Across the fray, p.36
Across the Fray, page 36
part #5 of Jon Oklar Series
“You might try seeing them as equals,” he replied. “You might be surprised at what you could accomplish. I know I was.”
“I agree,” Airinold said.
“As do I,” Failina added.
“Souriff?” Caarda asked.
“I will agree,” she said somewhat reluctantly, then glanced at Nijja.
She lowered her head slightly, looking at her siblings through the tops of her eyes. “I brought order to Fyrren.”
“You did,” Caarda agreed, “but the order you now maintain is a form of tyranny.”
“I cannot see them as equals. I simply cannot.”
“Then you will never be content, and your unending thirst to satisfy yourself might one day force me to come back here to stop you.”
She gasped. “I am not Valinox!”
“Not yet. You are still young.”
“You are the youngest of us all,” Nijja countered. It looked as if she was about to keep going, but she noticed her siblings glaring at her. Her mouth squiggled shut.
“The last part of the oath,” Caarda continued, “is that we leave Dorrinthal, all of us.
“That I can agree to,” Nijja said. “Fyrren is not part of Dorrinthal.”
“You cannot pick and choose part of the oath,” Caarda said. “You either agree to all of it or you don’t agree.”
“Why must we leave?” Souriff asked.
“Because I cannot see any possible future in which peace is maintained if we are to stay. The humans, krepps, and elves need to face their next challenges on their own. Dorrinthal will change for the better, but it will change slowly if we stay and quickly if we leave.”
I asked, “Change how?”
“Through sorcery.”
“Why does it need to change quickly?” I asked.
“To purge itself of dteria and ensure it does not come back.”
“I see.” I had always wanted to envision a world without Valinox, but I did not know if it was possible to get rid of dteria completely. Whatever was needed to accomplish that—even if that meant the disappearance of these powerful beings—was worth it.
But did that mean Hadley wouldn’t be able to use curses anymore?
“What does the disappearance of dteria mean for witches and dark mages?” I asked.
“It cannot completely disappear while anyone uses it,” Caarda answered. “So nothing will happen to those casters. Think of dteria like a small string blowing away in the wind. Once you have hold of it, it is easy to keep, but if you have never grasped it, dteria will be harder and harder to reach as my siblings and I travel far away from this place.”
“Why is that?” I asked.
“Because of our connection to the threads of sorcery. We have a lot to do with what allows them to be accessible to beings first discovering the notes of mana.” He had a dark look at Souriff. “Or in some cases, the reason certain threads of sorcery are more difficult to grasp.”
She looked away from her younger brother.
Caarda continued to explain to me, “The notes of mana have always been and always will be. I have to presume it is this way across our entire world, but that is one thing I hope to discover during my exploration. It is the effect of these notes that has been altered by my father and siblings.”
“So what exactly is going to happen after all of you leave?” I asked.
“I cannot say for certain, but I envision that schools of magic will remain as they are except that they will become harder to learn for new casters, while more accessibility to new schools will occur. There has always been the possibility for sorcerers to achieve more than they have here in Dorrinthal, but my father has manipulated the way of magic in hopes of driving every sorcerer down the most accessible road, to dteria. As long as my siblings and I remain, a piece of our father remains as well.”
“What does that mean if I ever leave Dorrinthal?” I asked, remembering the many dreams I had about flying as far as I could over the ocean, hoping to reach new land only to fall short and begin to drown before I woke up. I didn’t know why I had this itch to explore, probably because I had the capability.
There were still many people to heal across Lycast and probably in other kingdoms as well. There was a sickness to get rid of, and without Souriff the responsibility fell on me. But afterward? Didn’t I have a responsibility to heal people outside of Dorrinthal as well?
There were three kingdoms in Dorrinthal I had not visited: Hammashar, of the krepps; Evesfer, of the elves; and Korrithin—another kingdom of humankind who had been fortunate enough not to be involved in this war. I had no doubt in my mind, however, that Valinox would’ve headed there after he conquered us and eventually made his way to the elves, and even the krepps.
But what was beyond Evesfer, or past the large island of Hammashar? There had to be something to discover, like new sorcery, other types of intelligent beings, and who knew what else?
“Your ability to use dvinia will not change, Jon,” Caarda answered. “You have too firm a grasp on it.”
“Do you envision what kind of sorcery I might discover if I explore?” I pressed.
“I cannot say what kind of sorcery you might find if you leave Dorrinthal,” Caarda answered. He looked into my eyes for a long while. “I cannot say,” he repeated with a slight tilt of his head. “Only that a permanent departure would surprise me.”
What did that mean? Did he have a vision and thought it better not to tell me, or did he really have no idea?
I thought of my peers and realized I had been here too long already. Valinox was gone, and the war was over. It seemed selfish of me to withhold this news, even more so when I considered the pain suffered by the injured, which I could get rid of single-handedly.
None of my other questions seemed as important as the ones I’d already asked. Caarda was clearly kind and patient, waiting to see if I had more to ask of him, but I held my tongue and let him finish with his siblings.
“I’m still waiting for all of you to accept both parts of this oath,” he said. “Especially you, Souriff and Nijja.”
“I accept the whole oath,” Airinold spoke first.
“I accept it as well,” Failina added.
“I accept,” Souriff said without delay.
Nijja grumbled, “I accept.”
A long moment passed as the wind blew through.
“Caarda,” Airinold said. “Do you see my strength with sorcery returning?”
“All of us see it,” Caarda replied.
Airinold smiled.
“Where are you headed now?” Souriff asked Caarda.
“There’s some business I must take care of in Dorrinthal that I would like to keep private. After that, I will head east and let the wind guide me. I suggest you go west, Souriff, past the mountains of Rohaer and across the ocean until you find land.”
“But I would like to see you again.”
“You will eventually, and I will forgive you if you continue to better yourself. Be patient. Nijja, you may return to Fyrren and remain undisturbed. But you might find better use of your skills south, far past Rohaer and Korrithin. Airinold and Failina, I suggest heading east like I will. Our paths may cross later. Time will tell.”
“I’ll need Souriff to help me down the mountain,” Airinold said.
“You can venture down with me, old friend,” Caarda said, then made a face of concentration as he lifted his hand. Airinold began to float. “Failina, you can meet us later. I would like to speak with Airinold alone.”
“So this is it, then?” Nijja asked. “The last time some of us will ever see each other?”
“Quite possibly,” Caarda said and lowered his hand, allowing Airinold’s feet to return to the mountain. Airinold seemed very amused by the trick of sorcery as he beamed at his brother.
The siblings took turns hugging each other and wished each other well. Souriff eyed Caarda most of the time, even while embracing her other siblings, but he did not glance back at her or offer a touch of any kind.
“Souriff, will you take me back to Fyrren?” Nijja asked.
Souriff nodded, looking at Caarda once more. He finally glanced her way. “Goodbye, Souriff. Goodbye, Nijja.”
“Goodbye, Caarda,” Souriff muttered with a shaky voice.
“Farewell,” said Nijja. “Souriff, now you should have time to heal my people before you leave Dorrinthal for good. Err, um, not my people,” she corrected herself with a look over at Caarda. “You know what I mean.”
He nodded.
Souriff approached me and offered her hand. I shook it as I met her gaze.
“I learned a lot from you,” she said.
“I was going to say the same about you,” I admitted.
We parted, and Nijja hopped on Souriff’s back. Souriff took one last look at all of us, reserving Caarda for the end. He gave her a single nod, and she cracked a little smile.
They flew off.
Failina came up to me and embraced me with a motherly hug. “I missed most of the battle. From the little I heard after awaking, you performed exactly as I expected. Well done.”
“Thank you for everything,” I said as we held each other. “We wouldn’t have made it to this point without you.”
She took my shoulders and looked up at me. “I will miss you very much, young man. You have a light about your presence.”
“I will certainly feel your absence, as well.”
Her eyes glistened as she looked at me for a while longer, then she let go of my shoulders and glanced at her brothers. “Airi, I will find you later.”
He nodded.
Failina ran to the edge of the mountain and jumped off. She turned in the air and hooted in celebration as she dropped out of sight for a breath. Then she soared off as we chuckled happily.
Airinold and Caarda both approached me. I offered Airinold my hand for a shake, but he wrapped his arms around me and squeezed the air out of me.
“You’ve made me see humans in a new way,” Airinold said, then let me breathe again. He clasped my shoulders. “Remember to take as good care of yourself as you do others.”
“I will. Thank you for all your help.”
He nodded.
Caarda stood in front of me. I felt like it would be awkward to embrace, as I still felt like I hardly knew him, but I did wish I had more time in his presence. I had never met anyone like him, and I was pretty sure I never would again.
“Can I ask one more thing?” I said.
“Yes.”
“What notes are you using in your spells that affect gravity and time?”
His eyebrows lowered. “That is to remain a secret, for now. I don’t want you venturing down a path that will serve as nothing but a distraction or may even cause more problems for you. If someone is to discover spells like mine at a later point, then so be it.”
I had a feeling that might be the case. There seemed to be a lot he wasn’t telling me, though I had to trust there was a good reason.
“Thank you,” I said. “For all that you could answer.”
“You’re welcome. Now Jon, there is something I want you to do for me.”
“What’s that?” I asked.
“There is a good chance you’re going to need to push others in the same way you’ve pushed yourself. Not everyone has met their potential in the same way that you have.”
I felt a shiver down my back. “Why? What is going to happen?”
He patted my shoulder and gave me another of his awkward smiles. “Nothing anytime soon. You will be busy for a time with the fallout from the war. When you are done, explore for as long as you want. Just make sure to always take care of yourself.”
He stepped back and met Airinold’s gaze. “Let’s go. We have a lot of catching up to do.”
Airinold grinned. “That we do. Farewell, Jon.”
“Farewell.”
The two of them walked to the edge of the mountaintop. “How is this going to work?” Airinold asked. “Do I jump and you catch me with sorcery?”
“No, you have to remain close to me for my spell to keep working.” Caarda looked back at me. “One last request, Jon.”
It was my turn to smile. “I know what it is.”
Caarda nodded.
I came up to them and wrapped a wide ring of dvinia around both of their waists, holding them together side-by-side as each put his arm over the other’s shoulder.
“Ready?” I asked.
“Yes,” Caarda replied
I tossed them off the mountain. They were as heavy as two krepps, but I still managed to launch them, together, about ten yards through the air. They fell for just a moment before gravity no longer seemed to affect them, and then they floated off like a pair of birds catching the breeze.
My eyes glistened and my throat tightened as I watched them go because I knew that it was the last time I would see any of them.
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
I returned to the battlefield. It appeared that many townspeople from both Newhaven and Koluk had come to assist with looking after the injured and identifying the bodies. I landed near the king and Leon. Callie was there, with her mother. They all seemed pretty concerned as they watched me touch down with about five pounds of blood and innards stuck to my clothing and armor.
“Jon’s back!” Michael announced as he rushed over to me. Soon all of my peers were headed over.
They hushed to listen.
“He’s dead. It’s over.”
A cheer erupted. The news spread quickly, and soon nearly everyone was cheering and embracing. Hadley put herself in front of me and opened her arms, but she hesitated when she looked me over.
“By the devil’s tail, what is all that? Oh hell, I don’t care!” She threw her arms around me, a squish sounding as the residue of Valinox spurted out from our sides.
“Ew, gross!” Eden yelled as she was splashed. She laughed as she flicked some off her arms.
“What the hell happened up there?” Michael asked with a huge grin.
“Where are the demigods?” Kataleya wondered.
I felt my smile flatten. “They’re gone.”
“What?” Michael asked.
“They’re leaving Dorrinthal as we speak. I don’t think they’re ever coming back.”
I heard the king speaking to Leon. “Hold on, what did you say, Jon?”
“The demigods are gone, and they shouldn’t be thought of as demigods anymore. They took an oath.”
“Explain,” Leon ordered. “Start from the beginning.”
I nodded. Although the cheering around us continued throughout my short story, none of my closely huddled peers said a word. I went through everything I could remember with as much detail as possible, including every question I had asked Caarda, as well as his answers, of course.
The king was the first to speak when I was done. “It sounds like Caarda knows something is coming.”
“That was the feeling I had,” I agreed. “But he could be wrong, and he did say that nothing will be happening anytime soon. He probably doesn’t want to send us into a panic by warning us of something that might not come to pass.”
“To hell with that; can you go after him?” Michael asked.
“I can try, but I don’t think he would say anything even if I caught up to him. He doesn’t seem like the kind of person who would change his mind.”
Kataleya asked, “We’re really never going to see Failina or Airinold again?”
“I don’t think so.”
Her eyes glistened. “I wish we had a chance to say goodbye.”
“I made sure they know how much their help meant to all of us.”
“I appreciate hearing that.”
Among the cheering were the fifty krepps still in their Valaer steel armor, though it wasn’t nearly as shiny as when it was freshly made. Grufaeragar rumbled over, grabbed my shoulder and spun me around. “Why sad humans? We make cheer! What is word?”
“Grufaeragar’s right!” Michael announced. “It’s time to celebrate! Let’s feast and dance in the castle!”
“Yes, celebrate!” Grufaeragar picked me up, ready to toss me into the air, most likely.
“Hold on!” the king yelled, silencing our burgeoning uproar. “That is not your decision to make, Michael.” Nykal looked us over. “There’s too much that needs to be done. We still must clean up the battlefield and see to the needs of the people.”
He was right, but that did nothing to lessen my frown.
The king seemed to ponder for a moment before he grew a large smile. “But why don’t all of you let me worry about that, and you go celebrate. Leon, inform Barrett of the news and please join the celebration. You earned it.”
We cheered again. I knew there were still many people to heal out here, but they had lesser injuries compared to others I had already saved. I could fix up all of their wounds and make it to the castle in no time.
The king was right that there was still so much that needed to be done, but we deserved one night of celebration after everything we had been through. We had put ourselves at great risk for the same people we now planned to help. So long as none of them was going to die overnight, it was now time to take one night for ourselves, because we probably weren’t going to have another one anytime soon.
*****
Later during our celebration in the great hall of the castle, a number of my friends came up to me while I was dancing with Hadley. They commented that they had never seen this side of me. I had completely let go of myself. I did not care how I looked as I jumped around foolishly and attempted to spin Hadley down my arm. If I had maybe a single dancing lesson, I might’ve looked good doing it, but I knew I could only play the fool. Oh boy, did I play it well. I played it so well, in fact, that no one could seem to say anything that would tease me more than I was already making fun of myself.
I gave the same reply to Michael that I did to everyone else who came over looking to make comments. “Now that this war is over, you’re about to see a new side of me.”
We danced and drank for hours. The music and our voices grew progressively louder throughout the night. Kataleya and Reuben tried to make us all look even more foolish by demonstrating what a proper dance should look like as they moved their feet in synch and kept hold of each other with each twirl, unlike me with Hadley. They did appear proper and graceful, but they did it to mock us, so we mocked them back for dancing like boring nobles.
