The spring was nice and cool, bringing my body out of the hot and humid air. It was incredible how different the weather could be when traveling far distances. It was technically still winter, even this far south, which made me worried for what summer was like in the Marble City. If it was worse than this, then I’d have to learn how to conjure a full set of ice armor just to keep the heat away.
I sat on a smooth rock under the water and rested my back against another, enjoying the soothing spring. It had already been a month since we left Dousin, and we were only halfway through our journey, and that was with the swift lisyfe’s pulling us along. Looking at the different maps Rhys used for navigation really opened up my eyes to just how large Vistaria, and the continent, were. The world was so much wider than Dousin or Corvin. So much to see and I’d barely scratched the surface of it.
I stretched my arms and legs, then opened my Soul to the Nex all around me. I could feel the entire spring. Every droplet of water was clear in my mind and I could feel every creature in its shallows, including all the other people. Rhys, his workers, my mother, and Isla had all found their own private corners of the spring, and I now knew where all of them were. Embarrassed by my intrusion, I slowed the flow of Nex down to a trickle, just enough that I was only connected to the small amount of water around me. Then, I got to work.
As usual, my magic training came down to sculpture design. I had tried forming a few spells, like the water scythe or my whirlpool spell, but quickly exhausted myself without gaining any improvement. So, with no other ideas in mind, I started crafting a new piece of art. I wished Restivus or Nayu had given me other ways to improve my magic, but this method was effective. My control over water was nearing perfection, and shaping it had become much easier, but the power of my spells was abysmal. If I had been able to increase the strength of my spells, then I would've been able to take out that last mathear that night.
“Then I might’ve been able to save you,” I said to the now frozen figure in my hands.
My new creation was one I had been working on over the past month, now finally perfected. It was Morrison, his sword in its sheath on his side and a spear in his right hand. He was wearing a smirk, the same one he used to have when he was about to tease one of us, and a small flask could be seen peeking out of one of his pockets, the same one I now carried in my bag. He stood on a small platform with a single word inscribed on the front. It read, “Hero.”
“You might not have wanted to be called that, but you definitely are one.”
“Did you finally finish making your action figure?” a voice called to my right.
I was so startled I tried to stand, forgetting my injury, and fell back down in the water, submerging myself. I found my footing, using the large rock I was just laying against to prop myself against, and stood up out of the water, trying to catch my breath. Isla was standing over on the bank, her hair still wet and clothes damp. She looked better cleaned, more like an actual girl rather than a wild animal. Ronan was sitting beside her, wagging his tail, clearly enjoying my stumble earlier. A small blob-shaped wisp of air floated above him, dancing on the hot air he gave off.
“Did you forget the concept of privacy while you were up on that mountain?” I asked her, ignoring my own actions earlier.
She stared blankly at me, “You're really skinny, you know? Like, really skinny. You kind of look like a toothpick.”
I felt heat rise in my cheeks and looked down at myself. It was true, unfortunately. I never gained much muscle definition, even with all the rigorous exercise Restivus put me through, but what I had gained in that time was all gone now. “You’re one to talk!” I yelled back, covering myself with my arms.
She was still incredibly thin, a residual of her old ‘mountain hermit’ look. She still hadn’t completely lost all of her wild appearance, despite being clean now. My mother had been feeding her non-stop the last month, terrified that she would keel over and die any minute from starvation.
“I have a valid reason, at least,” she said, patting her belly. “What are you covering up for, by the way? It’s not like you’re naked.”
“Well excuse me for not wanting you to make a comment about every part of my body.”
Isla laughed. “Relax, Sean. I’m not here to tell you how ugly you are. It’s about time we talked. You’ve been leaving me hanging for a month now, and I’m tired of waiting. Put a shirt on and follow me.”
“Nayu was right. You really do talk a lot,” I mumbled
Her head whirled around, “What was that?”
“I’m coming!” I yelled.
It had taken her all month to start speaking like a normal person around me, rather than a cautious animal. She still kept everyone else at a wide berth though, including mother. It felt good, being acknowledged as someone trustworthy by her, but I was a bit annoyed by how long it took. She opened up to Nayu in only a night. Though, only losing to some kind of ultra powerful beast wasn’t the worst kind of second place.
I sighed, crafting the ice prosthetic around my leg and walking out of the spring. She was right. I had been avoiding this topic for too long. Even though I didn’t want to talk about reincarnation at all, I owed it to her to tell her what I know. I didn’t have to tell her everything, though. Just the important things. My past memories didn’t need to be shared, and I doubted she’d share hers with me too. The only problem was I didn’t know if I should tell her about Blair or not.
I threw on my shirt after drying off, then followed Isla over to a clearing just a short walk into the woods. Isla sat on a rock covered in moss, and I took a seat on a stump next to it while Roan lay down in some nelly burnt grass. I wondered who had cut the tree down, but then I remembered there was a village close by. I had seen it on one of Rhys’ maps. It was some kind of farming village, the people there making use of the flat forests that were west of the Endevis mountain range. It made sense that they’d settled right next to a beautiful spring. A perfect place to get water for their crops and for their people. I wondered what the village looked like. Maybe we could visit before–
“Sean!” Isla yelled in my ear.
“Huh? What? Wha?” I stammered.
“What’s wrong with you? I’ve been trying to get your attention ever since you sat down, but you blanked out on me for a while. Are you okay?”
“Uh, yeah. I’m fine,” I answered, filing away my thoughts about the village for later. Maybe I could visit it, and the spring, sometime in the future?
“Don’t disappear like that again, okay? I’m not letting you run from this conversation again.”
I gulped down the urge to say, “Sorry, but I’m not feeling well,” and to run away. I nodded to her.
“So… what do you know? I mean you’ve said a few things, but I don’t really know much.”
“Honestly, I don’t really know much either,” I said, looking into the grass. I decided to finally rip off the band-aid. “You were born without memories, right?”
She nodded. “Not one. It was… terrifying.”
“Have you had any dreams? Anything you suspect being from your old self?”
Her eyebrow quirked up in confusion. “I– I have, yes. But they’re confusing and jumbled, nothing that gives me any clues to who I am.”
“You mean who you were,” I said.
“Er… I guess. Have you had those dreams as well?”
I swallowed. “I have, but it’s the same as you. None of them really tell me much about my old self’s life.”
“I see. Though, this may mean we could get most of our memories back with time. At least, I hope so.”
“Yeah,” I mumbled.
“I remember you saying something that night. Something about our birthdays.”
I flinched, forced to make a decision. “It was just a hunch. Hearing about a kid that had the same birthday as mine and survived years alone in the wilderness made me wonder if it was possible. I wasn’t certain until you told me that night.”
It felt bad to lie to her, especially when she was just trying to find answers and I was the only one that could give her some. However, I didn’t want to bring up Blair. There was no reason to, not with us leaving Dousin. If I was lucky, I’d never have to see him again. Out of sight, out of mind.
“I see, just a hunch,” she responded. “Then why did you risk your life on such a hunch?”
I looked up to find her staring at me, her brown eyes boring into mine. I wondered what my face looked like right now. Shock? Confusion? Fear? I didn’t know how to answer her. What reason would I have for going to save her when I could have died. Who would be stupid enough to run into monster filled woods to save someone condemned to die. I smiled a little, then felt my body go slack. I stared back down at the grass, remembering something that he once told me. “It’s a sad thing, having nothing left,” I said.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
I looked up again to see her eyes go wide. “You came to save me… because I didn’t have anyone else to do it?”
I nodded. It’s what he would’ve done. It’s what I should do. Ronan grumbled, looked up at us, then dragged himself over to lay his head in my lap. His head was warm, just like his Soul. Except, a part of his Soul wasn’t warm. It was cold, dull, and lifeless, yet more comforting at the same time. I scratched the top of his head. “Yes,” I answered her.
She finally looked away from me, staring off into the trees instead. Silence filled the air for several long and uncomfortable minutes. “Thank you,” she blurted out, “For that night. I never got the chance to say it back then, nor until now. So, thank you for saving my life, Sean.”
A smile crept onto my face, and I let out a small chuckle. “Anytime. You are my sister now. Family.”
“Older sister,” she corrected.
My smile fell into a blank stare. “Are you kidding me? You seriously need to be the older sister that bad?! I said that in Nayu’s cave as a joke, you know?”
She looked back over to me and placed a hand on her cheek in mock shock. “Oh dear me, if Only I had known back then. Perhaps things could have been different. Alas, as your elder sister, it’s up to me to teach you how to make things clearer in the future.”
I scoffed, then stood and started walking back to the carriages. Ronan followed, his growl strangely sounding like a laugh.
“Hey wait up for me!” Isla called behind us, but I walked as fast as I could.
When I got to the carriages I found no one else there. Rhys and his men were clearly still enjoying their break and the spring, and mother had probably found a secluded place to be alone at. I looked down at Ronan, who was trying to stamp out a flower he had set on fire, and scratched behind his ear. “Go find Mother and keep her company.”
Ronan grunted, then ran off towards the spring. I headed to the covered carriage Rhys had placed my family in and opened the back of it. Inside was Winter, who was huddled up close to a half melted black of ice. Her eyes opened wide at the sound of me coming in and she chirped, but she didn’t move towards me. “Sorry girl. Here, I’ll make another one.”
I moved some water out of one of the sacs at my side, molding it into a cube shape next to Winter, then froze it. It solidified quickly, giving winter more cold air. She cooed, and I scratched under her beak. She was fairing far worse than I was with the hotter climate, and couldn’t stand it even more. She wasn’t made out of ice, though her looks could be deceiving, but I wouldn’t have been surprised if she started melting after being out for too long. I wondered if there was some kind of magical refrigeration system in the Marble City I could stash her in, but I doubted it.
“I know it sucks, but we're just going to have to get used to it.”
Winter leaned into my scratches, not paying any attention to my words. I sighed.
“Sean!” Isla yelled from outside. “Sean!”
I left the carriage and stared at her. She was out of breath and her face was flushed. “What?” I asked.
“I told you I wasn’t letting you run away from this conversation, asshole!”
“What do you mean? Memories and birthdays. We already talked about it all.”
“That’s… that’s it? There’s nothing more?”
“No, that’s all we ever figured out. There was nothing else. No idea how we got here, no idea if someone brought us here.
“We?” She asked.
“Uh… yeah. You and me. That’s all I know.”
She stood in though for a while. “I guess I shouldn't be surprised. I don’t know why I suspected you to know more. We’re in the same boat, you and I.”
“We all are,” someone said from behind me. Mother and Ronan were walking back from the spring, her hair a mess and her eyes tired. “What were you two talking about?”
“Uh… uh we were… uh… we…” Isla stuttered.
“About the trip, Mother,” I answered. “We're all in it together. It’s hard, but we have each other.”
Mother smiled, the honey-like look filling me with joy, and I returned the expression. “I see,” she said, “I’m glad. As long as were all safe, I’m happy.”
Isla tried to speak again, “Thank– thank you Mo– Moth–”
“Take your time, Isla,” my mother cut her off, “We have another month before you have to start calling me that. I appreciate it, though.”
“Thank you,” Isla finally managed, but then she ran towards me and into the carriage. It was still startling to see how quickly her personality could change around other people, but it was nothing new.
“I guess she’s still frightened,” Mother said.
“She’ll come around to you soon,” I reassured her.
She smiled again, “I hope so, little bird.”
Within the next hour, Rhys and his men returned, and we continued our journey to the Marble City.
*****
The Endevis Mountain Range traveled all the way from the north to the south of Vistaria, splitting the two relatively flat areas of the country, The Bloodied Plains to the east and the forests to the west, in half. As the mountains traveled south, their height lessened and range thinned. The only outlier, the tallest mountain in the southern province of Vistaria, was Mount Pearl, where the Marble City was.The mountain had two peaks, having been split in half by some kind of meteor millenia ago, far before the first king arrived on the continent and founded the capital city. The city was built there, in between the two towering peaks, and I was now finally seeing it with my own eyes.
We were still a few kilometers out, just coming out of the forest in a giant vineyard that spread out for hundreds of acres outside the city walls. I heard Rhys scoff behind us when we exited the woods. I looked out of our carriage and watched him spit towards the plants. “Damned Lord Vine, hogging all of the customers with his shit wine,” Rhys said, spitting again. He turned his attention forward, catching me staring at him. A small smile came across his lips, only for it to fall away right after. “Excuse my language, kid. This city just rubs me the wrong way is all. It’s not as bad as Dousin with all their restrictions and such, but it’s easier to tell who's in charge up there. Only one big noble running the show in that city, but in the capital, it’s way different. Everyone is vying for power and money here, and the city isn’t big enough for all their gold sniffing noses. Their greed knows no bounds here, and they’ll try to take everything you have. Watch yourself while you're here, Sean.”
“Rhys, you’re literally a merchant who sells things for twice the market value.”
Rhys smiled again, this one actually looking genuine. “Maybe that’s why I fit in so well, I guess,” he shrugged. “The wine made in these fields is supposedly some high end, ultra valuable stuff that sends nobles into a frenzy just to get one bottle, only for them to stick in a glass case and never drink it. Of course if they did, they would know it tastes like piss.”
I eyed him suspiciously. “Have you ever actually had it, Rhys?”
“Of course not! This shit,” he pointed to the fields, “is three hundred gold coins for a bottle! I could buy a house in some random field in the plains, settle down with a wife, have two kids, and still have a few coins left over for that kind of money!”
My eyes widened, “Uh… yeah. That is kind of ridiculous.”
Rhys sighed, “Ah, sorry for ranting on you. Lord Vine is the worst of the worst, Sean. Greedier than a dragon, but he’s somehow convinced anyone with any kind of power that his wine is worth the price. Not all of them are as bad as him. Still bad, but not that bad.”
“Thanks Rhys. I’ll keep that in mind.”
“It’ll do you good if you do, kid.”
I let the curtain of our covered carriage fall, blocking my view from Rhys, and walked back to the front. I stuck my head out, turning my attention back to the city. We had moved much closer now, almost to the walls. The five meter tall construction was made purely of chalk white marble, curving in a crescent outwards from one peak to the other. It met the cliff face of each half of the mountain, which contained the same material the wall was made out of, and merged seamlessly into it.
There were three gates in the wall, each having two small towers on either side of the giant doors. The only other thing that broke up the smooth pattern of the wall was a giant opening for the river that flowed out of the city and west into the forest. The water had a crystalline look to it, the sun shining off of something in the water. “Small, tiny pieces of marble,” I realized, staring even harder at the water.
“Woah!” I heard a man yell up ahead.
One of the city guards, a man at the front gate, was holding his hand out in front of one of the lisfye’s hauling the front carriage. I heard Rhys grunt behind us, then watched him walk up to the guard. “What seems to be the problem, friend?” The guard took a long look at Rhys, squinted, then held out his hand. Rhys placed a small card in the man’s open palm. “We have permission to sell within the city, in accordance with the King’s laws.”
The gate guard stared at the card, then looked back up at Rhys and scoffed. “I’m well aware of what his Majesty deems legal and illegal, you worm.” he spit at Rhys’ feet, then handed the card back to him. “Declare your beasts, then we’ll search the carts. You can,” the man paused, gritting his teeth, “Enter after we’re done.”
“Thank you for your hospitality,” Rhys said with a light bow. “We have eight lisyfes, two pulling each cart, and the family traveling with us has a Sairla, a wisp, and a… I apologize, but I don’t know the other creature's name. It’s some kind of crystal owl.”
The guard wrote each of the creatures down on some kind of list. “Are all of them registered?” he asked.
“Our lisyfes are, yes. However, the family is from Dousin, and thus have never been in a city with a Beast Registrar. They plan to meet with the nearest one as soon as we enter the city.”
The guard humphed. “Fine. I’ll have one of mine let Gaige know. He typically deals with most new beast registrations on this side of the city. Here are the directions,” the man handed him a slip of paper as well as the card back, and Rhys took them.
“Thank you very much, sir.”
“Whatever. The faster we make this, the quicker I don’t have to look at you anymore. Boys! Search the carts!”
Rhys walked back to the carriage he was driving and grabbed the reins for his lisyfes. “You’re really not going to do anything?” I asked him.
Rhys raised an eyebrow, “And what exactly were you expecting me to do?”
“I don’t know, get angry at the guard for spitting at you? I’ve seen you when one of your employees starts complaining when you tell them to do something. You're definitely not the worst boss ever, but I definitely wouldn’t complain too much if I worked for you. So I don’t get why you just let him disrespect you.”
“Maybe I should think about hiring you, then,” Rhys’ face filled itself with a smile again, but it was the smaller, obviously forced one. “Let's just say some guards and people don’t exactly like traveling merchants like myself, even in this city. No matter where I go, at least someone will treat me like shit. It’s just something I have to live with. Even if I picked a fight with each and every one of them, the scrutiny wouldn’t stop. Plus, if I started yelling and screaming at the guy, he would never let us in. Then I wouldn’t be able to sell all this crap and be out of money, and you and your family wouldn’t get to where you need to go.”
“So you just give up because you think it's hopeless?” I asked.
Rhys thought for a while. “More like, I wait for the moment when I actually think it would do some good. ‘Pick you fights,’ or whatever they say. Though, there hasn’t been many times where I thought arguing would be useful.”
I didn’t respond. I didn't really know what to think about that.
“Alright, you're all clear. Let them in!” the gate guard yelled.
Rhys’ smile turned into a genuine smirk. “Go on back to the front, now. You’re not gonna want to miss entering the big city for the first time. It’s a memory that will last your whole life.”
I nodded, then moved up to the front of the carriage, accidentally stumbling over a sleeping Isla. She shook herself upon waking, then asked, “Are we there yet?”
“C’mon, check this out with me.” I said.
She squeezed in next to me and poked her head out of the carriage. I did the same, and watched as the giant gates opened into the City of Marble.