“Where are we going?” asked Maya.
“First we’re going to Canaan to visit Michael’s home.”
“Won’t there be demons there?” she asked worriedly.
“Probably,” said the old general. “By now they must’ve figured out where Michael and his father lived and have scoured the place for information. They will likely have guards keeping an eye on the place in case Michael returns.”
“So, why would we ever go there?” asked Michael.
“Because we need the same information they do. We need to know where the Eyes are. Your father told me a long time ago that he left you a will. He made me promise that I would bring you to it should anything happen to him. It was the last thing I promised him before I resigned as general and retired to the woods. After I do this, I won’t owe him anything.”
“Do you have any idea what it says?” Michael asked.
“It should offer some kind of explanation as to what you’re supposed to do― how you’re going to take up the mantle of Creator. It also should say something about the whereabouts of the Eyes. We’re going to need them. I also hope Amon comes clean about what he has Created. But I warn you, you will not like what he has to say. I think you’ll understand why I could not speak to him anymore.”
This worried Michael. Sefu made his father’s intentions sound quite odious. He asked his uncle, “If the demons have found my house, wouldn’t they have already taken the will?”
“Only if they found it,” said Sefu wryly, “but I doubt they could. Your father has hidden it quite well in the kitchen cupboard.”
Michael scoffed in disbelief, “The cupboard?”
“Yes, there should be a secret opening in there,” Sefu elucidated.
Michael was no less doubtful. “I’ve been in there a million times and have never seen anything like that.”
“That’s because you never looked,” his uncle said assuredly.
•••
The trees thinned as they came to the edge of the forest. Michael’s eyes had to adjust to the bright sunshine. He shielded his brow with his hand and looked over the vast grassy plain that stretched as far as his eyes could see. A cool breeze blew from the west, where not far away Michael knew the sea crashed against the island’s stony shores. The wind rippled through the shaggy bear’s fur like dry summer grass. In the distance Michael could see several grazing hesats, their single short horns protruding from the center of their lazy foreheads.
As they progressed south, Michael saw numerous herds of the slow grazing herbivores. Sometimes they rode quite close to them, but none seemed concerned by the passing bear and its riders. Michael considered the animals lucky. They didn’t have to worry about good and evil or the questionable plans of parents. They just placidly chewed their cud.
The hesats only paused to look up when a thunderclap echoed in the distance. It rolled through the forest and across the plains. Sefu’s booby trap had been sprung. He grinned proudly as the rumble died off. Still, he continued to periodically check behind them to see if they were being followed.
As they traveled south, Michael passed time atop the bear by trying to Create something― a ball of lead, or even a speck of dirt. It helped calm his nerves. Sefu had warned him that he would not like what he would learn from his father’s will, but at the moment, he was more concerned with his parents’ well-being. Each failed attempt to Create something reassured him that his father was still alive.
Maya rummaged through her bag and drew out a folding knife along with some bread, meat, and cheese. She cut off slices and passed them to Michael and Sefu. The lumbering picnic in the warm summer sun felt oddly idyllic.
As the afternoon drew upon them, the ground began to gently rise and fall. In the distance, Michael made out even greater hills. He assumed that these were the same ones that rose up behind Canaan.
“I’ve been keeping us away from the roads so as not to be seen,” explained Sefu to Michael, “but do you know of a safe way to get into Canaan?”
Michael thought for a moment. “There are only a few roads in. We can enter along the coast. We could maybe find a boat along the way—”
“But we would be easy targets down there,” Sefu interrupted. “Demons could see us from the cliffs and we would be pinned against the water.”
His uncle clearly had a keen mind for strategy, Michael thought.
“We can also enter along the sea cliffs,” Michael proposed, “but it won’t really give us a good view of town. After that, there’s the main road through the valley. It would be hard for the demons to surprise us there— you can see pretty far in every direction except when you get into the vineyards, but if they have sentries posted in the hills, they would easily spot us.” Michael thought some more. “The only place left is the trail along the ridge line. It eventually connects to the main road in the valley, but before that it would give us a pretty clean view of the town.”
Sefu clicked his tongue. “That sounds like our best bet.”
“It’s probably our only bet,” agreed Michael.
“The trouble is,” Sefu rubbed his head, “that if it offers the best lookout, then the demons will likely have soldiers posted there to watch the valley. We must approach cautiously.”
•••
They ascended the ridge to Roak Rock slowly. The group had to dismount from the bear in order to navigate through the low hanging trees. The beast also made a lot of racket as it tromped through the dry undergrowth, its feet straddling both sides of the tiny trail. Sefu had the bear follow them at a distance, so it would be less likely to give them away.
The hill became steeper as they pressed on and Michael began to perspire. He was certain that not all of it was from the sun, but his nervousness as they passed each bend in the trail. He worried that a platoon of demon soldiers was around every corner.
They crouched slightly as they walked with swords and staff drawn and Sefu in the lead. Michael was so tense that he was ready to blast the first thing that moved. Sensing this, Sefu whispered, “You two stay behind me and fan out. If they start shooting at us, we don’t want to be caught close together.”
Michael watched every pace his uncle made with intense concentration. As they neared the top of the ridgeline, Michael could hear the trickle of water from the luminous blue spring. They were close to the Fold, but the trail ahead was blocked by trees and tall bushes where a few days ago, a solitary demon had stumbled through and changed the course of Michael’s life.
Sefu motioned for Michael and Maya to stop then waved his staff at the wisp to halt the bear. He crouched down by the edge of the bushes and peered through. Michael watched him for what felt like a long time. Sweat dripped down his forehead, but he was too tense to wipe it off. He didn’t want to make a peep.
Finally, Sefu turned and crept back to them. “There are two sentries armed with swords,” he whispered. “One is standing by the rock and the other is looking out over the ridge. We need to take them out before they can signal anyone else, but I can’t hit both of them at the same time. I need you two to take out the one by the rock while I deal with the other.
“What if we miss?” asked Maya.
“Don’t miss,” commanded Sefu sternly.
“But what if we do?” she repeated.
“Then he is either going to signal or he is going to start shooting at us. There are two trees up ahead,” he pointed to either side of the bushes. “Hide behind them without making too much noise.”
“They might not be able to hear us coming because of the creek,” suggested Michael.
“Maybe, but don’t take any chances.” Sefu warned. “I’m going to go in between you two. Wait behind the trees until I give you this signal,” he said, raising a closed fist. He told them to take aim and fire all together when he spread his palm. “Just remember what I taught you over the last few days and you’ll be fine.
Michael was not so sure. He switched sword hands momentarily so he could wipe his
sweaty palm on his shirt. He didn’t want to clumsily drop his weapon at the vital moment.
“It will be quick and clean. They’ll never see us coming,” said Sefu assuredly. “Are you ready?”
Michael and Maya nodded, no less apprehensive. Sefu crept back into the bushes. They followed, careful not to snap any dry twigs or rustle too many leaves. Michael and Maya leaned against their respective trees and watched as Sefu crouched between them. The bushes and brambles shielded him from sight, but not the beams and missiles of the sentries.
Sefu held onto his staff and raised a closed fist with his other hand. Michael and Maya peered out from around their shelters. Amidst the leaves and tall grass Michael could see the outlines of the two demons quietly looking out over the valley. They were so still that they could have been statues.
Trying as much as possible to keep his body shielded by the thick trunk of his arbor, Michael aimed at his demon. He was some distance away, perhaps forty long strides. It seemed a much farther target than the tree he had practiced on back in Sefu’s forest.
Out of the corner of his eye, he watched his uncle level his staff at the sentry on the right. Then, with his free hand, he signaled to fire. Sefu’s bolt lashed out first, striking his demon in the back with a swift crack. With a piercing cry he was blasted off the hillside and out of view, but Michael’s shot went wide, as did Maya’s.
The surprised demon whirled about and fired a red bolt at Sefu, but the general whirled his staff. The force of his will rippled the air around him and the blast was knocked aside into the ground. Sefu followed through with his spin and in one fluid motion pointed the foot of his staff at the demon. He fired back, striking the horned man in the chest and dropping him to the ground. A wisp of smoke plumed from his motionless enemy.
Sefu pushed his way through the foliage and nudged the fallen demon with the end of his staff. He then walked over to the hillside where the first demon fell. “Come out,” he motioned to Michael and Maya. “We got them.”
Michael emerged sheepishly, acutely aware that he had had nothing to do with “getting them.”
Sefu stood at the overlook and surveyed the valley.
“Sorry I missed,” Michael apologized as he joined his uncle.
“It’s quite different to shoot at a sentient being than a tree. I didn’t expect you to do it your first time, but you should take every opportunity now to learn.”
Michael hoped that his uncle did not mean killing every demon they saw for target practice. He assumed the man was not that cold-blooded.
Peering over the valley, Sefu stirred the head of his staff, drawing a circle over and over again in the air in front of him. The air thickened like whisked meringue until it formed a lens made of ice that clung delicately to the head of the stave. Sefu looked through it across the valley.
“How did you do that?” asked Maya, impressed.
“I Moved the moisture in the air,” Sefu explained. “If you use your imagination, your environment can provide almost anything you need.”
Michael and Maya peered over Sefu’s shoulders so they could see. Sefu scanned the valley and the opposite hillsides. He gazed from left to right, slowly moving down from the hilltops to the valley floor. “The canyon looks clear,” he said. He then panned towards the town. “Aha!” he exclaimed. “There are two demons waiting outside your house and four in the town square. There are probably more hidden nearby.”
Despite the lens, Michael could not see them at first. They were very far away, but then his eyes adjusted to the scale. “I see them” he remarked. “They’re standing by the apple tree in my front yard.” Their green skin helped camouflage them against foliage. It was only their black armor that gave them away.
He then scanned beyond his neighborhood towards the town square. There were four more demons standing by the fountain in the middle. The once playful stone sea wolves that spat water into the basin were now still. It was so strange to behold his town devoid of people.
Sefu abruptly flicked his staff and dissipated the icy lens into a puff of steam. Michael blinked to adjust his surprised eyes from the eerie view. “Sorry, we need to get moving,” he commanded, and with another quick whir of his staff, he summoned the great bear.
•••
Sefu dropped them off amongst the cobalt vineyards at the edge of town.
From atop the bear he stated, “I’m going to distract the demons. When they’re out of the way, get to your house and find the will. Remember, there is a secret passage in the kitchen cupboard. If I recall correctly, your father said it was locked.”
Michael thought of the pantry he had opened a thousand times to make a snack or fetch a jar of spice to help cook for his parents. It seemed unlikely that it held any secret beyond some forsaken cookie crumbs tucked into the corners.
“But I don’t have a key,” Michael pointed out.
“I don’t think it requires a key. It will probably open with a word— something personal that only you would know as his son.”
Michael quickly ran his mind across some possibilities— where he was from, how he met his mother, his father’s job— but after hearing Sefu’s tale, he felt like he barely knew his father at all.
“When you’re done, I’ll be waiting for you on the south side of town. If I’m not there, keep going without me.”
“But―” Michael began to protest the idea of something happening to his uncle. He had no idea what to do on his own, but hoped the will would clarify that.
“Good luck,” Sefu interrupted as he raised the wisp into the air. The bear jerked to its feet. Sefu smiled over his shoulder and then thrust his staff forward, sending the wisp hurtling ahead with the great bear galloping after it. Michael was astonished to see the great lumbering animal run so fast.
Michael looked at Maya.
“Let’s go!” she whooped.
They drew their swords and took off after the bear. It kicked up so much dust as it sprinted along that Michael could barely see anything, but as they neared the paved roads of Canaan, he could hear the surprised screams of the demons as the beast charged into them.
As he burst through the cloud of debris, blasts of red light flashed in the air. A demon soldier lay still in the street while three others fired at the beast. The beams singed its hair, but did not seem to irritate it at all. Michael wondered if it would be so unfazed if it was not hypnotized by the wisp.
Sefu was safely shielded by the bear’s giant head. With an upward flick of his staff, he made the bear rear up on its hind legs. It pushed up its awesome weight and rose slowly over the rooftops. Two of the demons stared aghast at the monster. They stumbled backwards, lowering their swords to their sides in horror, but the third soldier was unfazed. He brandished his blade at the head of the rising bear. Michael wondered if he was going to summon his Ki and fire a massive blast that could actually do some damage, but before the soldier had a chance, the bear came crashing down.
Maya gasped. Whereas the bear had risen slowly, it descended like a landslide. The impact was unbelievable, sending dirt and cobblestones flying. The nearby houses shuddered and Michael felt the ground tremble beneath his feet. The demon did not have time to dive out of the way and was trampled under its bouldery paws. The other demons were knocked off their feet from the force of the impact. Their swords skittered across the street like terrified mice. For the briefest of moments, they stared in abject horror as Sefu commanded the bear to rise up on its hind legs again.