doubt,” Rosemary said. “You still doubt your own power?”
“My power?” Ally asked.
“It’s something unique to you—I don’t fully understand why, we never were too well read, but I can see something is unique with you. You’re accessing something much grander than yourself, now. Maybe someday you can do it while you’re consciously thinking about it, but it is us...we are here with you now.”
Ally’s heart caught in her throat and she stood still, frozen. She of course knew she had the ability to make Jace corporeal—and she had a power she hadn’t fully understood, but was this truly a factor of that?
“How...is that even possible?”
“If you’re asking us for a concrete answer,” Josephine began, “I don’t know.” She shook her head. “But if you are right, you might be able to ask Lilly.”
This possibility had never occurred to her. The thought of getting the closure she had searched so long for...she felt like she could cry.
“Come here and give us a hug,” Rosemary looked at her with tears in her eyes. “I can’t move out of this light here, but I think if you come over here we can manage it.”
Ally wiped a tear from her own eye and nodded, sniffling. She approached the twins and held them close, then breaking down, holding them tighter. They embraced her back and the three girls cried together.
“I think it is time for us to go, it was lovely seeing you again, Ally. You look so strong now. Older, too.”
“I’m stronger,” she nodded. “I promised myself I would get stronger—to make things better because of what happened to you guys.”
Rosemary smiled. “You’ve become a true hero. I hope we can talk again soon, and maybe you can tell us about those stories we were planning to make together.”
Ally smiled. “I would love that.”
The both of them smiled and they faded to black as their light started to dim. She felt a soothing wind pass her and then the voice from before returned.
“How far will you walk?”
“Until I am satisfied,” Ally said. “And she had an idea of what the voice was getting at. She started to walk through the darkness—the spotlight following her every step and trailing forward a path. She would walk until she got the answers that satisfied her.
Throughout the dark she felt another familiar sensation pulling her heart north—wherever north happened to be in this space connecting her mind to…
The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.
She stopped as George Fae appeared before her. He was wearing an embarrassing Hawaiian shirt and the khaki shorts Jaclyn always threatened in jest she’d get rid of. The sight of him brought such a large smile to her face she ran over to him and threw her arms around him.
“Wha-hey!” He called, his eyes lighting up as he saw her. “Well I’ll be...I never thought I’d see you again, sport.”
“I thought so too. I...never got to tell you how...much I missed you. You and Jaclyn. I felt like…” she had to stop to keep the tears back—they came so easily now. “I felt like with you I was the happiest I had been with a family.”
“Well, that makes my heart warm with love, but I have to ask, why did you leave? Where did you go? I...I’m not really sure where I am now. Last I remember was…” He thought on it, his eyes rolling up and to the left as his mind searched for answers.
“I think...that is probably best answered if she were here too, you think?”
“Well, I guess so,” he said, placing a hand on her back. “Let’s see, I think she’s over…” his face fell to a puzzled look. “Hm, I’m not sure where she is at the moment...no wait, she’s over here!” He pointed, and she faded slowly into frame, a third spotlight clicking on underneath her feet.
“Oh my god!” She cried as she saw both of them. “I’ve been looking for you two both since…” her face fell to the same sort of puzzled look. “How…long have I been out? The last thing I remember is…”
“I’m back, but I’m going to have to leave soon,” Ally said, drawing both of their attention. “There’s a lot you don’t know, and a lot I didn’t know back then, but I want you both to know I am so very thankful for you two taking me in. I...was not in a good place back then, a lot of things have happened in my past and I was on my last legs until you found me. Although our time together was short, I’ve kept it close in my heart these last few years...yes, years.”
She predicted both of their looks of confusion and then sudden realization that they were looking at her as she was now—age 21 and not the 13 year old they had known.
“It’s been almost ten years since we last saw each other,” she said, slowly so they could piece the age difference together themselves. “The world is a lot different now...as far as I can understand it, it seems powerful creatures—like the one that cast that shield over the school—have transformed the world and how it looks. A lot of people died...including the both of you.”
She expected looks of shock, but understood the both of them must have suspected it due to the gaps in their memory. “It came fast, like a snap of a finger,” Ally spoke. “That would explain why you still think it is 2022, why those days seem so fresh to you. I don’t know why you were…” she let the implication hang, “but I didn’t. I’ve been living since. Ever since that day I’ve been looking for the creature—that being that did that to Nassau Middle School.”
“What kind of monster is it?” George asked, still thinking of the time he went out to try and rescue his foster daughter from the bubble of darkness.
“It’s strange, but it isn’t so much a monster rather than another type of…” she thought about how to word it. “person.”
“Person?” Jaclyn asked. “How do you mean?”
“It had a name, it was called Issachar. It could speak—although it acted like a ghost—speaking through others. It knew our language, knew of us as people. It was trying to solve a murder...that specific story is one for another day, I think. It’s much too long for here, I think my time with you is limited as it is.”
“But you’re safe...out there? Out there in that new world?”
Ally looked from him to Jaclyn and nodded, her eyes welling up with tears again. “I’ve had to learn a lot of new things and I’ve lived through some hard times, but I am safe. There are some friends I’ve made I’m trying to look for, but I’ve...well, I guess a lot of it involves stories that are much too long for now.”
“Well, we’re very happy to hear that,” George said. “You’ve made me very proud. The most I could want for you is to grow into your own—to move past those troubles that kept you held down. I know we were in over our heads in taking you in—you had a lot of troubles weighing in over your head and we didn’t have much experience in helping with that...but if we could give you a place where you could feel safe…” he started to choke up. “If you felt like you could begin to process things then I don’t regret it a single moment. I am so proud of you.”
Jaclyn nodded. “I wish we could have spent more time together to really give you more to prepare you for what you’re dealing with now, but if you’ve found this way to talk to us...we would be honored to have that time where we can.”
“I don’t know exactly how I’ve done this to be honest, but now that I know I can…” she nodded. “I am going to tell you all about how I’ve honored the Fae name.”
She couldn’t hug them both together—they had arrived a few feet away from each other, but she hugged each of them tighter than she ever remembered doing for anybody—even the twins before them.
“I’m going to move forward now—I still have someone I need to speak with.”
“It’s that Lillian girl, ain’t it?” George asked. “I could never muster the courage to ask...but you liked her, didn’t you?” He looked at her with a soft, contemplative look.
“It’s complicated,” Ally said, “but I hope this meeting will do much to uncomplicate that answer.” She nodded at him and smiled small.
He nodded back, and echoed his previous pride in her. She smiled as the both of them began to fade back into darkness. When she was alone again she continued on walking—the light continuing to follow her as it had before. She knew who was next, and as scared as she was to face her, she knew this was what she had searched for all along.
She held her breath until the light around her expanded and contracted with her own pace. If she focused it would envelop a space about three times as large as what surrounded her previously. She now walked with a confident stride in what was a hesitant pacing toward the inevitability.
From deep within her she sought this destination as it were a finality where nothing mattered afterward, but the truth of the matter was that this was only a meeting—and it was everything thereafter that mattered the most. The meeting would have happened—she believed in fate and through such it was most important her strength to face her greatest fear.
Light bloomed in the distance and she knew she had found what she was looking for. Inside the blossom a woman came into view—her jet black hair fell against her shoulders and her eyes opened slowly. As soon as the two of them made eye contact the world around them filled with virtuous light. What used to be a lush field shifted immediately into a once familiar room—her bedroom.
She stood next to her bed and Lillian Jones stood as if she’s just walked into the room. The air was silent and Ally felt like her heart was tightened in her own fist.
“It has been so long,” she said. “I have searched for you for so long…”
“Come again to my torment...this cycle never ends,” Lilly said, looking anywhere but at Ally. “It never ends…” she whispered.
“It’s me. I’m here, and as much as it makes sense, you are too.”
Lilly looked back up at her, taking her in now fully. To Ally, she looked as she did the last day she saw her all those years ago. The face she never thought she’d see again...here she was standing right in front of her.
“You’ve never answered me before…” Lilly began. A tear formed in her eye. “I’ve cried to you, begged for you to understand. I’ve apologized, screamed, I’ve tried everything in this endless torment and you’ve never once answered me. You’ve merely just looked at me, judging me like everybody else I see here. It’s the eyes. It was the disappointment...that most of all from you I couldn’t stand I…” She fell back and caught herself against the wall. Ally made no move yet. She was still feeling a sense of unreality seeing her.
“Did you ever love me?” Ally asked.
Lilly’s eyes darted to Ally and they met and held each other’s gaze. As scared as she was, she knew the answer.
“I did. And it scared the living hell out of me,” Lilly said. “I was scared you’d see the parts of me I tried to hide.”
“There are parts of you that scared me,” Ally began. “I didn’t know what they were at first. I think it made you seem mythical...mysterious. It allured me to you in ways I couldn’t have comprehended.”
Lilly knew better than to answer this, and instead let Ally continue.
“I’ve grown up a lot since I knew you. I’ve fallen in love since I met you, and I lost that love similarly...but I’ve grown.”
“How old are you now...out there?” Lilly asked. Her voice was little more than a whisper.
Ally took a deep breath and blinked a few times to steady herself for the answer. “I’m twenty-one. The world is...much different out there. More fit for someone like you...someone with the strength to bite back. I don’t think it was right what you did...but since then I’ve done a lot of things like the things you did. I can’t say I’m any superior...I just want you to know that I forgive you.”
Lilly burst into tears, and it was that sight that choked her up.
“I’m ready to accept what you did to me, and how much I tried to do for you. I recognize we were not in good places, and the choices we made were what we thought were in our best interest. Justice has been handed down, and I finally...forgive you. And I forgive myself for holding onto this so long, but I couldn’t let myself rest until I was able to tell you in person—the boundary of death be damned.”
“So...that’s it, then. I’m dead...my body is finally dead? In here...I just see you. I see Rosie and Josie too—but they’re the same. Just silently looking at me, disapprovingly.”
“I can’t control their spirits, it seems like they are still here, I would work that out with them separately, but I think after tonight you should stop seeing me, and I’ll finally stop seeing you.” She swallowed hard.
“I’m going to miss you...but that’s for the best...for you. I want you to be happy...are you happy?”
The figure in front of her started to fade—she knew she was on the verge of waking up. She nodded, and as Lilly faded from view she knew that was the last time her eyes would haunt her dreams.
“I am finally happy.”
Ally’s eyes opened and she looked at the red sky above. The sun had just started to rise and Ally was up, working and gathering branches and logs to support the idea that burned brightly in her mind. She saw a shape and so she saw fit to carve it out of anything she could—the idea came simply as Jace appeared behind her—she looked to him and in one look he knew what she had in mind.
He handed her the crystal that reflected a thousand shades—the White Monolith. She felt the energy flowing from her fingertips as it allowed her to sculpt from the crystal—as if working it like a molten metal. She said not a word and simply allowed the shape in her mind to exist in front of her. The crystal resonated and she felt like she could see eyes within—they were different colors—one blue and the other hazel. They didn’t seem human—in fact they seemed like they came from a scaled snout.
The eyes reflected all over what was now a shined bow fashioned from the small palm-sized gem she held before. Deep within her body she felt vibrations of a deeper presence within the gem. The drawstring was a golden thread and she saw golden etchings work their way across the bow in ornate patterns.
“Looks like your intuition was right…” Jace said, staring at it up and down.
Allison.
The voice stood her to attention and she saw herself not where she was—but in a vast hallway that seemed to stretch backward to infinity. In front of her was a giant pit where the form of a dragon rested. Its scales were a glistening white with similar golden markings stretching across its body. Giant butterfly wings flapped to keep it afloat—a single wing looked to be several dozen times larger than her. Ally looked up in awe.
I am Leptous. You are worthy blood to accept my power if you so accept my pact.
Ally stared up at the behemoth and thought back in response. “What power would you have to give? And why should I chain myself to another?”
Bold and yet still curious. Quite unlike the other who I’ve formed a pact with.
“Other?” Ally asked, and then she recalled the stories Laven had told of a situation just as similar as this, then she looked up. “You’d make me strong like Laven?”
I would offer you strength when you draw from the bow. You have domain over my weapon. I seek only one thing as payment for power. And that is the elimination of the foul creature that shares my memories.”
“What kind of creature is that?” Ally asked.
I require you to kill Ormus. I have searched your memories and know you know this name.
Ally took a step back. “That’s…”
I understand your hesitation, yet I will impart on you information before you make your decision too hastily. Will you at least hear me out?
She stared into the eyes of the dragon and didn’t feel an immediate urge to turn and run. As crazy as the thought was...she felt compelled to listen. She nodded slowly and looked up—assuming a more neutral stance.
Ormus is a shadow I have been plagued to share an existence with. You are hesitant because you believe this a journey to kill your father. Be not concerned—as that shadow that wears a human face is not your father. And to make it clear, I am not your father either. We are both shades of a man that used to live in a world similar to the one you do—but specifically not the same. That man...he was your father.
“Is there really a difference?” Ally asked.
All the difference in the world. Think on it, what connection do you have to this shadow? What relationship do you think you will forge with a monster like that? A monster that has left you for nothing and with nothing...do you kid yourself to believe that it would drop its ambitions to be your father?
Ally bit her lip and thought on the shape she remembered seeing in the memories Issachar shared with her. She remembered the regret emanating off of the figure as she was dropped on the doorstep of that one couple all those years ago—she couldn’t remember anything about them now.
She hadn’t been so naive to think that if she encountered Ormus that he would do as Leptous said—she honestly didn’t know what she would do. She could yell, she could cry, but at the end of the day the feelings that sat deepest in her heart were sad—they were of the hurt she had felt at being rejected and left alone.
She was far from those days now where the idea of ending her own life seemed to be the most sensible option, but that didn’t mean she would forget the pain and how sharp it had inflicted on her. And this was caused by another—it was directly and intentionally caused. She didn’t ask to be born, she didn’t ask to suffer all that she had. And she’s lost so much along the way.
“You say this, but as part of my father’s being, don’t you take responsibility for your actions?” She asked, her gaze now fierce and determinant.
I am full of memories of the life of Gavin Daniels...that was the name of your father. Ormus goes by that name now—pretending like he is whole...a fool’s errand. I am angered by this as I am angered by my own actions. I regret the pain I have caused, while he pretends he is still working toward good. You may wonder why I don’t kill him myself...and that is because of my current state of being—trapped within this gem. I have attempted to extend my influence out to reach those who would assist me...your friend being one of them.
“And so you have them do your work for you?” Ally asked, a note of suspicion in her voice.
It is not slave labor. I offer power in exchange for help. I cannot force anybody to help me, and nor would I desire so. It is most fortunate you have come into possession of my prison—as I am able to offer a much clearer channel to my power...that is, if you accept my terms.
“So...you hope to fix what you’ve done, is that what I’m getting from this?”
It is. I am. There are others like me—fragments of the shadows who seek out their former power. Those who fight against the dark. If you are to meet up and assemble them—even help them unite with their treasure…
“You mean the Monoliths?”
They go by many names to many different people. In truth they are the hearts of the world you inhabit. Powerful and unlimited in their power when gathered. They are the source of the shadows searches and if you seek to stop their goals—if you wish to form the pact—then searching out the rest of them is your best chance.
“Well...you’re in luck, because I was already pretty set on helping my friends find the rest of them...but unfortunately I got separated from them.”
Is that an agreement?
“Yeah, I think it is,” Ally looked up and took in a deep breath, letting it out slowly and clasping her fists together, tight. “I will accept your power, and in exchange I will search out the Monoliths and the others like you...and I will put an end to Ormus…”
Very well. Accept my strength as your own. Take hold of the bow before you and let its arrows fly as far and deep as your determination.
Ally closed her eyes and felt a powerful surging of wind through her body—working its way from her feet all the way up to her head. She felt like she could leap off a building and take off flying into the sunset, but she opened her eyes and was back next to Jace—the bow glimmered in her hands. A name rang in her mind and she held it tight.
Ichaival.
Jace looked in awe from the bow to Ally. “You looked spaced out there for a moment, are you okay?” And then sudden realization caught up to him—it was perhaps the first time that something she knew was something he had not—and his grin grew wide. “Oh shit...wait, so are you like a goddess now?”
Ally cracked a grin. “I wouldn’t say goddess...but I am feeling...good.” She looked down and made a motion toward the drawstring and suddenly she felt a tension between her fingers. She pulled back and light began to pool into the shape of an arrow—it pulsed as she drew it back—the strain was considerable on her arm as she was not used to the motion.
She took a deep breath and refocused and drew back once more, looking to the sky and shooting upward. The beam of light erupted and coursed a trail into the sky until it reached its apex where it exploded like a firework.
“That would be very useful if you’re ever lost and need to signal for help,” Jace said.
“Or if we’re exploring through a cave...or need to take out multiple things at once…” the possibilities started running through her mind and she had meant what she had said before. I feel good. I feel stronger...I have to find the others. LUCAS...Laven, and anymore they may find along the way.
Ally turned to Jace, “You know...I think I did remember hearing there was a traveling seer who frequents Draymont. Do you think if I had him try he could try to find Laven? I’m sure LUCAS is with her—I really want to reunite with them both.”
“I don’t see why not...but what about that dragon you met...Leptous? Does he have the power to find her?”
“I don’t think I can speak to him anymore—and if I could I wouldn’t know how to begin. It isn’t like how I can just call you and you show up.”
Jace made a mischievous sort of smile, “Well now you’re making me out to be a callboy.”
“If the shoe fits,” Ally grinned.
“Well maybe it doesn’t fit,” Jace joked.
“It fits if I say it does.”
“Touché.”
Ally held the bow down and it started to glow even brighter, shrinking back down to the size of the Monolith. It was small enough that she could fit it in her palm fully concealed—but she worried about losing such an important artifact.
“Here, I can hold onto it until you need it and can pass it to you when you do,” He reached out toward her.
“By pass I hope you don’t mean toss. You’re as bad a thrower as I am a catcher.”
“We really are fucked at this whole surviving thing, aren’t we?” Jace said, and the both of them burst out laughing.
“Thank you, Jace. For being here, being someone to bounce ideas off of...and I don’t want to hear any of this oh well you can thank yourself because you made me. No, I think it’s pretty blatant at this point that you’ve grown into your own distinct person. And that is a person I need to thank.”
“Well, if you really want to thank me maybe you can write some more of my story,” Jace winked.
“Consider it a team effort and you got yourself a deal...but we probably should meet up with the others before we lay anything concrete down.”
“I can agree to that,” Jace said.
“All right, well I think then we should get going—the sun isn’t going to be up forever and I want to test how this bow affects wild game for future reference.”
“Yeah...I think it would be good to make sure if you’re using it for stunning you don’t completely incinerate your opponent with the fire of a thousand suns.”
“Exactly...or completely char any meat I intend to eat.”
“Also a valid point.”
Ally handed him the Monolith and he smiled at her and he faded from view. Ally looked down at her own hands to see markings wrap around her hands—they were golden lines that ran in concentric circles up to her elbows. As she looked at them they faded to a faint blue color against the color of her skin—they looked like tattoos now more than anything.
She secretly admired how they looked on Laven—and admittedly had thought that she was beautiful the first time they had met. Though it was more than obvious that she and LUCAS were...well they were something. In her short time with them neither of them had specified—it seemed they were in the early stages of their...something. The last thing she wanted to do is intrude on a something. But she had no trouble at all admitting that to herself.
“That’s okay, champ,” Jace said. “I’ll keep an eye out for your next boy toy or gal pal...pal’s a little to hetero for me...hm...I’ll have to think on a better taunt for the female persuasion.”
“Or you can avoid it altogether,” Ally said, but he knew she smiled at it.
Jace flashed a grin and faded once more.
When she was ready she hiked up her bag and zipped it tight—she didn’t want a repeat of the time a stray latch came loose and she lost all but her spare clothes. That was such a deflating experience.
She began her walk and looked up at the sun who had just started to climb into the sky. She felt a resonance with the sun that she hadn’t before, and felt an inner light shine just a little bit brighter.