The Boy Who Shouldn't Exist Part 12

First Chapter

Previous Chapter

Kaleth peered anxiously into Aennin's eyes as the other Avatar stared intensely into his own.

"How am I supposed to do that?" The boy asked nervously. "If saving everyone really hinges on me figuring out these powers we're going to be waiting for a long time!"

Aennin shook his head and pulled Kaleth from his bed. "Bullshit! Your Avatar powers aren't all you have to offer! Do you think Geos would have chosen you if he thought you were too weak on your own?"

"I'm a druid!" Kaleth protested weakly. "A pacifist! What can I do against an undead army?"

Aennin shrugged and raised an eyebrow at him. "Don't they teach druids healing magic? That's pretty much all Volt wants to do most of the time when she's doing stuff with us!"

Kaleth sighed and shook his head. "Yeah, but that's what I was learning to do before the sai'mul crashed into Orion."

"That's no good," Aennin replied with a frown. "Well, either way we can't have you sitting on your hands now that we know you're part of the team. I'll go talk to Volt to see if she can teach you how to heal, but I can think of some ways your transformations can be put to some use too. We have until Spring before we can get out of Heron to do anything useful, so we might as well use this time to help you get ready.

So began a long winter of what Kaleth would come to know as Avatar School. To be even one Avatar short, Aennin declared, was a disadvantage that no one could afford. In the mornings, he would train with Atunis to sharpen his reflexes by sparring just like his father used to do. During these sessions, the Salican Avatar would talk about the Kartal that he knew and how their templar training informed their decision-making as Avatars. During these times Kaleth struggled to resist asking about how the Kartal from this other timeline differed from the father he had grown up with. Atunis seemed constantly stressed by the idea of his dearest friend causing so much damage by abusing Geos' power and Kaleth couldn't see no good in making him think about it any more than he did. In truth, both of them needed the distraction they found in swinging sticks at each other.

When the two tired of sparring, Kaleth would next go to see Tir to learn what she could teach him of Intalan magic. Aennin adamantly stressed that telepathy in particular was an important skill as a scout when used in concert with his transformations. This was a matter of some irritation to Crane's Avatar as she specialized not in telepathy, but in divination and engineering. Still, she relished in the challenge of linking the principles of these disciplines to the skill Kaleth sought to acquire and learning alongside him. It was during these times that Kaleth would learn about what was happening in the world outside Heron. Through her frequent contact with her predecessor, Mr. Broger, they had learned that the Serene Avatar, Ekera, was alive and using the benefits of her sai'mul body to gather information from the enemy. This role wasn't without risk as she had learned that some of the undead army were able to distinguish the mindless sai'mul they had subjugated from those who still thought freely. But with newfound allies among a guild of warrior artisans, she was already making moves against their adversaries that would hopefully lay the groundwork for the Avatars' return from isolation.

After lunch, Kaleth would seek out Volt, a notorious late sleeper whose lunches were actually her breakfasts, to continue his training in healing magic. These were some of the hardest times for him because she was rarely in the best of moods. She had counted on the power of Geos to save her husband from whatever fate had befallen him in the midst of this sai'mul onslaught, but hearing that Kartal caused all of this to happen by doing the same for his wife should have soured her to the idea. This didn't change her mind at all, however. No one seemed more interested in his progress in mastering his Avatar abilities than she did and the fact that he was focusing more on his worldly skills did nothing to cheer her up.

This left Kaleth looking forward to his late afternoons with Aennin. The person he had once known as an acerbic rogue quickly became the most welcoming presence among the Avatars. Unlike the others, who had looked to him to master his powers quickly in the hopes that he would single-handedly fix everything, Aennin was the only one who made him believe that he could be useful with or without Geos' blessing. To Aennin in particular, Kaleth was a valued member of the group he was thrust into just as he was. Instead of forcing him to think of his place among the chosen figures of the divine, Aennin's training felt more like playing. Every day, Kaleth would face the challenge of sneaking on the elf in order to steal something from him, spy on him, or ambush him in whatever beastly form he expected least. This gave him an opportunity to explore Dalaska through the eyes of a falcon, mouse, stag, dog, cat, or crow. Although he rarely seemed to surprise Aennin, the elf was always sure to point out when he believed he would have fooled anyone else.

It was always in the evening that Kaleth spent any time thinking about Geos and his future as his Avatar. It had been a month before he reached an important breakthrough in understanding these dilations of time. As it turned out, finding a pattern in the speed-ups and slow-downs had been besides the point. The more he thought about it, the more random they seemed to be. But as contemplating these powers became routine, he found that he could predict these occurrences more accurately when he was completely relaxed. Eventually he realized that this was the key to controlling his powers. It was during these moments of gentle contemplation that he ceased to predict these changes in the flow of time and began to mentally trigger them. 

He decided to demonstrate this power to Aennin during one of their games. He had been tasked with stealing Aennin's coin purse. Normally he would do this by sneaking up and pouncing as a cat or diving from the rooftops as a bird. But he knew Aennin would be on the lookout for these tricks now and he started to doubt he even needed to do so anymore. So, he merely donned a cloak and shadowed him for most of the afternoon. He was sure that Aennin had spotted him before the time had come to make his move, but it no longer mattered. He took a deep breath and concentrated on slowing everything down. As expected, even the quick reflexes of his teacher weren't enough to stop him from sprinting up and snatching his prize for the first time with his own hands. In his excitement, he lost control of the power and Aennin smirked at him.

"See? I knew it was only a matter of time before you started to pick it up!" he declared proudly. "What did you learn?"

"I'm not sure," Kaleth said uncertainly. "I just stopped stressing about it so much and figured it out naturally."

"That's the trick," Aennin said with a grin. "None of the others would know this because they were already far more confident with themselves than you were when they first found out they were Avatars, even Atunis. But the trick to gaining control of your powers is gaining control of yourself. These abilities are a part of you now and the only way you were ever going to learn that was by sharpening your original skills."

"So, what's next?"

"What's next is continuing to practice with this new skill until you are able to use it confidently and doing yourself a favor by keeping this a secret between us. The more progress you make, the more pressure everyone else is going to put on you which we now both know isn't going to help. Just focus on what you're already doing until you're ready to move on to reversing time."

"Wait, what?"

Aennin sighed. "Your dad wasn't always able to avoid getting hit in battle. He only seemed that way because, as Geos' Avatar, he was able to undo any damage he took by reversing the movements of whoever hit him. It's not the same thing as going back in time, but kind of winding the clock backwards. If you can control the speed at which time flows, eventually you'll get the hang of controlling the direction, right?"

"I guess so," Kaleth replied uncertainly. 

"You have to know so," Aennin emphasized with a roll of his eyes. "Remember that confidence is the key to unlocking your new powers."

Kaleth nodded a little more confidently this time. "I will!"

"Good! You should have extra time to work on it tonight since you finished today's mission more quickly than usual," Aennin said with a smile. "I'll be sure to come up with something more challenging tomorrow.

"Okay! I look forward to seeing what you have in mind," Kaleth replied with a smile. 

The two then prepared to go their separate ways until Volt approached them with some important news.

"Ekera's here!"

Give Back The Stars

The following is a short poem canonically written by Kaleth Marle, which was released to the public when acolytes from the Temple of the Children included the Avatar's journal in a book donation to the Royal Library by mistake. While the contents of the journal have been classified upon discovery, Resta's Princess Selena was so inspired by this poem that she used the Occulus to obtain Kaleth's permission to publish it. Many who've read it have since debated whether this poem is a product of or the inspiration for Kaleth's druidic inclinations.

I beseech you, give back the stars!

I don't want your light in the dark.

I prefer the light the gods made!

Is this what you call a fair trade?

When the world paved its long roads

to carry all the people's loads,

They divided miles of grass

Is this how the world's meant to last?

Whenever you fill up a car

with the fuel you need to go far,

You brew more poison for the air

Is this a world we can bear?

Why must boats sail out just to trawl,

creatures of the sea, one and all?

So much damage is done so we can eat.

Is it possible to live by these feats?

Mortal hands change this world every day

without ever thinking of the ways

we desecrate the world the gods made.

Is this the what we call a fair trade?

The Astersong Siblings, Part 2

Part 1

“You did what?!” Atunis demanded, entirely forgetting his task in the storeroom, along with all else. “And after what happened last time? How could you still be foolish enough to meddle with this sort of thing? You are old enough to understand that actions have consequences, Eione!”

The young woman narrowed her eyes and scowled bitterly at her brother. “I did not come here to be judged. If you’re going to act like this, I should just leave things as they are.” She looked away from him with a snap of her head.

Atunis glared at the girl, shaking his head for a moment and taking a deep breath. He sighed resignedly. “You know we cannot do that. Now, where is it?”

“The eastern woods, near the cliff’s edge,” Eione replied quietly, folding her arms across her chest. “At least, that’s where it was when I left.”

“We need to hurry,” Atunis replied, furrowing his brow. “We should probably armed...or something.” He paused again, frowning pensively. “You should stay here. I will take care of it myself.”

“No,” Eione stated firmly, nearly cutting him off. “You need me and you know that. I don’t need you to be protective right now!”

A long pause. “Fine. Let’s go, then,” he replied with deep resignation.

***

The sound of Iris’ bird population grew louder and more varied as the siblings ventured deeper into the forest. The canopy overhead cast a pleasant shade as the two trekked in silence. 

After several minutes, Atunis broke this silence with a deep sigh. Eione glanced at him and tensely muttered, “We’re getting close.”

Atunis noticed that the birdsongs had faded significantly, giving the forest around them an eerie, empty feeling. The pair slowed to a stop, standing for a few moments among the quiet trees. In the silence, Atunis found himself once more becoming keenly aware of his mood. Eione’s problem made him nervous, certainly. And yet, the terror that had gripped him for the past few weeks had waned significantly. What was it about being in actual danger that was so much easier to deal with? He frowned pensively. 

“I hear something,” Eione replied, narrowing her eyes. 

Atunis swallowed as he listened intently to the sounds of the forest. She was right. A rustling sound could be heard several yards ahead.

“I just need it distracted long enough for me to work a spell,” Eione said, taking a deep breath.

“How big is this thing, exactly?”

Eione tapped her chin. “Big enough to be...problematic. Maybe.”

Atunis furrowed his brow. “That is disturbingly vague.”

Eione shrugged. “You’ll understand when you see it.” She paused and fidgeted for a moment. “You know, I’m actually quite proud of it. I just…” She frowned. “I would get in trouble if anyone actually saw it. And it’s difficult to control.”

Atunis sighed, furrowing his brow. “You shouldn’t be proud of something like this, Eione.” He turned her to him and looked her in the eye. “You can be proud of the fact you’re smart and skilled, but you don’t need to prove those things by using dark magic!”

Eione frowned, pulling away from him. “I didn’t do this to prove anything! Unlike you, I’m quite secure in my knowledge of my own capabilities. I did this because I wanted to. I wanted to see what would happen! I was curious! Not every action you disagree with is done as the result of some emotional damage. Sometimes people are just different than you and want different things!” She sighed, throwing her hands up. “Surely you can understand that if I put it simply enough.”

Atunis frowned, standing quietly for a few moments, unable to think of a good retort. “We should formulate a plan.”

Eione rolled her eyes again. “Maybe just try and keep its eyes on you while I work from a few yards away. I’ll try and work quickly.”

Atunis sighed. “I suppose that’ll have to do until I actually see what we’re dealing with.”

Eione began walking slowly in the direction of the rustling they had heard. Atunis deliberately overtook her, standing in front protectively. There was silence for a few moments as the pair halted on Atunis’ mark. There was the sound of a branch snapping, and Atunis’ vision faded to black.

***

Above, a clear sky glittered with bright stars, and the only sound was that of the water lapping against the side of the small vessel Atunis laid in. He felt a soft, warm presence beside him, and a deep sense of contentment. His heart swelled with love and gratitude, though he did not know for what. He sighed, simply gazing upwards.

***

Atunis blinked, bleary eyed, his head pounding as he gazed up at Iris’ familiar canopy. It was a few more seconds before the ringing in his ears gave way to the sounds of a struggle nearby. 

“Come on! Get up, you oaf!”

A flash of light overtook Atunis’ vision for a moment, and with it most of the pain in his head had cleared. He looked over at Eione. “Did you just heal m…”

His words trailed off as he saw what his sister was trying to keep off of her. His jaw dropped.

The abominable creature was about the size of a small horse, hexapedal, and covered on most of its body with thick, wiry hair similar to that which would be seen on an insect, though this beast’s limbs ended in six sharp, cloven hooves. Its back was covered in what looked like a tough, smooth shell that grew up and over the head of the animal, culminating in a jagged beetle’s horn. From beneath it beered out two eerie yellow eyes with rectangular pupils, similar to those a goat would bear, and from there, its long snout extended down to where two long, white fangs protruded from the creature’s mouth. 

Atunis stared at the thing for a few moments before feeling an unfamiliar rush of bravery. He quickly stood up to intervene, but quickly realized this had been a questionable idea. In startled response to Atunis’ rapid gesture, the beast stood on its hind set of legs and screeched loudly, the shell on its back splitting into two sets of large wings that buzzed wildly, whipping up the air around them and prompting a united scream from both of the siblings. Atunis grabbed Eione by the arm and began backing them both away slowly. 

“Sorry! I’m sorry! We’re sorry!” he urged, raising his hands in a defensive gesture, attempting to calm the beast. 

Eione squeezed Atunis’ shoulder. “Keep it looking at you,” she quietly uttered in his ear before backing away into the trees. 

Atunis took a deep breath, giving Eione a disdainful frown. “Fine.” He began approaching the creature, hoping to draw its gaze away from her. “Yes! Over here!” He circled in an arc in front of the beast as Eione moved farther off in the opposite direction, finding a spot behind a nearby tree to work her magic. She reached into her satchel and removed a small pouch. She began reciting an incantation as Atunis narrowed his eyes, locking them with the creature’s eerie gaze. He briefly wondered why he wasn’t more afraid, but quickly dismissed the thought as he focused on his task, watching as the creature lowered back onto its other four legs and began aggressively rearing its head towards Atunis. He jumped back, careful not to lose the creature’s attention or inadvertently startle it again. It began scraping the ground with one of its front hooves, as if it were getting ready to charge. Atunis’ heart jumped into his throat as he got ready to leap out of the way, but before he could, the creature suddenly dropped to the ground, unmoving. After a few moments of silence, he felt it was safe enough to approach the creature. He looked down at the animal, empathy and sadness welling up inside of him.

Seeing that her magic had worked, Eione slowly revealed herself once again. She sighed as she looked upon the creature. She glanced up at Atunis, but quickly looked away as she caught his gaze. He turned his eyes on her, his brow furrowed. 

“What are you going to do with it?” he asked.

“I have a plan,” she replied quietly, folding her arms across her chest. “I was going to leave it with someone who could bring it to a temple for...healing. There...is no reason it needs to stay this way.”

Atunis nodded. “Good.”

***

Atunis leaned against one of the pillars outside the reliquary, rubbing his thumb over the medallion he had found earlier in the storeroom. Running his finger over the pattern was soothing in an odd way, though he found he didn’t really feel the need to be comforted at that moment. He sighed contently as he looked up, seeing his father approach. 

“Where did you run off to before?” the man asked, his brow furrowed with concern. “I was worried when you weren’t here before, but one of the girls said she saw you go into the woods with Eione. Do you feel any better?”

Atunis smiled and nodded. “Yes. I think I’m alright, actually. She...just wanted to lecture me about some interesting fern she found in the woods. You know how she can be with that sort of thing.”

Isra smiled in relief and nodded. “Indeed.”

Atunis hesitated for a moment, then held up the medallion. “I found this in the storeroom earlier. I wanted to ask you about it.”

Isra’s eyebrows perked. “That was in the storeroom? Esia,” he incanted, taking the disc from Atunis and holding it securely in his hands, as if it were very special to him. He looked at it intently. “Do you know what this is?”

Atunis raised an eyebrow, his curiosity piqued by his father’s reaction. He shook his head. “I’ve never seen it. I just know it’s enchanted, somehow,” he replied.

Isra nodded. “This has been in my family for generations,” he replied, seeming to avoid touching the etching on the front. He furrowed his brow. “The enchantment is Salican. It’s designed to transfer emotions and rudimentary thoughts,” he replied. “Did you touch the design?”

Atunis nodded, furrowing his brow and remembering the odd vision he had while passed out, and the rush of confidence that followed it. “Yes. Did that activate the magic?”

“Yes,” Isra replied with a smile. “And if you ever do it again, you should attempt to meditate or sleep while under its effects. It can evoke simple visions if you clear your mind sufficiently.”

Atunis chuckled lightly and rubbed the back of his neck. “I’ll remember that. I do know that it made me feel...better. Than before.”

“That is not surprising,” Isra replied, slipping the medallion into the pocket of his robe. “I am glad it helped you. I should caution you, however, that it isn’t really intended for...medicinal use,” he explained. “This magic evokes specific emotions of a particular place and time,” he replied. “With use too frequent, one can become consumed by a need to return to a place and time that does not exist any longer.”

Atunis’ eyebrows perked. “I see…” He nodded in understanding before looking at his father curiously. “Do you know where it came from? Originally, I mean.”

Isra shook his head and sighed. “That knowledge has been lost to time, unfortunately. I wish I knew.” He chuckled, a hint of disappointment evident in his gaze. “There is a certain point in my, or our, lineage, where it has proven impossible to find what lies before,” he replied. “It is quite the mystery, and even with all the resources I have had at my disposal, I have made little headway. Perhaps you will do a better job of solving the mystery someday.” He smiled. “For now, I should put this somewhere safe.”

Atunis smiled back at his father as the man began heading back towards the seminary. As he gazed off into the distance, he spotted his sister glancing cautiously over her shoulder as she seemed to sneak back towards the forest path, carrying her satchel and a large tome.

The Boy Who Shouldn't Exist Part 11

First Chapter

Previous Chapter

Despite largely only confirming what he had already heard from the Avatars, Kaleth's first communion with the God of Time was enlightening. He now knew a specific, albeit indirect, cause of the sai'mul invasions that threatened to overrun the world. He even had an idea of what he might try to do to fix it. But he couldn't put that plan into action until Geos allowed him to use the Reservoir again. If he was going to do that, however, he was going to have to master the rest of his new powers. This was infinitely easier said than done.

For starters, he had yet to even figure out the random bursts of altered time flow that seemed to follow him. After days of observation, he had begun to get a sense of when they would occur, but he was only right half the time. He knew now that the power that caused this all to happen lied with him, but he was no closer to consciously controlling it.

The boy turned to look at the dog that continued to snooze on his bed. He ran his hands through the beast's fur, noticing as he did so that it was far rougher than it looked; like massaging a bowl of sand. The beast tensed at his touch, but relaxed after a single glance at his face. Kaleth had seen plenty of geoli like the creature the dog had become, but his father always warned him not to approach them.  It was easy to think of them as simple fauna like the wolves they so closely resembled, but this appearance concealed their power. There was, after all, a reason they were considered a counterpart to the maulans and kerunites. These were creatures whose bites could induce rapid aging, a malady that was made even worse if they should ever be warped by dark magic.

As he stroked this one, though, he instinctively knew that he didn't mean him any harm. The geoli didn't respond with any particular enthusiasm to his presence, but seemed to tolerate Kaleth's presence. He considered that Geos had left the creature with him for a reason. He had always wanted a pet, especially since he had come to understand the fauna in his druidic studies, but he couldn't imagine his parents being thrilled with the animal that he had found himself caring for then.

The door to the room opened as Kaleth fawned over the geoli and Aennin walked in, looking exhausted. Considering the many feats of athleticism he had seen from the Avatar of Death thus far, Kaleth couldn't imagine what had him so drained all of a sudden. But it didn't matter; as soon as Aennin saw the geoli, he grinned widely. 

"I fucking knew it!" the elf hissed as he hurriedly closed the door. He fell onto his own bed and stared expectantly at Kaleth.

"Yeah, I just found out," he offered awkwardly.

"Well, no shit!" Aennin said with a hint of impatience. "The others are going to be thrilled, you know. To be honest, we were backed into a corner by these sai'mul. The Avatar of Geos is our best hope of fixing all of this now."

Kaleth shook his head and said, "I'm sorry to disappoint you, but knowing that I'm an Avatar doesn't tell me how I'm supposed to fix anything. Geos isn't letting me use his power to travel through time until I can master the rest of his power."

Aennin rolled his eyes and shrugged. "Makes sense, I suppose. Maula never shuts up about her precious twin. It doesn't surprise me that he'd make the new Avatar earn his trust after the colossal fuck up we're dealing with."

Kaleth stopped petting the geoli and frowned at this response. Even though everything that they were dealing with was certainly the result of his father's carelessness, he couldn't bring himself to stomach the idea that saving his mother was the greatest mistake anyone has ever made.

"I only exist because of that fuck up," Kaleth growled moodily.

Aennin seemed speechless for a change. After a few seconds of awkward silence, Kaleth said, "I can't fix everything. Even with Geos' power, nobody can ask me to put everything back to the way it was if it means I'll cease to exist!"

Aennin finally found his voice in time to retort, "Nobody's saying you need to put everything back the way it was! I'd take any option that allows you to stick around without zombies threatening to break down our doors!"

Kaleth sighed and resumed petting his new companion. "I didn't think you'd care."

Aennin shrugged and rolled his eyes. "I don't even know why I do. Even if you were erased in history, it's not like I'd be able to miss you. Still, I don't hate you as much as most people. You deserve to be here."

Kaleth pulled his knees up to his chest. "Well, what we want isn't going to matter until I pass Geos' test and earn his time traveling power."

Aennin smiled wryly and nodded slowly. "If he's anything like his sister, he's probably stuck you with some stupid riddle that you have to figure out to prove you think alike."

"I'm supposed to learn to understand the path that led us here and be mindful of the future... so I can make the right decisions in the present." Kaleth repeated with an awkward smile.

Aennin frowned as he mulled over the words, finally he muttered, "Well, unless I'm rusty in my 'asinine divine riddle' language, you are halfway there now that you understand what happened. But it sounds like he wants you to do something about it before he'll give you the time traveling abilities."

Kaleth let go of the geoli and stared at Aennin with his eyes bulging in shock. "You don't really think he expects me to stop the sai'mul, do you?"

Aennin shook his head and rolled his eyes. "What am I, a pasty boil on your ass?"

"What? I don't--!" Kaleth sputtered.

"It seems obvious to me what needs to happen," Aennin said as he jumped back to his feet and crossed the room to Kaleth. "The other Avatars and I are going to have to find our own way out of this mess and you're going to help us."

Next Chapter

Tales of the Starlight Crusade: Escape of the Tuwara

The following details the experience of Nidarys' future Avatar, the spellwarrior who would be her Adjutant, and the Avatar of Kerun as they were captured by the aquatic warriors of the planet Mennon. The defenders of Comalan had just gained a hard-won victory against the alien invaders, but these three people were swept up in their retreat. The result of this was a peculiar melding of consciousness...

The sound of the Tomag-Na Segisti echoed its call through the toxic atmosphere, loud enough for the entire tuwara to hear. They found what they came for. Extras? It mattered not. They would join them in the trip.

They were the Tuwara Landers. A faction without regard to clan. They were the ferocious Tas, the resourceful Sos, the zealous Sis, and the intellectual Kos. They were the strong and the smart; the fighters and the thinkers; the workers and the commanders. In this state, they were all of these people, and yet something else at once. Their differences did not matter, for in this moment they were all the same being.

The tuwara rolled over the narrowly carved mountain, sweeping up the frozen water around them for fuel. The Segisti was retreating, and they were ordered to follow. There would be no time to return, they must rejoin their ship in orbit and hope the rest of the fleet fared better. There were others in their path. They unleashed an unfamiliar energy onto the tuwara, which caused some of them to heat up and disperse from the rest.

An inconsequential loss, they thought. They were one with the water and each other. As one being, they made their escape from the vicious air-dwellers. The enemy who swam where the dreaded air was thinnest bombarded them with this fire. Fire. The energy was called fire. A new understanding of this place formed in this instant. The creature who spouted so much fire was not swimming. It was flying. She was called a spellwarrior. The one down below had the power to create this energy as well. A pyromancer.

They were unprepared for the fight the people of the planet ‘Comalan’ put up against their mighty strength. But they knew this was not over. They would meet again, next time on their own planet. For now, they must escape this atmosphere.They knew these things and more because of the three guests who joined their collective. They were also Samuel Desmond. They were Telandra Dawnstrike. They were Voltairine Maloran.

The Boy Who Shouldn't Exist, Part 10

First Chapter

Previous Chapter

"Now that your mind has been opened to the truth, we can begin to make sense of your impossible existence."

This was easier said than done as far as Kaleth, who was still processing the reality of this conversation. Like his father before him, he was now able to hear the voice of the God of Time. But as this ability was supposed to be unique to his father, the Avatar had never bothered to tell his son anything about the voice that now spoke directly to his mind. He wasn't prepared for the Fadalian's soft-spoken and patient tone. When he had read about the damage Geos had done to Comalan-- specifically his homeland of Resta-- he pictured a cold entity skillfully controlling the deep-seated rage that his father had given him through both heredity and upbringing. But as he sat down on his bed next to the dog from which he had recently been fleeing for his life, the comfort Geos brought him now made him think more of Serenity than Chaos. But with Geos with him, even this idle thought was a statement for the god to hear.

"In my early years, it is true that I felt more of my mother's influence while father doted on our dear Maula," Geos said as if they had just been sharing a casual conversation. Was this what it was like for all Avatars to speak to the gods? "I believe that's something we have in common. I would go so far as to say that made my decision to allow you to succeed your father less complicated."

"Aennin said my father caused all of this. What did he do?"

"You may wish to keep some words to yourself," Geos warned as footsteps sounded outside the boy's door, then quickly faded away. "You never have to speak words directed for me aloud again. To answer your question, I must take you on your first tour through the Reservoir of Time. Your father used my machine's power to fulfill a selfish wish and carelessly allowed the evil that pervades your world to grow. To further elaborate, it would help for you to understand how the Reservoir works."

Before Kaleth even had a chance to think of a question that could possibly make sense of what he just heard, he heard a high-pitched mechanical whine. He followed the sound upward and saw a pentagon that was wide enough to encircle him had formed in the ceiling. The shape extended toward to floor, revealing a strange metallic structure that was sinking to enclose Kaleth within its walls. Darkness fell as the pentagon swallowed the floor underneath him. He was vaguely aware of the floor vanishing, but when it was gone, he seemed hover in place instead of falling as he waited for something else to happen. He wouldn't have to wait long.

The first thing to happen was the golden light that gradually began to illuminate Kaleth's strange coffin at various intervals in the form of a glowing symbol that resembled an hourglass enclosed with curved lines that was was topped with a circle that could be a sun when compared to the crescent moon shape at the very bottom. Kartal had taught him that this was a sigil representing Geos, and it could be seen every so many yards for as far as he could see both above and below him. Kaleth continued to stare at the nearest of these lights until they all began to move, scrolling upward as loud mechanical hum was heard coming from the walls.  It took Kaleth a minute to realize that he was moving and by then he was falling so rapidly that the glowing sigils had melted together into massive blurred lines. He began to feel nervous, but found himself slowing down before he could start to panic. Gradually, the lines began to break into individual symbols once more, which then slowed to a crawl and eventually stopped. 

Moments later, Kaleth felt solid ground beneath his feet once more and saw light once more as the bewildering machine vanished. He adjusted his eyes hastily and soon found himself standing in a familiar place. He was home. More specifically, he was standing on Midstreet, a road running through Beldor that he had walked so many times between his home and primary school. He had never seen it quite like it appeared now, with the moon hanging high in the sky to indicate that it was late.

"Stay hidden," Geos' voice warned the boy. "I have brought you here only to observe."

Fortunately, Kaleth knew all of the hiding places along this road, out of necessity. Those who took an interest in his father always made his days intolerable, so he had taken to walking through the trees that lined the sidewalk. He used to climb one of these trees and walk between them from branch to branch before jumping into his backyard, but this was before he had been taught easier ways to move around. For the second time that day, he inhabited the body of a bird--this time a seresian owl--and perched himself on the nearest tree branch. With superior eyes, he scanned the road and found what he was looking for: his mother walking home. She looked slightly younger, and appeared to be loaded with books. 

Suddenly, from the shadow of an alley between an abandoned restaurant and a new laundry, a slender form darted onto the street and enclosed her between a pair of long, stringy arms. Kaleth focused on the assailant's face and saw Aennin drawing a blade to her throat. He might have felt sick to see this, but the mind of the owl whose form he took processed this image more calmly than he would have. He looked on as Adamora struggled in vain against the assassin's grip. 

That was when Kartal showed up.

Kaleth watched as his father snuck up on the assassin as stealthily as he had appeared, realizing as he did so that it helped him not to picture his name. Kartal pulled the assassin away from his beloved, but as he did so, something strange happened. As Kartal stepped back, he left behind an after-image of the assassin who continued to hold Adamora. He threw the elf that was caught in his grip roughly to the ground and kicked his knife arm with enough force to send the weapon flying. Meanwhile, when the other elven assailant quickly slit his mother's throat, another after-image remained standing in her place after she fell to the ground. The still-living version of Adamora turned rushed to Kartal and threw her hands around him while both assassin's fled; the successful killer melted into the shadows from which he came while the defeated version took off running down the street. 

Kartal and Adamora spoke for a few minutes before returning home, leaving the version of Kaleth's mother who had been killed to bleed on the floor. He watched for a few minutes longer as an old man walked onto the street. He too split into two versions of himself, one of which rushed to inspect Adamora's dead body and the other of which continued casually walking past her. As the old man who knelt over her began to call into his airwave tablet for help, the one who had kept walking bent over to pick something up from the ground: a brass locket he had found in the spot the failed assassin had been thrown into. He held up the locket to casually examine it as a pair of spellwarriors rushed down the street to relieve his counterpart.

"What you have just witnessed are two versions of the truth," Geos said then. "When Aennin Moonstep was soon to become my sister's Avatar, her first Avatar used his magic to turn the elf's blade on someone he had deemed a threat to himself. In one truth, the woman who is to be your mother died well before you were ever thought of, only to be avenged by your father later. In another, your father's timely intervention saves your mother and allows you to exist."

But how did what just happened here cause the sai'mul to start taking over? Kaleth thought, unable to speak even if he wanted to in this form.

"I'm sure you noticed the bystander who first happened upon the scene of your mother's tussle with Aennin after it was over," Geos responded in a tone of overt patience. "Did you see what he did in the truth that led to you?"

He picked up a necklace that somebody dropped.

"That necklace belongs to your mother," Geos said approvingly. "It is a sparesoul containing the spirit of an evil witch that has haunted your mother since birth. In the version of the truth ending with your mother's death, it was buried with her so the spirit's evil could be contained by her tomb. In the other, Aennin tore it from her neck in the struggle and neither of your to-be parents noticed that it was missing until it was long gone. In hands other than Adamora's, the spirit of Adaling is even more dangerous. It was this spirit who bestowed the sai'mul army with all of the power they need to overpower the living. She has driven them to cross lines which no one else would dare to try. This was all made possible because my power was used irresponsibility by someone I expected to know better. It would seem that love is stronger than even the great Sir Marle's faith."

It doesn't sound like saving my mom was what caused our problems, then. What if they had picked up the amulet?

"The only way to know for certain would be to observe as the water flows into a new direction," the gods said cryptically. Kaleth remembered that the name of the time travel machine that Geos used was called a Reservoir, but this only helped him to understand that the god meant that the only way to be certain was if they tried it.

"I cannot allow you to interfere with the contents of the Reservoir just yet," Geos said sternly. "After your father's betrayal, I am hesitant to trust mortals with control of my machine at the moment. I have allowed you to see the past because it is important that you understand the past and be mindful of the future to make the wisest decisions in the present."

If I do something, maybe I can save the future!

"You cannot know that for certain," Geos replied, although the tone of his voice made Kaleth begin to feel as if the god was humoring him at least. "If you are to represent me, you would do well to learn to be patient. When you master my power, there will be no hurry."

How do I master the power of time?

"You must understand the past and learn to be mindful of the future," Geos repeated. "By proving that you are capable of observing the past without bias, you have accomplished the first of these requirements. But learning to carefully consider the future will be harder. Uncertainty has a way of paralyzing those who are inadequately prepared and unforeseen disaster awaits those who do not take the exercise seriously. Until you can competently predict the consequences of your actions, no matter how small, you cannot fully inherit my powers."

Kaleth suddenly began to feel his body returning to normal of its own accord as five-walled machine dropped out of the sky to swallow him once more. As the symbols began to move again, this time downward, he began to contemplate Geos' words. Understand the past and be mindful of the future to make the wisest decisions in the present. Now that he finally knew the truth that tied his existence to all of the tragedy in his life, he felt slightly older. But he wouldn't be able to do anything about it until he became as intimate with the future.

Next Chapter

It Comes for Those Who Don't Run Part 12

Back to the Beginning

Previous

It's voice echoes through the halls...

Aennin's trek to deliver the ticking parcel was a quick one, despite the fact that he had managed to get lost along the way. He felt a sense of urgency well up at this point and was tempted to run, but Katim's specific instructions not to suppressed that urge. He was now in Pewter Lane, a Worker caste neighborhood several levels beneath where he had come from. This was unusual in that he knew Katim rarely dealt with workers. Although he gleefully allowed them to patronize his bar and would sell his drugs to them there, this was the first time the boy had ever been bidden to make a delivery this far away. He had never been there before, a fact which contributed to his growing confusion, but he knew better than to ask for directions. Any work he did for Katim had to be on the wrong side of the law, and he knew the guards couldn't be trusted to help him.

What was more, he wasn't particularly interested in talking to the locals either, as workers tended to be among his most hated classmates back in school. While he did not particularly feel any disdain for their way of life, he had been on the wrong side of their ire on too many occasions. He supposed that he ought to let this hatred go since the fact that his parents were gone and what remained of his family had no business to call their own made him consider himself less attached to his own caste. But as he glanced at the faces of the people around him as he walked, he could sense that the workers knew he didn't belong there. Let them have their frontier pride and move along, he told himself bitterly.

Aennin glanced at the note that Katim had attached to his package to refer to its directions once more, but sighed as he found them less helpful than the last time he looked. Wherever he was now, he couldn't recognize any of the landmarks that his employer had described. He had been close to dumping the package and formulating an acceptable lie when he felt an icy hand close around his wrist. He looked up with a start to find himself face to face with a brunette woman he had recognized from the pub. The boy had only seen this person a handful of times and thus had never learned her name. But she regarded him with an expectant look all the same.

"Is that the package bound for Pewter Lane?" she asked sharply.

Aennin nodded slowly. "Where else would I be taking it? Do you think I'd choose to wander this tunnel-dweller street for the pleasant company?"

"Watch your mouth!" the woman hissed angrily. "This is my home you are talking about, and your slurs are not welcome here."

Aennin sighed and gave her an apologetic shrug, figuring it best not to provoke her further. "Sorry! I'm just frustrated because I've never been here before and I keep getting turned around."

"Well, you can stop wandering around so conspicuously and hand the package over," the woman responded coolly. "I will complete this delivery."

This was worded as an offer and delivered in the tone of a request, but Aennin could tell that it was neither, but a command. This visibly startled the boy, with whom Katim had made it clear that he was not to let go of any of his parcels until he reached the place to which they were bound for delivery.

"I've seen you around the pub, so you probably know full well that I can't do that," Aennin replied with a stoic expression that bravely concealed the unusual fear that he felt in this woman's presence. "I'll finish my job if you can just tell me where to go."

"You've run out of time!" The woman snapped impatiently. "If you don't give me that box now, you will almost certainly die."

The bluntness of her threat sapped the courage he had been so careful to maintain, but no matter how scary she was, he feared Katim more. "And who should I say has it when Katim asks?"

"You can tell him that Thea generously decided to help you out," the woman replied coldly. "Now give me the box and go back to Bronze Street where you belong!"

The force of this reiterated demand overruled what remained of the boy's resistance. He handed the box to Thea, taking some comfort in the notion that he could pass the responsibility for this seemingly important delivery to someone else Katim knew. Without a word, she turned on her heels and walked away briskly. With nothing else to do, Aennin made his way back up the steps to the familiarity of Bronze Street to complete the delivery that Landah had arranged instead. This was a more routine journey that was punctuated by an unexpected encounter with Nazan. The man had been skulking through the street outside Katim's in a hooded cloak. Before he could go back inside to report his qualified success, the man grabbed him roughly by the shoulders and pinned him to the outer wall of an ingot dealer's store.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" the man hissed in fury. "Do you know what you've just done?"

The boy shook his head wildly as he struggled to identify the man. After a moment, Nazan pulled off his hood and stared hard into his eyes. His head had been shaved and tattooed with a sickle pattern around his crown, giving him what looked like a black diadem, but his face was instantly recognizable.

"Nazan?" Aennin sputtered in confusion. "What are you doing here?"

The man sighed and released the boy before saying, "You were just in Pewter Lane, right?"

Aennin felt his skin go cold as he responded with a nod, then added, "I was delivering a package for Katim. He has me and Kana working for him since our mom died and father ran off!"

Nazan rubbed his temples wearily for several long moments. He seemed to be contemplating something, and months in Katim's company had taught him never to disturb such concentration. Finally, Nazan kicked the wall and hissed, "That fucking bastard!"

Aennin's eyes widened with alarm and he asked, "What?"

Nazan looked solemnly into Aennin's eyes. "Your father is dead. He was killed by an explosion."

This news should have shocked Aennin, but hearing of Morrin's death didn't feel the same as watching his mother die. Thinking back, he remembered the new type of weapon he had once read about. One that used the inner workings of a clock to combine petrified maulan skin and kerunite for a powerful explosion. This sort of bomb, known as a chaos buster, was used frequently in Resta although the maulan skin had become exceedingly rare in the many years that had passed since the Wave of Death. The boy clutched two fistfuls of his own hair as he thought back to the now-sinister memory of the ticking box.

"The thing he had me delivering sounded like a clock, but it could have been--"

"He used you!" Nazan snapped venomously. "And I thought I had plenty of reason to hate him before!"

"I can't keep doing this!" Aennin whimpered. "He's making me dismantle everything I cared about! You have to get us out of here!"

Nazan shook his head. "I want to help you, but I can't yet! Katim has eyes everywhere and if we're going to avoid them, we need to do this the right way!"

"When, then?" Aennin asked with a fearful expression.

"Just keep your head down and do your job," Nazan said quietly. "I'll come to you when I figure this out."

Aennin nodded shakily and watched as Nazan replaced his hood and disappeared into the crowd. For Aennin, the next thing to do was returning to work and pretending as if nothing had happened. He had never pictured himself having a harder time with that, however, a second difference between the deaths of his parents made itself apparent just then: he was partially responsible for Morrin's demise.

Next

The Coming of the Avatars

The following is a poem written by the Shadow Mage, Princess Tanya of Resta. It has since been enshrined among the hallowed texts of the Gilded Keep's Royal Library for its prophetic truth.

The Coming of the Avatars

The Gods have returned, and soon comes a choice
Of mortals qualified to speak with their voice.
The barriers between mortal and divine shall soon fade
When Gods and mortals share in common aid.

Terror of blood and a reluctant son
Shall draw Chaos' eye when they become one.
Though what results may be an unnatural thing,
He will be adored for the hope he'll bring.

The pride of Crane will be his first mistake
When he places his faith in a man from near the lake.
But when all seems lost, we'll look to his heart
And find a talented apprentice who's nearly as smart.

When a monster roars in fury and pain,
A believer in Serenity's beauty will make herself plain.
She'll come from an isle where no one has heard her name,
But she will defend her Goddess' interests all the same.

A land of dreams without conflict and strife,
Stirred by our struggle and bonded to us for life
Will bring us hope in the form of Salica's favorite son.
Who's felt less pain than scarcely anyone.

A hero of our movement, fallen from grace
will be the one to sire Geos' newest face
A son lost to his father will easily compare
to the torment of Chaos' eldest heir.

Death after death begets more death
Such is the truth of one who shares Maula's breath
They will also share a cynical attitude
And disdain for this world they've viewed.

Life is the greatest gift for all
Such is the truth of one who answers Kerun's call
The mysteries of her life represent the enigma of life
She chases the wonders with which existence is rife

Kneel before these hallowed souls as you would the gods
Though our future is uncertain, they are greater than our world's odds.

Elidol Dawnstrike, the First Avatar of Chaos

Art by Volt

Elidol Dawnstrike is a creature referred to by his creator, Richard Broger, as a flesh golem. With the combined souls of the Demon Knight Garanda and his own son and a body that resembles that of his former host, Elidol is a man who's constantly confused by his own existence. He maintains the memories of the various identities that compose his own soul, making his greatest gift insight into the lives of Gyanda Maloran and his creator. As a result, he possesses their skills and knowledge as well as the strength of the Demon Knight. This combination of power and experience make him the strongest of the Avatars, even without the gifts he's received as Chaos' Avatar.

In personality, he contrasts with the violent rage of Garanda and the timidity of Hector Blackstone, instead exhibiting the positive qualities of both. The result is a charismatic man who's charmed many women and men alike in his short existence. He practices the alchemy of Hector's former life as a trade, although the stubborn nature of Garanda has influenced him to trend towards transmutation instead of his original preference for brewing potions. Although he tries to be easygoing most of the time, he struggles to control his anger, which has caused him to invoke fear in the many who have not personally met him.

It may be some time before we see much of Elidol here on World of Comalan, but Elidol Dawnstrike remains an important part of Comalan's Third Age history all the same.

The Astersong Siblings, Part 1

“You know how he gets,” Helia said to her daughter with a sigh. “Just let him be!”

Eione scowled in response to her mother’s firm urging. “It isn’t my fault he’s a big baby!” She replied, rolling her eyes, sinking into her chair, and easily hiding the twinge of guilt she felt. “I was just trying to help!”

Helia sat down at her desk, looking at her daughter, who sat on the other side. “Yes. I know that. But you must realize that which would make you feel better will not necessarily work for him. You two are very, very different, Eione.”

The young woman furrowed her brow and folded her arms across her chest, gazing into the desk pensively. “I understand the theory behind it. The science. It is just brain chemistry after all. But I just…” She trailed off and shook her head, throwing her hands up and letting them fall into her lap. 

“You cannot fix it,” Helia said with a gentle smile of understanding. “We can support him, but we just cannot fix it. Not the way you wish you could.”

***

Atunis sat huddled in the large armchair in his father’s library as the older man flipped through papers at his desk, occasionally pausing to make a note. While Atunis appreciated that his father opted to do busy work at his desk so he could spend time with him, he knew that he almost certainly had better things to do. Atunis had trouble feeling either appreciation or guilt at the moment. The fear inside him pressed on the underside of his sternum, filling his body and leaving room for almost nothing else. He always thought it odd he never got used to the tight, panicked feeling in his chest despite the fact that once it started up like this, it could persist for hours. 

He sluggishly thumbed through a large book filled with colorful illustrations of various bird species, with the names written below. He had tried to read one of his father’s folklore books, but had too much trouble focusing on the words. He swallowed, feeling slightly sick to his stomach. He hadn’t eaten since the slice of toast he had forced down that morning.

Eione had tried to reason with him earlier, as she had in the past — she tried to argue with logic. 

She attempted to argue his mind out of the cycle he found it stuck in, but it just didn’t work that way. He might’ve appreciated the distractions if she hadn’t forced him to be so aware of his own emotions. He often had the thought that the only way to truly fix it was to stop feeling things altogether. Unfortunately, there are only so many ways to stop feeling one’s feelings.

Isra set the paper he had been working on aside and then turned to his son, who was staring into the picture book he held on his knees. “Why don’t you come down to the reliquary with me? It might make you feel better to do some work with your hands,” he suggested to Atunis with an encouraging smile.

Atunis let the book fall closed and sunk into the chair, finding it hard to will himself to move. Being afraid is exhausting and paralyzing. He nodded to his father and and pulled himself to his feet with a sigh and a closed, reluctant stance. Isra stepped forward and enveloped his son in a tight hug. Atunis swallowed, pushing down the tears he felt welling up behind his eyes. He took a deep breath and followed his father out of the library, accompanying the man down the hall and out beneath a vine-covered terrace, following the marble path to the reliquary. 

***

Eione sighed and impatiently kicked a large stone out of her path as she wandered through the woods outside the monastery. The corner of a large tome bound in dark leather poked out of her satchel as she trekked through the sticks and leaves. She walked for a long time, knowing she must be quite deep by now. She knew she neared the edge of the woods, which was barricaded on the opposite side by the drop of a steep seacliff. She found the small clearing she had been searching for and set her satchel down on a familiar stump.

She circled the area, making sure she was alone. She knew that most of the students and clergy would be at their midday meal by now, though that didn’t mean that nobody could wander by, looking for a quiet spot to picnic after a long hike. She had set up a small ward that would alert her if anyone drew close enough from the direction she had come from.  Confident there was nobody in the vicinity, she opened her satchel and pulled out the large, tattered tome inside. 

***

Atunis did feel a slight difference in his mood as he allowed himself to become engrossed in his task. He wasn't happy, but keeping his mind engaged seemed to leave a little less room for despair or anxiety. Iris housed a decently sized repository of relics and other artifacts, chiefly maintained by Isra, who was a learned historian and archaeologist who had been a professor before he joined the Theian clergy. He had passed much of his knowledge to his children, and while Atunis greatly appreciates his father for this, he had always preferred tales of the fantastic over the study of fact and historical analysis. He eagerly consumed books of fairy takes and legends when he was young. Isra hardly minded this. His studies had endowed him with a wealth of exciting, fantastical tales from across Comalan, including many that were unknown by most, and he was glad to share them with his enthusiastic son.

Atunis turned over a small hand mirror he held in his hands, taking note of a few empty spaces in its mosaic underside and scribbling the comment down in the notebook beside him. He caught a glimpse of his own face for a moment as he turned it back over, but quickly looked away, trying to avoid the self awareness that came from looking at his own reflection. He set the mirror down and moved to the next cubby in the storeroom.

He opened the small door and peeked inside. He gingerly reached in and pulled out a small stone figurine resembling Lady Serenity's familiar, Amologra. It was in good condition, and felt perfectly smooth to the touch. He ran his fingers over its surface a few times before placing it back inside and moving on.

After a few cubbies containing similar mundane or artistic artifacts, Atunis had begun to feel his anxiety well up inside him again. He took a deep breath and opened the next door, trying to will the feeling away. He reached inside and pulled out something quite different than the other objects he had handled. The medallion was slightly warm to the touch. It was about five inches in diameter, and looked to be made of blue gold. Atunis wondered about this — it was far more common for artifacts made from valuable materials to be kept in a safe in the reliquary basement, not in the storeroom with the more common artifacts. He ran his fingers over the glyph that was engraved on one side and murmured, "Esia."

After he uttered the incantation, Atunis was able to perceive a strong glow emanating from the medallion. He blinked a few times before hurrying to the open storeroom door, knowing he needed to alert his father to the presence of magic in the artifact. As he crossed the threshold, however, he collided roughly with his sister, who seemed to have been lurking just outside the doorway. 

"Ow!" the girl cried as she stumbled backwards, nearly falling on her backside, but catching herself first. "Watch out, you oaf!"

Atunis grunted in surprise as he bumped into the girl, his large frame hardly affected to the same degree. He furrowed his brow apologetically as he looked down at the girl. "Sorry, Eione. I wasn't looking where I was going."

Eione sighed and frowned with a hint of remorse. "It's fine!" She paused for a moment, looking over her shoulder and scanning the yard, as if making sure nobody else was present. She then put her hands on Atunis' shoulders and started pushing him back into the storeroom. She removed the doorstop and let the door fall closed behind her. "Is father in here?" she asked quietly, a serious expression on her face.

Atunis frowned and shook his head confusedly. "No. Why? What's the matter?"

Eione took a deep breath, looking more dejected than usual. "I...need help with something," she replied with what seemed to be great reluctance. She turned away from her brother as she spoke, clearly displeased with having to ask this of him.

Part 2

The Boy Who Shouldn't Exist, Part 9

First Chapter

Previous Chapter

The dog began to bark excitedly as Kaleth ran back and forth in a panic, searching for a direction to run. The racket was starting to draw the attention of onlookers, who either whooped in amusement or shouted in irritation.

"Will someone shut that damn dog up!"

"Look! He's trying to catch a mouse!"

Kaleth ran through the gap in the dog's forelegs and shot past him as fast as he could. He thought about he was doing the opposite of everything he had set out to do when people looked at him. Now, a gaggle of annoyed people and a starving dog all wanted him dead and all he could do was run. He hugged the side of the alley as he fled, searching for the tiniest nook to squeeze into. But escape would not be so simple. Every time he stopped, he found himself standing between a wall and the wind blown by the snout of the desperate beast.

His efforts to put some distance between himself and the dog were undermined by their difference in size, a disadvantage only slightly mitigated by the shortcuts his tinier body allowed him to take. Every time he did so, he would continue to run without breaking his gait, only for the dog to catch up after running around. He needed to find somewhere the dog couldn't follow, but such an opportunity was proving difficult to spot. His tiny muscles screamed for rest, but he couldn't find so much as a chance to slow down and pick a more suitable direction to run.

As he broke free of the alley, however, he was visited by a stroke of incredible luck. As he continued his sprint, he noticed that the humans walking around ahead had begun to slow again. At last, this strange perversion of time that followed him around gave him some relief instead of questions. He stopped and looked around desperately for something to run toward. All he could see was the unused festival grounds far in the distance. If he could get there, he wouldn't be safe to return to his normal body, but he could at least turn into a bird and fly away.

He decided to go for it, skittering along quickly, but not at quite the hurried pace at which he had been running before. He had a ways to go yet-- between the feet of the humans, no less-- before he could reach this small measure of safety, and he would need to pace himself. He was already beginning to consider finding another direction in which he could run to find a hiding spot. But before he could make up his mind, he started to feel that hot breath on his back again. Kaleth glanced up to find that the dog was upon him again, moving faster than before. 

This didn't make sense to Kaleth, who was sure that the magic was supposed to last a lot longer at this point in the pattern he'd painstakingly observed. Yet, the dog was tilting his snout down in an attempt to snap him up. He continued to run, noticing that the humans still weren't moving any more quickly in the process. He managed to find cover between the legs of a soldier who was apparently herding Restan refugees and turned back to look at his pursuer. The animal was changing before his eyes. What was once a mane of patch brown  was gradually turning white, and his head grew slightly larger. By the time the animal began to nudge his way through the soldier's legs, he was no longer a dog, but a frost-colored wolf. 

Kaleth continued to run from the new creature, who was now not only moving as fast as the dog had been before, but much faster. Fortunately, all of the people in the way were still reacting with the urgency of snails. Deciding to use them to his advantage, he weaved between the many pairs of feet in his path and left the creature behind to struggle against the humans. Finally, he managed to make his way into the festival grounds, which were empty at this point in the year. Although he could no longer rely on humans for cover, he had lost the wolf somewhere in the crowd. With his line of sight clear of anyone else, he took cover behind a fence post and transformed into a hawk. He could have breathed a sigh of relief as he spread his wings and took to the sanctuary of the sky.

But another problem became clear as he took to the air. Although no one could reach him, the cold of a Heronite autumn was too much for his current body for bear. His mind screamed as he fled for the relative safety of his inn. He nearly crashed as he landed on the roof and hurriedly took on a warm-blooded body. As a field lynx, he still shivered in the cold and stood out in the middle of Heron. But here, nobody could see him, nor could they react quickly enough to trouble him if they did. He rested from his turbulent outing enough of his energy returned for him to resume his mousy shape and slip back into his room. He was alone yet again and finally free to return to his body, but something was wrong. 

Impossibly, the wolf was previously chasing him was laying on his bed. This didn't stop him from returning to normal, but his mysterious appearance here did nothing to calm his nerves.

"How?"

Kaleth had let out the word with an expression of shock, which only deepened when someone answered him.

"You have finally asked the critical question," a smooth and velvety voice said to him from out of seemingly nowhere.

Kaleth jumped back from the wolf, who only glanced lazily at him before lowering his head on his paw. "Who was that?"

"Think back to what you last heard when your mind was too small to comprehend it," the voice said enigmatically. "The answer to your question lies in this memory."

Kaleth thought back to the meeting between Avatars in The Deer's Fang. Something his father had done with the power of Geos had led to the calamity that was overtaking the rest of the world. Now he was dead, and the Avatars were convinced that he had been replaced. By him.

"Geos?"

"It is always most helpful when the mortals we speak to are so clever," the voice responded. "Now that your mind has been opened to the truth, we can begin to make sense of your impossible existence."

It Comes For Those Who Don't Run, Part 11

Back to the Beginning

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You have lost it for now, but beware...

Aennin wanted to talk to Kana about giving up the clock shop for good, but she wasn't home when Katim finally let him off for the night, but was serving drinks at the pub. This was the case every night that followed. This pattern was more than a coincidence, he was sure. After weeks of work for Katim, it became clear that their schedules were arranged so that neither of them were busy at the same time. Every day, Aennin ran around town, delivering packages for his new boss while nights were spent at home, worrying about what his sister was dealing with at the pub. Aennin was specifically forbidden from going to the pub at night because of his age, which Katim worried might be more of a problem when the place was busy, so he could never check on her. Whenever she came home from her shifts every morning, she would shrug off his questions and remind him that Katim was waiting before stumbling to bed.

This trend continued until Aennin stopped inquiring about her, figuring that she would say something if she were in trouble. As their work became routine, so did a new family dynamic in the apartment. Whole days would go by in which they didn't see each other at all, to the point that they began to feel less like siblings and more like two strangers living in the same home. As much as this saddened the boy, it wasn't as if he was lonely. Despite his emphatic desire to avoid becoming friendly with the criminals in Katim's employ, he ended up making friends with Landah. Whenever Katim was too busy to give Aennin anything to do, Landah would be the one to set him on his route. Aennin quickly began to prefer getting his assignments from him to interacting with Katim because of Landah's helpful attitude. One day, after a month in Katim's employ, Aennin felt bold enough to ask Landah why he was always so nice to him.

"I used to run packages for Katim before I got... promoted," the man said with a smile. "I just think you could benefit from my experience. If you can get a run done quickly, that helps the whole crew."

Aennin nodded in understanding. "When I first started here, I thought everyone here hated each other. But you really care about this group, don't you?"

Landah stood up from his favorite stool and leaned over the bar to fumble for something under the counter. From there, he withdrew a framed picture of a young boy standing on a pile of rubble, hugging another in tattered clothing. The larger of the two appeared to be weeping while the smaller had a face stricken with intense rage.

"This is a portrait Seliah took of me and Katim when we were just boys," he said as he handed the picture to Aennin for a closer look.

Aennin looked at the picture with interest. "What happened to you?"

Landah sighed and picked up his drink for another sip. Upon setting it down, he replied. "This is what the caste system has done to us. Do you know what happens to a Mercantile family that goes completely broke?"

Aennin simply shook his head. He had plenty of reason to contemplate that question long before the man had asked, especially with his old fears of his father running their shop into the ground. But working for Katim had alleviated that concern. While he was still heavily paying for his father's mistakes, he was still paid enough to make sure that he and Kana would live comfortably.

Landah rolled his eyes and said, "Okay, well those of us who lose our family fortunes wind up relying on the kindness of others to survive. You have to be able to find a charitable stranger or starve to death. It's that simple."

Aennin frowned and handed the picture back. "That sounds terrible! I guess I'm lucky that I don't have to live like that."

Landah nodded as he continued to stare at the picture. "This portrait was made when Seliah found us, close to sfarving. Have you met her yet?"

Aennin shook his head.

"She's a sweet old lady. She took us into her household and tried to pass us off as Worker boys. But seeing how another caste lives was like a slap in the face to us. We went to a new school, where we actually felt like we belonged. It was a boring place, and the responsibilities they foisted on us were over the top."

"How so?"

"Everyone in the Worker Caste is expected to be both smart and strong. We were expected to grow up working hard building shit or clearing up the ruins while still being extensively trained in archaeology."

Landah paused and took another sip of his drink. "As you can probably imagine, there was a lot of stress in that school. It got to me and plenty of the friends we made. But Katim always seemed to take everything in stride. That was until one day, when he was 17. He just blew up in class one day and started ranting about the Caste system. How the merchants have no safety net when their businesses fail, how workers bust their asses day after day, and how the people of the Elder caste ignore everyone else."

Aennin frowned and mumbled. "My mother used to be Elder Caste. She wanted me to leave my caste and join them."

Landah looked at Aennin with a sympathetic expression and said, "Well, I couldn't disagree with that ideal more, but for what it's worth, I'm sorry you didn't get to make her proud."

Aennin went silent, afraid to say what was on my mind. Whose fault was that, anyway?

"Look, I really am sorry. If I was there when those guys went to your place, I would have tried to stop them from going so far."

"Who was there?" Aennin suddenly asked, his eyes suddenly piercing those of the older elf.

Landah shook his head and scoffed. "Come on, Aennin! You know I can't answer that question!"

Feeling bolder, Aennin replied. "Don't you think I deserve to know? I could have talked to them!"

"You really don't want to dig into that mess," Landah said as he put a hand on the boy's shoulder. "Katim would rather you let that go and I think we both know what will happen if you don't."

Aennin sighed and began to stare at the counter, listening to the chatter of the pub's few morning patrons. Landah continued to stare at the portrait and neither of them said anything until Katim emerged from his office, moving in a hurry.

"Oh good, you're still here!" Katim said to Aennin with a grin on his face. "There's been a change of plans. Whatever Landah was about to have you do, forget about it."

Aennin looked up as if he had only just noticed the boss' presence. "What's up?"

Katim set a box on the bar between Aennin's outstretched arms. The boy picked it up and found it to be much heavier than usual.

"You're going to take this to the address that's written on the box, leave it by the door and come right back," the pub owner said cheerfully. "Now, the contents are a little too fragile for you to run with this one, but you don't need to waste time talking to anyone. Just drop it off and then you can complete the delivery."

"Or, he could just take both of them out at the same time. Mine was actually time sensitive," Landah said pointedly.

Katim glanced at the other man and his eyes narrowed when he saw the old picture. "Put that away!"

Landah sighed and stuffed the portrait back under the bar counter.

Katim then glanced to Aennin. "So is mine, but he has a point. Just deliver mine first, whatever you do."

Without leaving any other room to argue, Katim returned to office and Landah smiled weakly. "Well, if you do this one first, you can at least start running with this one once that's done."

Landah handed Aennin a brass mail tube like he was used to delivering. "Well, you'd better get going. If Katim's willing to keep one of his favorite customers waiting, that box must be important.

Aennin stuffed the tube in his satchel and picked up the box. "I'll try to be quick."

Landah turned away from Aennin and began to pour himself another drink as the boy left. Once he was outside, he put the box to his ear and rattled it gently. It sounded like a clock. Could he be delivering some of the last of his stock?

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