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23 - All Fairy Tales Have To Start Somewhere

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Senesio

“The Thick.” A wonderfully eerie name for the place. It’d go over great with the readers, I didn’t doubt. They loved the romance, the drama, the danger of adventure. Except... blast. I didn’t have a biographer, which meant there wouldn’t be any readers. Wouldn’t be any story. So, what was the point of all of this again?

Ancestors above, but I needed a new biographer. This was too good an adventure to waste. Curse you, Leon. He should have been with me, taking diligent notes and memorizing every detail. But no matter. I didn’t need him. I was Senesio Suleiman Nicoloau and I was going to conquer this place.

What would I call the story? Titan of the Thick? No, too much. Terror of the Thick? Bah. Leon had always been better at coming up with titles. Who needed them anyway? Certainly not me once I delivered the engines of the Panagia and Stormcrow back to Lekarsos and, thereby, the emperor.

Once, this had been a quick rescue mission, but only a fool was unable to see it had turned into so much more. The Bospurians were up to something out here and, whatever it was, there was a good chance it’d end in war. Once we made it to Clearwater Outpost, I’d just have to convince the soldiers there of how much there was to be gained. They could use their skyship to help me salvage the engines from the Panagia and Stormcrow and then, with Captain Barba out of the picture—well, taking credit for the whole adventure would be easy. I couldn’t help but smile to myself as I sprinted through the eternal night of the Thick. Everything was falling into place.

“Senesio!” Suni’s whisper was barely audible. I slowed a pace, turning back towards the vaguely Suni-shaped shadow behind me.

“Something’s happened, at the back,” she said.

“Ah, well. We best see what it is then.” I pulled an about-face, leaving Suni to catch up as I jogged back to the others. It was good exercise, all this running.

“We’re two short!” The cry came from somewhere farther down the line as I arrived at the panting, moveable feast that was the rest of the group.

“Who’s missing?” Oz’s voice, this time, sounded like.

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“Leda and Theo.”

“Well who saw them last?”

“Stop talking!” Elpida this time, the edge to her voice clear and sharp, cutting through the darkness. The chatter fell silent. Elpida continued in a whisper. “Keep your voices down. Whatever you do, don’t call out, and speak only in whispers.”

A silhouette—looked to be Gabar from the slouched way he was standing—joined the rapidly forming knot of survivors.

“What was that? I couldn’t hear you.”

“Keep your voice down,” Suni said, passing the order down the line. “Don’t call out. Speak only in whispers.”

“Only in whispers? What’s this nonsense?” Gabar asked, speaking at a normal level. Compared to everyone else’s whispering, he might as well have been shouting. Didn’t do subterfuge too well, that man.

A sharp “shh!” from Elpida silenced him.

“The hell do you not understand about whispering? It’s a rather simple concept.”

“The part where I have to do it.” The big man crossed his arms. “They gonna hear us up on that skyship? Got magic ears or somethin’?”

“It’s not them she’s worried about,” I said, slowly, making them wait for my explanation.

A moment longer.

“We’re in the Thick, my friend. A dangerous place, if you’re not careful.”

“If only someone had warned us about this,” Suni chimed in from behind.

“I didn’t take you for the kind what believes in fairy tales,” Gabar said, sneering at me. I only smiled, then leaned in close to Gabar.

“All fairy tales have to start somewhere.”

“Right. Well, I’ll believe in voice-snatchers soon as I see one.”

“With any luck, that will never happen,” Elpida hissed, pushing up into the big man’s face and lowering her voice such that it was almost impossible to hear. “Guard your voice, Gabar, lest they turn it against us.”

“Gabar, Oz, with me. We’re going to find the others,” Sergeant Kyriakos said, moving towards the brush.

“No.” Elpida stopped the rescue party with a word. “We stick together. Safety in numbers here.”

“Those are my people out there. It’s my responsibility to get them.”

Elpida ignored him as she nodded to the nearest tree. “Oz, find out how far we made it.”

Hardly had to tell him twice. He showed no sign of tiring as he shimmied up the trunk of the nearest tree, then pulled himself into its branches and disappeared into the darkness above. We waited in silence, eyes turned outward, watching for any movement, as Oz did his thing. It didn’t take him long and I was caught by surprise when there was a whoosh of air and Oz landed between us with a squish, sinking near to the ankles into the soft ground.

“That’s one fine tree,” he whispered, unable to hold back a laugh.

I grabbed Oz’s hand and lifted, helping him pull his feet from the sucking ground.

“How far away are we from the end of the Thick?” Elpida asked when he was free.

“A couple hours’ walk. Less if we run. I could just see the Evergrass from up there. And a glorious a sunset, I might add. Beautiful.”

“We’ll stay here for the night, then,” Elpida said, and there was note of finality in her tone.

“I’ll take first watch. And second,” Sergeant Kyriakos said. There was an unfamiliar note in his voice as he spoke. Was that guilt? I looked closely at the man’s face, but the darkness obscured any signs of whatever he was feeling.

“Stay alert,” Elpida said. “Pray Leda and Theo catch up. If they don’t, if they can’t, well... ” She didn’t finish the sentence. Didn’t need to. We all knew what that meant.