Chapter 11: Secrets

Azure’s face was one of deep concentration as she processed what Owen was saying. Slowly, her eyes widened, and she stared up at the stars. “No way,” she said.

“Yes way,” said Owen, leaning on the balustrade. The stars, in their gleaming state, seemed to hold so many more mysteries for him now than they did only two days ago.

“But, how?” said Azure. “Or, why? No, what was it like there, or… I don’t know, if what you’re saying is true, it’s a lot to take in.”

“I know,” said Owen.

“Then where do I even start?” said Azure.

“Maybe you don’t need to?” said Owen, shrugging. “I don’t even know if I can explain everything anyway.”

Azure considered that for a second. “That’s fair.” She leaned onto the rail next to Owen, her shoulder touching his. Under her breath, Owen heard her whisper, “Wow.”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to blow your mind,” said Owen.

“In a way, yeah, I’m definitely losing it a little,” said Azure with a chuckle. “But on the other hand, it makes as much sense as anything I’d thought of.”

“You were trying to figure out why I didn’t know anything?” said Owen.

“Wracking my damn brains! You have no idea just how perplexing your case was to me. I thought that maybe you’d had your memory wiped by some demon or a really powerful mage, or perhaps you might have been some result of necromancy. But nothing about you added up with what I knew about magic, and more than that, you had that strange van contraption. What kind of Necromancer gives his thrall a special magic wagon?”

Owen swallowed a little. Necromancy. He hadn’t even considered the concept up until now, but in a world with magic, there would certainly be people who tried to bring back the dead. Heavens knew that people on Earth had certainly tried, and they hadn’t even had magic there. At least, he didn’t think they did.

“Let me ask at least one question,” said Azure, breaking Owen from his chain of thought.

“What is it?”

“How did you get here?”

Owen paused for a long moment, his gaze following the Dark Moon as it hung in the sky like a reaper. Finally, he answered, “I don’t know. I just woke up, and I was here.”

“Well, what were you doing before that, then?”

“I don’t know,” Owen lied. “Everything beforehand is a bit fuzzy.”

If there was Necromancy in this world, then he couldn’t tell Azure that he’d died before he came here. For all he knew, he really could have been summoned here by some dark necromancy, being none the wiser. Owen really didn’t know the bounds or limits of magic here, so he couldn’t rule out that possibility, grim though it may be.

He knew Azure could tell he was lying-- he’d never been terribly good at the art of deception. But for whatever reason, she let the subject rest. For now, at least.

Owen silently thanked her. Even without the question of necromancy, he wasn’t keen on sharing that information. Not only did one’s death feel deeply private, it was also fresh in his mind.

“We should get some sleep,” said Azure finally. “Daybreak comes early during summer.”

Right. They had a long day tomorrow. Hopefully, it would be a bit easier to manage than yesterday. Owen followed Azure into the tower chamber, which she illuminated with bits of flame dancing on her fingers. As Owen had seen earlier, there was a single hay mattress bundled on the far side of the room.

“Here,” said Azure as she knelt over the mattress, “help me pull this apart.”

“Oh, don’t worry about it,” said Owen. “I can sleep just fine on the floor.”

Azure raised an eyebrow, her eyes glinting in the firelight. “Stone gets pretty cold at night, even on warmer evenings like this one.”

“I’ll be fine,” said Owen, sliding to the ground a few paces from the mattress. “Besides, I wouldn’t sleep soundly knowing I’d taken half of your mattress from you.”

“And I won’t be able to sleep soundly knowing you’re freezing your ass off.”

“Fine, fine,” said Owen. “Look. Pass me a little bit of hay. I’ll take off my Tunic and turn it into a mini-mattress, okay?”

“You’ll… what?”

“Oh, for heaven’s sake,” said Owen. He undid his belt, slipped off the tunic, and then retied the belt around his trousers. “Come on, just pass me some hay,” he said, extending his hand.

“Right,” said Azure slowly. Her eyes lingered on him for a moment before she turned and pulled some hay off her mattress with one hand, being careful to not put her flaming hand near the dry straw. Scooping up the loose material in one arm, she turned and dropped it in front of Owen. “That enough?” she said, glancing down at him.

“Plenty,” said Owen, tying the tunic’s sleeves and bottom into knots before stuffing hay in through the neck, forming a rather sad-looking pillow. Still, he could rest his upper body on it and avoid most of the warmth-sapping chill from the stone.

Azure was still standing over him, her eyes illuminated by the gentle glow of the scales on her cheeks.

“Azure?” said Owen.

Finally, she turned away, and Owen thought he heard her whisper, “Damn it all.”

As she sat down on her partially torn mattress, Owen propped his tunic pillow up against the wall and leaned against it. The straw wasn’t particularly comfortable, seeing how it poked right through the tunic and itched Owen’s back, but he’d certainly slept on worse before.

He was certainly exhausted enough to fall right asleep, but before he closed his eyes, he thought of a question. “So, Azure, if you don’t mind my asking, why did you become a Diver? Ysvale is a pretty big city, so doubtless you could find work elsewhere.”

She closed her eyes and lay down on her mattress. “I’m searching for someone,” she said. “Maybe someday, I’ll tell you who.”

Owen grinned a bit. Something about his relationship with Azure seemed a bit lopsided, now that he thought on it. It wasn’t that he didn’t have his own secrets-- it was obvious from their earlier conversation that he did-- but she’d certainly been the more reticent of the two in their discussions.

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But, she’d at least told him something. She was looking for someone. Who, though? And why?

Well, I won’t get any information by prying. For now, let’s get some shut-eye. We have a long day tomorrow.

With that, Owen closed his eyes and immediately fell asleep.

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Owen walked alongside a yoked pair of oxen, his right hand on the left-most ox’s sturdy neck, while he tried to scratch the hay chaff off his own back with his left. He’d grown used to the smell of ox pretty quick, and now used the beast as a form of support. They’d been traveling for a few hours now, taking the road back to where his van lay waiting (at least, he hoped).

Flies and gnats buzzed irritatingly around the bovines, who swatted the insects with their tails as they plodded along. The beasts pulled a single axle behind them with a small metal hitch, on which they would hopefully be able to hook up the van. If Owen remembered right, the rear axle on his car was still intact, which meant that they probably didn’t need a full wagon or pallet to carry it on. Hopefully. Otherwise, he’d just wasted everyone’s day.

The road through the bamboo trees was a bit steeper than he remembered, perhaps because he hadn’t been utterly exhausted or escorting oxen at the time. This last leg to his car had been more difficult than he cared to admit.

Hopefully, they were almost there.

Out of the shadows of the treeline, a hooded figure appeared. She was perhaps five feet tall, maybe a little taller. It was difficult to tell, as Owen was pretty sure she was trying to make herself appear smaller than she was. She carried a bow on her back and a pair of daggers on a belt at her waist. Even in the early afternoon light, she kept her face concealed in the shadows of her cloak.

She’d said her name was Eolyn, and that was it.

“The… van… isn’t far off,” she said. Rather than stumble over the word van, she’d been deliberate and slow in saying it. Not bad. “The Wyvern has been mostly consumed, though.”

Owen shared a glance with Azure, who walked beside him on the road.

“Makes sense,” said Azure. “Plenty of scavengers are going to eat what’s available. Including dead Wyvern.”

Cathan groaned from the other side of the oxen yoke. “I thought I’d actually get to see a Wyvern up close.”

“It’s not the same if it’s already dead, is it?” said Owen.

“Ha! Perhaps, but a dead Wyvern is a Wyvern still. And more than that, it’s one that won’t try to kill me.”

They rounded a verdant hillside and came upon the fresh clearing formed in the battle with the monster. And sure enough, at the bottom of the hill’s slope, Owen’s van rested in more or less the same condition as it had been before.

Owen took off at a run, half-sliding down the hill through the fallen bamboo leaves and picking his way over the crushed stalks.

“Owen, slow down!” Azure called after him. “There could be traps!”

There could be what-now?

Too late. Owen stepped through a particularly deep pile of leaves and heard a rapid zipping sound.

Oh shit.

Something tightened around Owen’s leg like a vice, and his stomach caught in his throat as he was lifted high into the air. He came to a stop maybe fifteen feet off the ground, swaying back and forth while his ankle ached in protest.

Did… I just get snared like a rabbit? Owen would’ve been a bit embarrassed if he wasn’t so dumbfounded.

“Did a demon do this?” he called down.

“Could’ve been goblins instead,” said Azure, trotting beneath him and cupping her hand over her eyes. “That looks like quite the drop.”

Eolyn moved nimbly beneath him as well, examining some apparatus on the ground. “Definitely goblins,” she spat. “Dumbass.”

Owen would’ve been offended if he wasn’t so sheepish. He glanced up to see the rope tightened quite nicely around his ankle. “It was quite considerate of them to not spear me through the leg, at least.”

“They wouldn’t want you to bleed out,” said Eolyn without looking up. “A dead catch is one that can’t fend off scavengers.”

Oh. That was a comforting thought.

But it seemed that Eolyn wasn’t done with her explanation. “They put you up just high enough to break your ankles if you fall. That way, they can hunt you down and drag you back to a cave or a dungeon and cook you for eating.”

Owen swallowed. “You could have just left it at the whole not bleeding out part.”

Eolyn glanced up at him, and beneath her cowl’s shade, he thought he saw the faintest hint of a grin. “I’ll check around for and disarm any other traps,” she called up to the team of oxen. “The path to this idiot is safe, at least. Try cutting him down while I look.”

She flitted off to examine the rest of the woods, leaving Azure looking up at him. “I could burn the rope,” she said helpfully.

“As fun as that would be, I don’t know if I’m quite nimble enough for that. I’d break my damn neck,” said Owen with a frown.

Cathan gently slid into view. “No worries, Owen,” he boomed. “I’ll just catch you.”

Owen wasn’t sure how to respond to that. The man was literally a walking pile of skin and bone.

“You’re not as big as you usually are,” said Azure, tapping Cathan on the shoulder. “Owen would crush you.”

“Ah, I see,” said Cathan bashfully. “Sorry, scratch that idea.”

“Ah, no worries,” said Owen. “Anyone else have any bright ideas?”

For their journey, they’d enlisted an armored warrior with way too big of a sword strapped to his back. Owen had never heard the man speak, nor had he seen his face. But when they’d gone to prepare for the journey that day, they’d found that the Stewardess’s call for Divers had gained his attention. After him, they had the ox-driver, who was necessary for moving and caring for the beasts.

Neither of them offered any advice as they passed under Owen. Which was fair. He’d gotten himself into this mess. Now, it was up to him to get out of it. If he couldn’t get cut down, then he’d just have to climb down.

Owen shifted his body weight, using his core to begin to swing back and forth on the rope. The ground swayed dizzyingly beneath him as distant bamboo stalks moved closer, then farther, than closer again. He gained speed with each stroke of the pendulum until, at last, he began to move within arm’s reach of a stalk.

He grasped outward, wrapping his arms around the stalk and holding tightly to it. Once Owen was sure he had a firm grip on the tree, he called out, “Okay! Burn the line!”

“Gotcha!” Azure called back. Only a moment later, Owen heard the tell-tale crackling of fire on rope. Then, he heard a snap, and his legs dropped beneath him. Letting out a cry of alarm, he clung to the bamboo stalk for dear life, his abs aching as he pulled his legs in to grip the wood.

The bamboo swayed dangerously above the ground before coming to a sort of rest. “Phew, that was only a little terrifying.” He slid down the rest of the way, the wood chafing the inside of his thighs as he went. When he reached the dirt, Owen let himself collapse to his rump as Azure came running up to him.

“Are you hurt?” she asked.

“Only my pride,” said Owen, letting her help him up.

“The way to the van is safe now,” said Eolyn, appearing once again as if out of nowhere.

“How do you do that?” said Owen.

“How do I do what?” said Eolyn, again letting a small smirk appear beneath her cowl. She knew. She was just toying with him.

They approached the van together, where the warrior stood watchfully while the ox-driver tied some ropes between the ox yoke and the back undercarriage of Owen’s van. Meanwhile, Cathan had rounded the vehicle to try to get a look at the Wyvern’s remains.

Sure enough, most of the monster was gone, but for a narrow stump of flesh and bone that barely poked up past the van’s crushed hood. As Owen reached the rear of the vehicle, he drew his fingers along it, saying, “I’m sorry for leaving you earlier. I hope you don’t hold it against me.”

“I hadn’t realized your van was sentient,” said Azure.

“Oh, it’s not,” said Owen with a bit of a sheepish grin. “It’s just… well, you know.”

“I get it,” said Azure. “No need to explain.”

“Thanks,” said Owen. He wandered slowly up the van, feeling its contortions and warping as he went. He’d definitely wrecked his poor little car. Still, it wasn’t something he couldn’t fix, given enough time.

Except for one problem. He came to the driver window and peered inside.

“Oh no,” he said.

“What is it?” said Cathan, glancing at him through the passenger window.

“My steering wheel is gone.” And with it, so was the Mana Stone.