CHAPTER 10: WE ARE HERE

“Malia, wait!” By the time the words escaped Gorken’s lips, she had already run past him towards the main road at an incredible speed.

“Aldous, Bayard, you take care of the twins and the luggage! I’ll go after her!” Gorken commanded.

“Did she seriously just run off on us?!” Aldous complained, “Aren’t we a team?”

“She was probably worried about Sven and Avah.” Bayard answered, “We should follow them too. They may need our help.”

“The boss said to take care of the girls and the luggage.” Aldous countered. Unlike him, Bayard was always more willing to follow his intuition than his orders; Aldous both admired and despised that conviction.

“We don’t need you to look after us!” Hedera protested, stomping her tiny foot on the ground and breaking the rigid unease that confined the two humans.

“What she means is that we don’t want to be a burden to you.” Licorice added, “Please follow the princess and your leader. We can’t run as fast as you, so we’ll wait here.”

Aldous’ reluctance was quickly eroded by their common disquiet. They all knew danger was near. A subtle nod was all he needed to agree with Bayard, and they too rushed toward the main road.

Malia was dashing through the woods in a panic, but her mind raced faster and more frantically than her legs; Licorice’s soft voice had awakened in her an unwelcome sensation from the past. She couldn't get rid of the frigid pressure in her gut, the same that had consumed her that day in the throne hall as her uncle stared at her helpless tears. Why did I remember that, of all things? This wasn’t the same. It couldn’t be. That time, cruelty had shattered her small world, taking her unawares. She was no longer a child, and her world was no longer young and simple. And even so, the icy trepidation nesting inside her remained.

She had been going for a few minutes when she caught sight of a small group of people from afar. As she chipped away at the distance separating them with her steadfast strides, their blurred contours morphed into the leather armor of immortal soldiers. And at their feet, the vague dark shapes turned into Sven and Avah’s corpses.

Malia stopped moving, unsure on whether it was the nausea or the fire in her throat that impeded her run. Avah and Sven hadn’t been her friends. She didn’t know them, not truly. But no amount of logical detachment could stop her hands from shaking, her stomach from sinking, her dry breath from getting stranded in her chest. She wouldn’t cry; she couldn’t break her promise. It wasn’t the time for that. The soldiers could now see her, she had to be ready to fight. But the gash in Avah’s neck paralyzed her, and Sven’s opaque eyeballs seemed to decry her, nailing her feet to the ground.

A man in a silken tunic was strolling around the bodies, and he beckoned when he saw her, “Sweet sister! We’ve been looking for you. Father is distraught.”

It was Cain. His turquoise eyes matched the brooch pinned on his lustrous robe. Cain’s hair was black instead of plum, but even so Malia couldn’t bear seeing herself in him. At that moment, their resemblance repulsed her. “You’re not my brother.” She managed to mutter, “…Why? Why did you kill them?”

“You mean these humans?” Cain pointed one dainty finger at the corpses, “I could feel your magical energy on one of them, so I stopped them and asked them about you. They faked ignorance so I killed the male to see if the female would speak. It didn’t go well.” He shook his head disapprovingly, “She kept crying and shrieking and she wouldn’t provide any answers…  I was forced to conclude she would be of no use.”

The heat of rage inside Malia was swiftly replaced by the cold tremor she had learned to call desolation, back when she was younger. It was the cold that had invaded her the first morning her master hadn’t shown up. The strict woman had never returned after that, leaving Malia’s training incomplete. Her inadequacy pounded at her ribcage with every heavy heartbeat: she had no idea a magic user could leave traces of their magical energy on other people. If Cain had only sensed it on one of the humans… When I touched Avah’s belly…

“I was dismayed, don’t get me wrong.” Cain continued, “I thought our only lead was gone. But here you are, as if sent by the heavens… What’s wrong Malia?” he showed disconcerting concern, “You seem shaken. Is it because of the humans?”

“Be quiet.” She cursed him under her breath. She charged at Cain in fury, concentrating her magic and her guilt in a raging fist, but an invisible wall stopped her.

“You are shaken.” Cain nodded sadly, “Look at all that magical energy you’re wasting. I can see it shining and dissipating. You shouldn’t let your emotions affect you so much.”

Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! The bitter demand echoed in her head as she kept trying to punch him time after time, but the barrier surrounding him wouldn’t budge. It didn’t matter how much magic she aimed to concentrate on her fists, it would fade before she was able to focus on controlling it. She only wanted to think about hurting Cain.

“I take it you won’t come with us of your own accord. What a pity. I suppose it’s my turn now, isn’t it?” He said as he raised his arm.

In his palm Malia recognized magical runes, and an instant later the spell they held: she braced for the impact of the unseen force she knew would strike her. All the magical power she had wasted had left her exhausted, rendering her chances of dodging slim. She closed her eyes, waiting for the hit. But it didn’t come. Instead, she felt the jolt of someone dragging her out of harm’s way.

“Are you alright?” Gorken’s face met her eyes when she opened them.

She looked away from him, ashamed. “I’m fine.” Her gaze had nowhere to hide. She was unable to face her friends, or Cain, or Sven, or Avah. She couldn’t even stop her body from trembling or her voice from breaking during that brief exchange.

“I see.” Gorken’s expression was unreadable. “Aldous, Bayard, stay with her. This time I hope you’ll follow your orders.”

“Yes, boss.” The two humans replied in unison.

Gorken garnered all of his resolve to let go of Malia. He stood in front of Cain and spoke, “Come. I’ll defeat you.”

“What a presumptuous thing to say, human. Don’t interfere; I need to take my little sister home.”

“I will be your opponent. I won’t say it again.” Gorken insisted, unmoving.

Aldous and Bayard were watching with Malia as she recovered her strength.  “We have to help.” She made an effort to stand up, but Bayard held her down.

“The boss doesn’t pick fights he can’t win.” Aldous said, “Our only role is to stop the soldiers if they attempt to gang up on him.”

Malia swallowed her protests. As weakened as she was, keeping foot soldiers in line was probably as much as she could manage.

“Besides,” Aldous added, “it’s been a while since I’ve seen him this angry.”

Cain gave in to Gorken’s persistence; it was as good a chance as any to crush a rebel human and earn praise and admiration from his men. The prince wasted no time, resorting right away to the magical runes on his hand. Gorken blocked the ghostly attack with his sword and lunged at Cain, slashing him. The immortal didn’t bother evading the assault, conscious of the fact that a basic human blade was no threat for his barrier.

Consternation deformed his calm exterior when Gorken’s weapon reached him and cut him across the chest. “The sword…!?” Cain groaned as he fell down, blood from his wound tarnishing his tunic.

As the soldiers converged around their prince, seeking to assist him, so too did Aldous, Bayard and Malia gather around Gorken. The uncertain pause did nothing but diminish the morale of the immortal guards. Inexplicably, a single human had neutralized their commander. In the senseless reality that opened up in front of them, there was no reason to assume Aldous and Bayard weren’t just as strong as the green-eyed rebel. And with them stood the princess they weren’t allowed to kill. The longer they reflected on it, the clearer their priority became: it was their duty to protect Cain, to treat his injury and carry him to safety.

The soldiers retreated cautiously, their gazes tensely fixed on the young group that had rattled them. When they were gone from sight, Malia turned her head toward the last thing she wished to see at that moment, “We have to bury them.”

They didn’t have the tools nor the time to dig graves for the couple, so they chose to cover their bodies with rocks, gravel and dirt. They didn’t have the instruments to suture their wounds either, and healing magic didn’t work on the dead, so they buried them as they were. When they finished, their hands were covered in filth and stained with Sven’s and Avah’s blood.

Gorken, Aldous and Bayard had assembled at the scene shortly after Malia, so they had heard most of Cain’s explanation. They didn’t know how to approach Malia’s isolating remorse. After laying Sven and Avah to rest, they walked in silence back to where the twins were waiting. Even Hedera was able read the mood, so she didn’t ask any questions. They arrived at the river bank without saying a word, and settled to spend the night there.

When they went to wash their hands, Malia chose a spot away from the others. Even after her friends were done, she stayed there, rubbing her hands incessantly, aching to get rid of the smell of blood. The hours passed and nighttime came. Even then Malia was sitting by the river, deliberately alone.

“Malia,” Gorken sat next to her in the dead of night, “If ignorance was your sin, then we’re as guilty as you.”

She didn’t move, “…I vowed to myself that I would become strong. And yet here I am, same as when I was a child, unable to do anything or to save anyone.” That has to be it. I’m sure the strong don’t have to feel this way.

“Don’t be arrogant.” He too stared into the water, “You’re just one person. There will be times when your strength won’t be enough, no matter how powerful you are. That’s why we’ve got allies to rely on, to share our burdens. That’s why we’re here.”

She shifted her head and glanced into his green eyes. Then she looked back to the river, “Allies… You’re right Gorken. There are times when our strength isn’t enough, and we must rely on each other. But this wasn’t one of those times… If I hadn’t been so clueless, we could have avoided this situation. Sven, Avah and their baby would be alive. And if I wasn’t so immature I could have defeated Cain. I’m still weak. Weak and ignorant. No words of support can change that.”

Gorken put his hand on her shoulder, “No, they can’t. But wallowing in regret can’t change anything either. The point of this journey is to find Kadem and learn more about this world, isn’t it? Now we will do it for Sven and Avah too.”

“...Yes.” Malia agreed faintly, “Thank you, Gorken.”