Chapter XVI: Heroes without Homes
Sansonis struggled to regain his footing, still gasping for breath, as Karick loomed over him. Despite the spear held loosely in his hand he found himself without the strength to swing it again. He didn’t get the chance to.
“We’ll take that,” Karick said, plucking it from his hand as if pulling out a particularly troublesome weed. He tossed it aside. “We’ve gained all we need from you,” he continued. “A shame, really. You had so much potential. Now die. Again.” He drew a curved, cruel looking falchion from his belt and raised it above his head.
Sansonis closed his eyes and waited for the blade to fall. It never did. He forced his eyes open to see Stefi standing atop the fallen Makora, her eyes hidden behind a bandana blindfold.
“Enough,” she said, her voice taut with anger and tiredness. “This fighting has gone on long enough. I don’t want to kill, but now I see I’m left with no choice if I want us to live in peace.”
A sneering Karick waved his empty hand to hurl Stefi through the air. She remained where she was. He tried again. And again. The only part of Stefi that moved was her mouth.
“Whatever power you have, I won’t be affected by it. I do not want to be.”
His strength returning, Sansonis saw a faint halo begin to spread about her, growing as her words intensified: the light of dawn.
She knelt down, placing her hand upon Makora. “Son of earth, hear my plea.” The same light that enveloped her flowed through her arm and spread across Makora like ripples across a pond. “Arise!”
With a rumble like distant waves the elemental shuddered and climbed to its remaining feet. Sansonis snatched up the spear and rushed to Ifaut. He hauled her away, unnoticed by Karick.
“Interesting!” Karick laughed as Makora towered above him. “You have the earth on your side. Though, in case you didn’t notice…” he raised his falchion to the sky, swept his free hand in a grand arc, “…the night of Nefairu has fallen for us. Your Furosa means nothing, Fieretsi. Now, ferrets, interesting creatures. Furosa in its pure form, the very life-blood of the world. As Kardin, Nefairu incarnate, we may wipe them from Feregana and usher in a new world, a world crafted from the energy of humans, a world we won’t have to share with the likes of Furosans and Otsukuné, where our grandest dreams need not be hindered by those unworthy of God’s grace, where-”
Karick was cut short as a brilliant white flash exploded between him and Stefi, a light that even Stefi and Cédes felt on their eyes.
How wrong you are for the second time! came a voice once heard often by Stefi and in echoes of song by her friends. For every night there must come a dawn. And I, Maya of Farān, am the one to bring it.
The light faded to reveal a small ferret, hardened leather plate armor strapped upon his back and what looked like gloves with metal claws on his front paws.
“Another war-ferret?” Karick said with a haughty laugh. “We thought the last one perished in that crap-hole Farān!”
Stefi pulled her bandana down so that it hung about her neck. The glow about her faded. “Maya! What? How?”
Catch up later, he said curtly, not even looking at the human who had saved his life long ago. Then returning his attention to Karick, You destroyed our home in search of stupid stones, drove away the humans, slaughtered our resistance, killed my Kilara. I no longer lead our resistance, I lead our future, I wield Utnali’s dawn, I bear Kilara’s vengeance.
A look of horror dawned across Karick’s face, though only for a moment. It was soon replaced by a triumphant smile. “We were right, then. Dawn and Twilight indeed lay in Farān, and now they come to us. You have saved us much trouble, tiny creature.”
No, I have brought trouble for you.
The sun began to grow brighter once more, its shadow slowly slipping back across the land. The strange night fled before the growing light. There was another flash, dimmer than that which had brought Maya, and Gemmie appeared next to him.
I brought the twilight so Maya could bring the dawn, she said. We’ve been through too much to fear you now.
A warm feeling exploded in Stefi’s stomach, rising within her until it escaped as a shout of happiness. “Everyone’s here,” she said to herself. “We’re not alone, we’re in this together.”
She replaced the bandana over her eyes. The world of light bloomed before her, every color of the spectrum and more besides. Before her, below the mass of earth beneath her feet, she felt the presence of Karick. “So, that’s what Cédes smells,” she said, catching the whiff of copper and blood. “Nefairu.”
She focused her thoughts through Makora, suddenly finding herself seeing the world through his eyes. She made to move forward, feeling the elemental lumber on unsteady feet as she balanced upon his head.
With the slightest thought from Stefi, Makora reared up on his hind legs and brought the remaining front leg down on Karick. He rolled from under the falling earth, barely avoiding a swift and unpleasant death.
“What’s wrong?” Stefi shouted, her voice mocking. She already knew. A new smell had reached her nose through Makora. Fear. “Not so confident now in the light of day, huh? Why don-”
The eight canons along Bold’s side fired, six of them hitting Makora at near point-blank range. Stefi heard herself scream, but it seemed so far away, like she was watching from a great distance. Pain–Makora’s pain–exploded across her side, and she felt Makora’s weakened head crash to the ground right alongside Bold.
Thinking quickly, she pulled her consciousness from the elemental and the physical pain vanished, although a strange ache that hindered her breathing lingered in her ribs. The next moment a whine rose in her ears as the airship’s twin engines spun into life, whipping the air about her. She vaguely felt Sansonis running for cover, dragging Ifaut with him, and the stench of Karick as he clambered aboard to safety.
Coward! Maya shouted, his tail bristling. Come back and face your fate. Taste your death! His words were soon blown away as the Bold rose into the air and made to fly off.
“Get up, Makora,” Stefi urged, even though she knew the elemental was too damaged to comply. He let out a groan, unable to do more much than twitch.
Ifaut let out a loud squeak and sprang to life as if she’d just been asleep. Her eyes flashed to the Bold, then to Sansonis, then back to the Bold again. “Him again!” she shouted, pointing an accusing finger. “He’s getting away!”
Showing no signs of discomfort, she broke into a sprint, completely ignoring Sansonis for perhaps the first time ever as she wrenched her arm free from his grasp.
Wait for me! Maya called as he bounded towards her.
Ifaut was so enraged at the thought of Karick escaping that she didn’t pause to consider why she could hear Maya’s voice. Instead, not slowing her stride, she scooped him up in her left hand and bounded up Makora, over the rising hump of his back, and skidded down the other side. She leapt onto his head, struggling to keep her balance as she passed Stefi, and with one final bound launched herself into the air.
Good one, kid! Maya whooped as Ifaut’s clawed hand found the railing. Struggling, she deposited Maya on the Bold’s deck before clambering up, panting, behind him.
Once her breath returned, Ifaut hurried towards the stern, knowing that that was where the controls were. All she needed to do was bring the ship down, she knew. Not land it–she had no idea how she’d even try–but crash it. Crash it into the ground, kill Karick, avenge what he’d done to Sansonis, to the Kalkics, Furosans, Otsukuné.
As she dashed towards the rear she glanced over her shoulder and saw a towering structure that could only be Alzandia’s palace seem to rise from the ground before the bow. She knew what was to happen next: a last-ditch attack.
“No you don’t!” She reached the wheel as the ship glided high above the lake and turned to bring its loaded cannons to bear.
“You again!” Ifaut screeched, echoed a second later by the terrified sandy-haired person steering the Bold. A toothy g
rin appeared on her face, and in a few long strides she had approached the helmsman and seized him by the throat.
“I know you can swim,” she said, cocking her head as if considering him, “but can you fly, Elian of Valraines?”
Let us see! Maya said, dancing with his armored back arched to the sky.
“Can you die?” Elian shot back. He whipped a knife from his belt and thrust it at Ifaut’s stomach. She let go and shot backwards, barely avoiding the same injury she had inflicted on Sansonis.
“That’s right,” Elian continued, circling as he held the knife outstretched, daring Ifaut to attack. “After what you disgusting creatures did in Valraines, I enlisted to finish the job.”
The cannons fired, followed a few seconds later by explosions across Alzandia. Ifaut glanced, seeing an image for just a second that remained with her for the rest of her life. Alzandia’s tallest spire tilted as if hesitating, wondering if it should indeed topple over. It soon made up its mind, falling slowly at first before hitting the waters with an explosive splash and dragging other parts of the structure to the depths. She was thankful, although barely, that she couldn’t hear the dying screams of those with no chance to escape.
“Too late to help,” Elian mocked, now standing between Ifaut and the deck’s railing. “Kardin’s elite have fallen, yet so has Alzandia. Give it up. I won’t hand you in this time. No, I think your death will be a suitable reward.”
Ifaut, Maya said, digging his war-claws into the ship’s wooden deck. Don’t look now, but the wheel that controls this thing is about three steps behind you, to your left.
The Furosan twitched slightly, nodding at the ferret at her feet.
“Splash!” she shouted as she leapt backwards, pirouetting in mid-air and grasping one of the eight handles that protruded from the wheel. She spun it hard to port, and right away the deck slanted at an angle impossible to stand on.
Elian toppled backwards, grabbing wildly for the railing. His grasp found it and he clung on with his free hand, the other still stubbornly gripping the knife.
Grunting with the effort, Ifaut hauled the wheel around, settling the airship back on a level course. She nudged the wheel slightly to starboard and the ship began to drift away from Alzandia.
“Let me help.” She wandered over to Maya and pried his metal war-claws from the deck. She approached Elian, trailed by Maya.
“You are a mean person,” she said, eyes narrowed. “You’ve hurt many people. Too many have died today, far too many. Come on.” She offered her right hand, an uneasy smile flickering on her face.
In answer Elian swiped with his knife, blinded with hatred to the very end. “I would rather die than owe a stinking Furosan my life. But… I’ve killed enough to die happy.” And with that he relaxed his grip and plummeted out of sight into the lake far below.
Coward! Maya shouted, his tail bristling with fury.
“You called?”
Ifaut spun around to see Karick, a falchion in his right hand, a strange looking scythe-like shotel in his left.
“Nice work getting here,” he said. “The princess of the Mafouras Kingdom and a war-ferret from Farān. It’s an honor!”
“Being able to kill you,” Ifaut hissed, drawing her sword, “is the honor. You’ve hurt Sansonis, you’ve persecuted my people, the Kalkics too even though you are one.”
“Don’t forget we destroyed his home.” He jerked his head in Maya’s direction. “And yours.” A grin of sheer delight appeared on his face, soon erupting into a laugh that made Ifaut’s back turn to ice.
“That’s right,” he continued, laughing even harder as Ifaut dropped her sword and staggered backwards. “Mafouras is no more. Your little patch of forest… it took us an eternity to discover, and only a day to capture. Your father, he’s not much of a fighter. Neither is your mother. We suppose that leaves you as the last remaining member of your little family. Congratulations, ruler of Mafouras.” He bowed.
“No!” Ifaut screamed. “No, you lie! You’re a liar. It’s… a lie…” She fell to her knees, sobbing as the urge to vomit hit her. Her anguished screams filled her own ears, drowning out the whine of Bold’s engines, and her burning eyes saw nothing. He was telling the truth, she knew right away. With Cédes and Lidae’s Veil gone, it must have been only a matter of time before Mafouras was discovered. And captured. Captured? she thought. Perhaps that meant some of her people were still alive. Except Phastus and Rivista.
“Fear not, little Furosan,” Karick continued. “You shall see your parents in hell momentarily.”
Suddenly the airship lurched and accelerated with such force that Karick was thrown off his feet, dropping the shotel as he slammed against the deck. “Ferret!” he roared.
Unnoticed by both Ifaut and Karick, Maya had slipped past to the Bold’s wheel and console and, using his metal claws, clambered onto the controls.
Let’s see if a ferret can fly! he whooped, his sharp war-claws tearing into the controls as he dug through wood and wires.
“Stupid creature, you’ll kill us all!” Karick shouted as he struggled to his feet.
That’s the plan, asshole! I have already died once. Death holds no fear for me. His head disappeared into a hole he’d ripped and re-emerged seconds later with torn wires clutched between his teeth. Then, focusing his attention on Ifaut, Thank you, Ifaut. I only wish we could have had more of a chance to talk. You’re a good kit, and a good friend to Stefi. He laughed. You’re just like Calo…
The whine of the ship’s engines rose to a tortured scream as the flightstone regulator, its wires torn out by Maya, failed at last.
He leapt out of the way as Karick’s falchion sliced through the air and embedded itself in the console. The ferret hit the deck, tumbling end over end as inertia yanked the ship from beneath him. Just before he found himself falling through space, a strong hand caught him in its grasp.
“I’m not letting you fall,” Ifaut’s tired voice said. “At least not alone.”
She pulled herself to her feet, fighting the force of the rapidly accelerating airship as it tore across the Alzandian landscape. She grabbed the railing for support and used it to pull herself along, Maya clutched close to her chest.
What are you doing? Maya lifted his head, noticing Ifaut fighting her way back towards Karick at the ship’s wheel.
“I’m dead either way,” she said. Her hoarse voice barely reached Maya before the rushing air whipped away her words. “Might as well end this on my terms. For Sansonis.”
Good kit.
Spotting Karick’s shotel and her own sword still lying nearby, she let go of the railing and flattened herself against the deck. Using her claws she hauled herself across the deck, fighting what felt like a hurricane blowing full force in her face. She at last grabbed her own Mafouran blade, the final gift she’d ever receive from her father, and sheathed it before clutching Karick’s strangely curved sword in an iron grip.
Even as the port side engine tore itself apart with a deafening explosion she dragged herself to Karick, who was still wrestling with the wheel to bring the doomed ship back under control.
“For Feregana!” She swung the blade as best as she could, despite its awkward shape, stabbing its point through the back of Karick’s left knee. It pierced the soft tissue and the kneecap, at last burying itself in the console.
Karick let out a pained shout, though Ifaut never knew if it was because of the blade or the pine-covered hill that rushed towards them. Ignoring Ifaut and the pain, he yanked the wheel hard to starboard. It didn’t move. The same steel pinning his leg had passed between the wooden spokes of the wheel.
“Furosan!”
But Ifaut was already gone, tumbling across the deck before vanishing over the railing as she surrendered her body to gravity.
As the starboard engine too exploded above her, Ifaut felt oddly at peace despite the roaring wind in her ears and the fast approaching ground that kept trading places with the sky. She might die, but Sansonis would li
ve. And that, she thought, was all that mattered. The spinning ground and sky, they would continue to live too. Life would continue. It wouldn’t miss a family-less and homeless little Furosan. Or ferret.