We had spent so much time in disaster, that I wish I could share Morrigan’s bitter nostalgia as she brushed her fingers across every belonging she couldn’t logically take, gandered at the unfinished maps of the North before her pilgrimage - the illustrations below showing a thousand guesses at the world outside, crude drawings of the people that lived there according to Eilaun’s legends. The end of the world came soon, and my hand wrapped around hers like that would reinforce our stance against the snow, earth and gusts - I damn near wished it would. No long bouts of sentimentality came from her lips, though I almost begged to hear them, looking to ask questions with every object she passed over. Instead, she took the healing salves from the days of her dead self and started rubbing them on my skin without a word.
Even with the wounds burned shut, there was a weightlessness to the flesh in my arm. I lost something in several ways when I saw her fall away from my gaze, my rage telling me she wasn’t out of reach if I just jumped and willed it so. The burns showed at first and then faded with the strange magic my body always knew. I wish our costs for fighting had swapped long ago, she would be nigh on unstoppable with the chains to her insides smashed. Even as she kept her gaze to my skin’s disguise and focused intently, I saw the winces and discomfort that her long hair couldn’t obscure. The naked flesh from her torn robes writhed and pulsed like a thousand storied souls were trapped and desperately wanted out, to kill their captor. Trying to not stare, I fantasized about the restraints on her gone, allowed to be unbound: those Colossi would’ve been dust before the doll came, we could have ridden the sky like the characters in a child’s story and had time to indulge the festivities before we further fled into the unknown. We ran head first into a different reality entirely if all that was said was true. No choice, for living in the past brought nothing but complications and we were quick to remind ourselves of how relentless the seemingly omniscient Wardens were.
“What did we say about hiding from each other?” I said as she traced the same area again, my wounds long gone. Flashes of anger or fluster were equally absent in her face and my voice. Her fingers wrapped around my arm before pulling me in and planting a kiss on my forehead, clutching at the back of my head with her other hand.
“I know, but you’ll have plenty of time to be a shining knight when we’re safe.” Before I could utter a response, she pulled me around and laid my arms around her neck from behind as she ascended a ladder in the middle of the house. “After you nick it from whatever poor bastard we find first.” I saw how Morrigan developed such a passion for hoarding whatever she could find as we climbed up the ladder with rungs I would need to jump individually to reach - from the ground floor I had seen shelves along the walls and I foolishly assumed from my low point of view that most of them were used for structure. Metal and wood dotted the lines from the wall haphazardly - improvised, repaired and repurposed to hold up whatever obsession caught the household next. I counted seventeen rows of mystery items before the lip of the witch’s lair was all I could see. Blue lights burned bright from all corners of the room, projecting a crystal clear clarity on the window walls. I wandered to the south wall and looked at the remains of the train tracks we just crossed, dangling over the edge of the exploded mound. Shocked, I could see far enough to almost see the end of the Narrow North itself, knowing damn well that even without the snow, no eyes could see that far. Hours of travel diminished and devalued by momentary glances. Placing my hand upon the glass accidentally sent the scope ever further, seeing the marshes between Sarengound and the Fahren line. The green world was submerged in water, ridden with holes and craters by shifts of stone, tempests suspending the efforts of man to settle on what was once solid ground. An intentional tap on the window brought forth the Southern Reach, passing over the morbid curiosity perhaps best left unseen. Funny to say that the endless deserts and daftly made buildings looked no worse for wear in the endless sandstorms and tantrums of rock. The storm we escaped from many days ago is only an improvement in aesthetics.
“Lulu, come here.”
I exaggerated a groan before standing next to her prone form at the north window. “I guess someone is in a better mood.”
“Just taking every opportunity I can.” She replied with a toothy smile. “Can’t exactly confuse the adventuring buddies we’ll soon have. This is our alone time, so I’m going to make it even better…Lulu.”
“Well what nickname can I give you?” I looked through the northern pane and saw a few budding spires in the distance, with the closest beam of burning light at least a few miles away but near a desolate section of tracks. “You’ve given me one for so long now, but I can’t really make anything similar with your name.”
“You saying you can’t make something cute off of me?”
“Why make something cute out of what’s already endless in beauty?”
A playful nudge to my cheek. “Flatterer.” She held my hand and pointed it to the several spires begging to be noticed in full, mere strings of light begging to burst entirely to disaster. My finger rested on the string nearest to the unfinished tracks to the Heart, seeing what would be our easiest tear to attempt. Before I could let my curiosity take over once again on what laid beyond, the door opened downstairs. Her grandmother barged through and shouted for us to come down: the council was ready to meet.
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I had never been inside the council hall, even as my list of mischiefs reached an intolerable level for the elders. The most dire of manners shared house with the trivial annoyances that couldn’t be solved behind a mother’s closed door. Hushed tones always accompanied the subject, in the form of threats during class, even by the instructors themselves. One did not speak lightly of ever entering the dark tents that laid before the elder’s circle. Least that’s how it was back in my first world - now the elder’s judgment chamber was a singular dome of ravenous black that consumed the light and snow that would blur it from view. In my former home, only a few tents and wooden structures would bear the luxury of paint, often brought by some of the earliest pilgrims, deeming something you bought at a stall in a foreign land to be a grand discovery. In the here and now, every home and utility sported a bright white, a strong black or vibrant color in between. Mother’s home was formerly all black from a stomping with bandits after her many ventures, now it bled blue and purple from the witch tower tops in uneven streaks that glowed despite the sunless sky.
I held Alu to my side, feeling the sidelong glances and tightened grip on spears with every step towards the meeting ground. The traveling warrior felt absent in these halls - butchered exodus wood, hanging lights and decorations more fitting for the Warden decor than anything. Mother’s home didn’t look like this, and I imagine no one else’s did either, but the elders wore robes and gaudy displays that made bugs appear under my skin. Even Alu’s grip on me started to change as he observed the judges before us. A tug pulled him back, seeing the guards around us tense before regressing when Mother arrived with Grandmother and a few workers.
“Very well then.” The oldest judge spoke first. “It has come to my attention that after your recent pilgrimage, you bring news of a great disaster…Morrigan Kasteros.”
“Will you allow proof by baring your stream of memories?” A younger giant appeared from the left of the court, extending his hand to me and splaying his other towards the judges - tethers glowing in the still air towards the army of white fingers, some reluctant and others apathetic. The teller marked himself with tattoos that drew lines into a vortex on the back of his head, the blue art glowing brighter as the connection started.
My companion tensed at the shaking my body underwent as I laid out my memories and thoughts bare.
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The abyssal blacks in my companion’s eyes radiated a stunning blue that projected light onto the teller, returning the spectacle as his head arched to the ceiling. The judges closed their eyes and looked to the sky as well, embracing the stream with a deep breath. As soon as it started, the exchange was over, all eyes returning to their blackened state. Hurried breathing came from the center judge, with the others holding their composure for meager seconds before unkempt concerns flooded the room, many rivers of inquiry crashing over each other into a turbulent sea.
The teller yelled for silence with the tethers still hooked into the participants, making them hear the command inside their own heads as well with the volume of the thunder quickly approaching outside.
“And this maddening method you’ve devised for crossing the bounds is within reach?” The central judge asked with their best attempt at composure.
“Samor, certainly you can’t believe all of what the Omnyk has told us.” The right hand woman of the judge threw an accusatory hand at Morrigan. “You tried to hide certain memories from us, Morrigan.” A glare towards me. “To hide your depravity, what else could your birth provide you? Do you expect me to believe you changed the past on your own volition, gave us this industrial boon?” Morrigan tried to speak but even the teller interrupted her with some attack on her mind. “Put yourself on a pedestal your cursed blood could never have?” A force held up the rowdy judge by the throat before slamming her down on the wooden paneling.
“You will not talk of my daughter in such a manner, Jestid.” Morrigan’s mother came forth, the teller shunted away as a tether cut their connection to Morrigan and the judges. Patience already pissed away by men and women who would need help to the bathroom any day now, Morrigan threw the teller against the wall and bent the metal of the walls to trap his fists and feet. “If you want to rot here on what you consider a possibility, then bury yourself in the snow so the world never knows your true stench.”
“But the people deserve to know that possibility.” Morrigan continued her mother’s speech. “Spread the word to all who are not in attendance. We make preparations within the hour.” Turning our backs to the council, we walked out the door to see the remaining giants waiting patiently to hear from their leaders. As soon as we passed the gathering, a voice came from inside the hall - an announcement was to be made.
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Architects of the railways moved their arms and bent their fingers in repetitive motions, building and warping the monstrosity of a machine Alu and I brought back into the village. A second train laid upon the same tracks, becoming the front of the cart snake - given an extra wall of steel when word spread of the Warden’s will. The dance was at full speed when the leading men shouted and turned to the back’s final fortifications - a stomp in the snow followed by a pull through the air and a raising of the screaming materials as a call to the beckoning hands in the sky.
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“Dragon boy!” One of them shouted, pointing at Alu, startling him. “Can you weld these fortifications? It might make this faster.” I’m sure the question of how much he could control before a fire melted the construct went through his mind, but he refrained from showing it - nodding his head and tracing a finger across the meeting between walls and floors.
“Morrigan!” I was ferried away by my mother, helping her and the apprentices move the last of the food to the front of the train before assembling the remaining travelers to take attendance - I saw a few in the audience I recognized from before the pilgrimage, others I doubted as scars and duty paints marked their adult bodies. Regardless, I knew when they looked upon me specifically with confusion and contempt. Their reluctant givers carried this hidden bile upon looking at my mother, doubting the message they were just given. Grandmother received no such glare, too old and noble to be tainted by Omnym birth. As the crowd dispersed, some stayed, argued with their children that pointed to the distant sky south and screamed for a rational explanation. The feeling of home quickly drained from me the more I looked at the ones I’d have to share it with, the nostalgia fading - the disgust returning. My mouth could be sewn shut, my hands broken and my thought cage emptied, and they’d still look at me in such a way, waiting for me to leave.
“The fools could drown if they want to.” My mother said as we marched back to the train. No reply came, unsure of how much my tongue should hold back. “You did the right thing in letting everyone know, and not trying to leave in the night with just the ones you love.” She continued, laying a hand on my shoulder. “As easy as that might have been, serving yourself before the tribe.” As we arrived at the docking station, a smug grin came upon her face as she looked at Alu going back and forth between giants who spoke the human tongue on varying levels of clarity. “You love him, don’t you?”
Gritting teeth before the color would show. “I wouldn’t have brought him with me if I didn’t think so at the very least.”
“Have you told him that?” A toothy grin followed by my grandmother chortling away, the heat rising to the edges of my mouth.
“Yes.” Though at the time, it was after a moment of utter distress I caused him. Will the words carry a different weight if I say them when we’re safe for once? Before that thought could hold, Alu appeared in front of me. “Done with the repairs, Alu?”
The restraint in calling him something else was not lost on the man as he let out a small chuckle before replying. “Yes, and from what I understand, we’re leaving now - they’re letting others onboard.”
“Let us sit upfront as navigators.” Grandmother said. The architects let us aboard without any question, though one asked what I planned to do with Alu, regarding him as a piece of power to be opened like a tome.
The warped cart we came in on was now a brutally efficient metal casket with none of the flourish and most of the windows replaced with iron. A small peephole about the length of Alu lying on his side was all the vision provided in this repair. It would suffice as the storms grew larger and nearer, the rumble of thunder becoming ever more constant as their sound echoed off of the shields that groaned with each mass of people coming aboard. The metalwork was as perfect as could be, barring the snowy winds from pushing into the cabin itself - obscuring the window instead for moments at a time before it too was dashed away as we moved at full speed. Grandmother excused herself to explain away my method to protect ourselves from the void as we cross the border into wherever, whenever and possibly more. Mother stood to assist Grandmother, leaving Alu and I alone, where a sigh of relief escaped us at the same time, prompting a laughter cut short by the awkward echoes it produced. Mouths clamped shut by clumsy hands as that weirdness added to our absurdity.
“I’m honestly surprised I don’t hear screaming and terror behind us.” Alu said to me. “If we had everyone from the Guild too, I’m sure we’d have some prep drinks before we worked up the courage for this.”
I held my hand over his. “Is this philosophical bend your way of feeling morose, Lulu?”
“Not morose…anxious.” He looked at me with his pale greens. “Now it's more than you I have to worry about.”
A quick poke in the side. “Aww, you like my family that much already?”
A forced grin on his face. “Some of them look at me a bit strangely, and one said that your mother was bound to a human as well.” That was a rumor long before I even left the village, being a little shorter than everyone else but my grandmother confirmed it wasn’t true when quizzical me never got a straight answer from mother. There were no photos and she never talked about him, all I knew was that he died before I was born. That was a secret still kept, and perhaps it should stay that way. Father he may be, but only in one sense of the word.
“At least they didn’t ask for you to be skewered, and wanted your hot touch right away.” I replied with a toothy grin.
“You’ll have to teach me how to speak your language some time. Feel a little bad being the odd one out.” I agreed, even if part of me doubted his tongue could handle some of the harsher sounds our words could demand.
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Morrigan’s guardians returned with a weary look upon their faces, revealing how they had to repeat their instructions on making the tether cage several times to folk who spent more time panicking and detailing their own plans than listening to the one they agreed to. Tether cages were nothing new to the giants, a common shape used for teaching survival in the case of avalanche or flood. The mastery was in turning that cage into a wall or an impregnable cocoon - the difficulty of such weighing heavily on my giant companions' minds as we moved closer to the point of no return.
The fear was supplemented by the sound of thunder feeling closer, the shaking of mountains being stripped of their dormant snow, the tracks guiding us onwards admitting their age and loneliness before today - squeaking, screaming and punching back at us as we flattened broken links at overwhelming speed. A beacon of crystalline light, like a blue tether box, laid at the end of our track.
“Morrigan, help me in case the brake isn’t enough.” Her mother said as she threw the stick brake up until it stood fully. Working as intended, the two still threw out tethers through the window, knocking out the glass pane, to slow it down a little more. The beacon to our right was the only source of blue for miles, the spire’s white light laid at the bottom of a frosted quarry, the walls curved and shaped in odd ways from the slow spread of the spire. The grooves in the wall showed strange symbols and arrangements of technology and shaped glass we’d never seen anywhere else - some were signs in a tongue Morrigan was stumped on, others were metal caskets of impractical size and shape. As we exited the train, I saw red lights just barely seen through the snow storm, its disks of light suffocated by the gust.
“That’s where our home was at one time.” Morrigan’s mother spoke. “But Walkers and Serpents were being seen much more often there.” An army of giants stood behind us, many speaking loudly over each other after looking at the journey down the steep drop to the spire’s tear. “Eager warriors and protectors shall go first!” Her grandmother said, casting a tether that glowed bright against the storm - many men and women encouraging their families all of the sudden as they attached their own tethers to the great line and descended the sharp drop. Then came the older ones, but Eilaun stayed up to hold the line with us throwing in our own tethers to give her a break. My line joined with Morrigan’s but she did most of the work, thankfully not holding in a scream with every use of her powers this time. The tribe waited at the bottom of the chasm before the sky itself cracked open around our beacon and brought forth another great flood with no warning. Over the horizon, beams of light showed for only a moment before their useless signal brought torrents of the elements from the surrounding above before the light itself submitted to the biggest pour from elsewhere. The giants down below created their cages in haste and started their journey to another side, disappearing quickly. Our road and transport was immediately knocked aside by the raging flood, pushing me off my feet before Morrigan reached out and grabbed me, desperately hooking her tether from Eilaun’s line to the dry ground before it too was consumed.
“Go! We’ll see you soon!” Morrigan shouted as she reeled me in and pushed herself to the lip of the quarry. Eilaun and her daughter shouted back their affirmation before dropping into the great below all at once as water started to fill it. I shot my tether forward and we pulled through the slog of water to tumble down the slippery sides. A quick cage around us to soften the blows but Morrigan’s guardians were already gone and our entrance was drowned. We submerged for a moment and took a deep breath as the freezing water rose.
“Hold on to me tight, Alu. Don’t let go, no matter what happens.”
I nodded my head before tightening my grip. “I would never.”
“Let us meet the end!” She shouted before looking at the sky once more, breaking apart into a resemblance of a raging ocean.
“We’ll be alright and find a way to our perfect place.” I answered, shivering and no longer able to tell where the cold ended and my anxiety began.
She smiled and took my arms, having me wrap myself around her from behind. The water was freezing and blinding in its intensity as opposed to the calmness of a lake. Still I opened my eyes to see us pushing through the black void that seemed to be pushing us out with effort. Lightning lied in the opening and the cage was as perfect as we could muster together as it crashed and shattered like glass with every attempt on our flesh. The pull of water and ferocity of lightning suddenly stopped as an even darker black filled my vision, with Morrigan’s hair and head the only thing I could see - her lesser black dancing and swaying as we plunged at a speed faster than any castle top and humble home we’d fallen from. The other giants were nowhere in view and as we fell, it dawned on Morrigan how horrifyingly long we had begun to fall - she spoke in questions, wondering where everyone was but her words carried no sound, yet I heard them in my mind and knew how her mouth moved. Looking below, blackness was all we could see until a blue mist smacked us like a phantom ocean. The cage had broken and pain erupted through my body, the impact forcing my hands apart. We suddenly fell at different speeds, I extended my hand and could see Morrigan doing the same - our tethers shined without effort in this void. I grabbed hold of her and she pulled me towards her until the line between us snapped like a cheap string. Before I could even scream or attempt again, a burning bright overloaded my vision before an orange sky dominated my view. She was nowhere in sight, I turned in my free fall and saw the ground rapidly approaching - a desert with black paths and miniature beacons of changing lights. I braced myself for impact, screaming through the sky as a flaming spiral before colliding with a dune of sand and dragging across the rough grains until I finally came to a stop against an odd plant full of green stingers.
Rubbing my head, my vision blurred before a myriad of moving objects forced me to focus. Wheeled carts that roared like a smaller train surrounded where I landed, with doors opening from the three in front. Men and women in lightly colored clothing came out with bolters of a strange design, but they weren’t pointing them at me. As one approached, she looked at me with a sinister grin. I readied my fingertips and as she pushed a knife to my throat, I jutted my flame-touched fingers to her throat and grabbed the bolter as she fell to the ground with agonized screams. The others didn’t move however, instead laughing at me. I pulled the trigger to the bolter and felt a shock ravage my body. I was on the ground once more before being bound and thrown against the wheeled cart. The threatening woman applied a green gel to her wound and cackled before lowering her eyes to mine.
“Even better, skullfucks!” She proclaimed, readying her bolter like a club. “We’re eating well tonight!”
“Where am I?!” I shouted.
They all ignored my question - before I lost consciousness, she said. “We’ve been waiting for someone like you.”