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Hejira: Sanguine Wave

By Mantrid Brizon

Episode 24: Fiery Trials

It’s a cold morning as Kelly stands beside the forge, using tongs to hold the end of an ingot of iron within the bright orange glow; the seasons are at the brink of change as winter turns into spring. For the past six months, life has settled into a comfortable routine. Kahlera, and her faithful assistant Naomi, serve the Blue Feet as healers, mixing potions and treating wounds. Kelly has become the apprentice of Balahn, the village blacksmith. Gareth and Steve are on a hunt together, as is their routine, though Gareth has also been practicing carpentry as a hobby for the last several months.

Kelly takes out the red-hot ingot, removing it from the forge, and placing it atop the anvil. He hammers it slowly into shape, forming a gentle but blunt edge to the iron blade. He looks up from his work as he sees motion coming from the corner of his eye. Gareth and Steve arrive from the edge of the distant forest. Gareth carries several hung rabbits and a single deer, which is slung over Steve’s shoulders.

“Hey Balahn, can I go out and play?” Kelly asks.

“Have you finished the first fold of the blade?” Balahn asks sternly.

“Well… No, but I have about four-hundred more years to get that right.” He smirks.

“Hah! You’re lucky that you’re so amusing, or I would have lost patience with you long ago… Go on.” Balahn replies, waving him away.

Kelly sets down the ingot, leaving it inside the forge as he wipes his hands with an old cloth rag. He walks towards his friends, waving as they approach. Coming from his right, Kahlera and Naomi rush toward the two hunters. Kahlera jumps up onto Gareth, who barely manages to catch her in time, nearly dropping the rabbits to the ground. He hands them off to Kelly.

“Aww, for me? You shouldn’t have.” He facetiously comments.

Gareth lowers Kahlera down to the ground, looking her over.

“Are you alright? You should be careful.” He says softly to her.

Gareth is always quite protective of her, and even more-so after they’ve publicly paired with each other nearly five months ago, effectively becoming married. They head for a large firepit near the far end of the village. There, Kahlera and Steve skin the carcasses and prepare the meat. Naomi sits back and watches Kelly and Gareth sparring with their talents, albeit at much weaker power levels.

For the past few months, Naomi has been writing a book about the aura talents, using supplies given to her by Sarvah, who visits regularly, as she had promised. Naomi opens her book, using a special dye mixture on the end of a quill, to take notes. She is careful not to smudge the words until the dye has dried. Naomi has noted that no user seems capable of controlling every talent, and some have talents that are inherently more powerful than other talents in their arsenal. She looks over her notes.

“Common talents…

· Shield: Forms a solid, but translucent aura shield.

· Flare: Summons a small ball of light that follows the user and illuminates the area to varying degrees.

· Claws: Covers the user’s fingernails or claws with miniature aura blades of varying length.

· Shockwave: A shockwave that blasts from the user in a 360-degree radius.

· Enchanted Projectile: Covers arrows, bolts, bullets, stones and throwing weapons with concentrated aura for enhanced damage; Enchanted projectiles often explode or burn on impact, depending on the surface they strike.

Uncommon Talents…

· Sunspot: A brief flash of bright light from the palm, that causes a few seconds of blindness, if looked at directly.

· Push: A focused form of shockwave, capable of throwing targets great distances and/or breaking bones.

· Sling-Blade: Materializes a solid aura blade over an existing melee weapon.

· Flamethrower: Materializes a directed and concentrated blast of aura that burns like fire.

· Chain-Whip: Materializes a flexible aura blade from an empty palm that can be swung like a whip.

Rare Talents…

· Telekinesis: Able to move objects with thought alone.

· Holy Bolt: Materializes a bolt or ball of energy that can be shot from the fingertips, palm, or directed out of a gun; no projectile is necessary.

· Vampire Mist: Aura mist that absorbs the energy of others, feeding the user’s own aura.”

She further notes that Kelly can fell a foot diameter tree in one swing with his sling-blade, while Gareth has neither sling-blade or chain-whip, but is the only one able to use holy bolt, to her knowledge; he can fire purple projectiles through several wooden boards stacked atop each other. Only herself and Gareth seem to have vampire mist. Users who can form chain-whip can always form sling-blade. Kahlera sits beside Naomi, peeking over her shoulder as she scans her work.

“Still writing that book?” She asks.

“Of course. It is quite important work that I am doing.” Naomi replies.

“How so?” Kahlera chuckles.

“Understanding is always important, regardless of subject matter.” Naomi retorts.

“If you say so.” She mutters.

“Are you picking fights with the neighbor girl again?” Gareth jokes.

Naomi looks at Gareth and smiles, before picking up an empty wooden cup with her thoughts and heaving it at him. He steps aside as the cup flies past him. He quickly draws Vetra from her holster, takes aim, and fires a holy bolt through the moving cup, displaying his considerable skill as a marksman.

“Why do you keep doing that? You know you are just going to have to carve me a new one.” Steve laughs.

“That was yours? I’m sorry.” Gareth says as he holsters Vetra.

“Still breaking things that don’t belong to you?” Sarvah’s voice suddenly calls out.

The group turns in unison to see Sarvah and Volaren standing just beyond the firepit, watching them. The Feather Fingers have just arrived to trade.

“Sarvah!” Naomi yells happily.

She bolts up from her seat, dropping the book as she hugs Sarvah tightly. Kahlera takes up the book and casually walks towards her, followed by Gareth, Kelly and Steve.

“It is nice to see you too. May I breathe now?” Sarvah jests, petting Naomi’s head.

Sarvah shares a hug with both Kahlera and Gareth, before waving politely to Steve and Kelly. Gareth holds Volaren’s forearm and nods to his friend.

“It’s good to see you both. It hasn’t been nearly as amusing without you.” Gareth smiles.

“I can only imagine, with stiffs like this living next to you.” Sarvah tilts her head toward Kelly.

“I’ve had worse next-door neighbors.” Gareth quips.

“I have some good news to tell you all!” Sarvah says happily.

She begins to speak, but is interrupted by several arrows flying past them, coming from the direction of the nearby woods just behind them. An arrow pierces Volaren’s chest as he falls back and groans. Everyone ducks, moving for cover as Gareth draws Vetra. Kelly brings up his shield with his left arm as an arrow slams into it, breaking on impact. He draws his own sidearm, his 1911, which he wears daily. He rushes over to a thick wooden table and turns it over, hiding behind it. Steve and Naomi quickly follow him behind the table. Gareth rushes to a large log used as a bench, lying prone in the dirt.

Gareth peeks out from behind his cover and sees a swath of humans rushing towards them in a wild and unorganized fashion; clearly, they are not trained soldiers. None of them seem to be using aura talents. The humans rush towards them as they yell and scream. To Gareth, they appear to be similar to the Viking berserkers from the dark ages. He takes aim and fires, dropping several who rush toward his position in a matter of seconds. Kelly takes careful aim and squeezes the trigger, shooting a man in the chest as he runs towards his cover, raised axe in hand.

Sarvah suddenly joins Gareth behind his cover, kneeling down beside him. She brings up her right arm and forms a hexagonal aura shield, protecting him from a barrage of arrows that fly towards them. Her aura is an almost blinding cyan. Gareth is astounded; she has never revealed her talents, even to him. Her hand glows as she fires a cyan holy bolt from her left palm. He quickly snaps out of his daze, climbing up from his stomach. Kneeling beside her and using her shield for cover, he leans around it, firing into the crowd of humans; he throws purple bullets from Vetra’s golden tipped barrel as quickly as he can.

Blue Feet from the village have heard the fight and come to their aid, rushing towards the human warriors with their own swords, axes, clubs and spears. Gareth struggles to find targets as the flesh and fur collide. They club, jab, stab and slash each other to death. Kelly gets up from his cover and places his pistol in his left hand, drawing his faithful Katana machete from its sheath, and holding it firmly in his right hand. He forms his sling-blade, which curves back to imitate the Katana’s form. Running into the battle, he kills every human he comes across. He would be more concerned for his own safety, if he weren’t so well known among the Blue Feet; none mistake him for an enemy.

Not nearly as skilled with hand to hand as Kelly, Gareth stays at the edge of the battlefield, using his holy bolts whenever he has a clear shot. Sarvah joins him, trying to carefully pick targets of opportunity. In moments, Sarvah’s own Feather Finger guards join the battle, rushing the humans from their left flank, wrapping around the rear. Surrounded, the humans stand little chance. Smaller groups of humans break off, rushing throughout the town, and causing as much chaos as possible. Some throw torches onto huts, and through the windows of log homes.

Naomi turns to see several humans coming upon her and Steve. Steve fires several arrows at them. He quickly runs out of ammunition. Naomi hasn’t trained combat talents; she looks to the firepit and pulls a flaming log from it with her thoughts, flinging it against the head of a teenage boy wielding a sword. As he rushes towards her, the log slams into his skull, splitting it open and dropping his corpse to the ground with a thud, just before he can bring his sword upon Steve. In a matter of minutes, the human aggressors lie dead, dying, or captured throughout the village. They were no match for the combined Sahvorai tribes, or their aura users.

Gareth turns to Sarvah, checking her for injuries. He spins around, looking for his remaining family and friends. Naomi and Steve are unhurt. Kelly is covered in blood, though none of it is his own. As Gareth scans the battlefield for Kahlera, he turns back to see Volaren, who fell earlier. He lies motionless on the ground, and not even his chest or belly move to indicate breathing. Walking back to her last known position, Gareth suddenly sees a familiar looking pair of feet.

He had hoped that Kahlera was hiding or fighting elsewhere, but there she lay, right where she was standing when the battle began. He drops Vetra and bolts toward Kahlera, who has several arrows sticking out of her body. Sarvah picks up Gareth’s gun and watches him. She sees the legs by the firepit, immediately racing to catch up to him. He drops to his knees at the sight of his wife with three arrows sticking out of her back, lying face down on the ground.

“Oh, God… No… Please no…” He mumbles.

He kneels beside her, his hands hovering over her as he chokes on his own breath. His eyes well with tears as he struggles to move. Slowly lifting her, Gareth rolls her over in his arms; he tries to keep the arrows from touching him, or moving within her. Her legs cross each other as she shifts, limp and lifeless. As her head rolls back, her eyes slowly open. She isn’t dead yet, but she already has one foot in the grave.

Sahvorai from both tribes gather around Gareth and the others, dragging human prisoners, holding them still with their bare hands. A man who led the assault had survived, along with a teenage boy who bears a striking resemblance to the leader. The leader looks on as Steve holds a knife to his throat. Naomi and Sarvah kneel down beside Gareth, looking at Kahlera as she slowly dies in his arms.

“Please don’t leave me…” Gareth whispers to her.

He kisses her forehead and she coughs up blood. Tears stream down Naomi’s face and Sarvah is left speechless. He wipes the blood from her lips with his hands.

“It is alright… We will just have to wait for you on the other side…” Kahlera chokes out.

She blinks slowly, her golden eyes locked onto his amethyst spheres. She reaches a hand out, barely able to lift it. Gareth looks to her hand, and takes it in his, bringing it to his cheek for her. Her fingers try to stroke his face, but they haven’t the strength to curl under the weight of gravity.

“I… Lo… … I…”

Her hand falls limp in his, as her last breath slips from her lips. He lowers her hand and calls out her name. The world seems to stop; the air becomes heavy, as the stench of blood and metal fills it. Holding her body close to him and hugging her like a teddy bear, her head falls back. It’s no longer supported by her muscles. Gareth sobs and rocks back and forth on his knees. Sarvah looks to Gareth and becomes increasingly angry. Her rage builds. She glares at the human leader, who watches in awe.

“Who are you?” She demands, slowly approaching him.

“I’m the leader of my people…” He answers vaguely.

“It will not matter soon anyway…” Steve growls, pressing the knife against his neck.

“What are you doing here?” She asks.

“We were a southern tribe… We have been traveling slowly north for over a year, and only just arrived. We attacked you on sight, hoping to spread you out and clear an easy path north.” The leader answers.

“What the hell for?!” Kelly demands.

“To get to the Crystalline Hall. Your village is right in front of it.” The leader answers, as though offended by their ignorance.

“You could have just asked us to go through. We would have let you.” Steve says.

“Would you?” The leader scoffs.

“Of course we would have!” Kelly yells.

“We are from the south. We remember the stories Casius would tell us. We merely assumed that you would be hostile. We never expected to see humans living peacefully with you… If we had, maybe we wouldn’t have…” The teenage boy pauses.

It all makes sense to the group now. Casius is one of the oldest humans alive in this realm. He may have lived through the first war with the Sahvorai, and was simply never able to come to terms with them for their initial brutality against the human race. These humans simply believed him without question, as Faye had done. Sarvah can’t help but laugh at the human’s foolishness.

“The Crystalline Hall is merely a shrine. It is not a way out, and it never was. It was forbidden to enter, but we traveled there anyway, to find out what it was. Once we knew it was nothing, we spread the word. My tribe is nomadic and trades with many other tribes and villages. If you were not so isolationist, you would have already known that.” She explains.

The human leader and his son both hang their heads in shame. The boy looks to the bodies of the dead, many of which are humans he had known. He begins to cry and looks to his father.

“I told you, dad! I said that Casius was an old, senile fool! Why didn’t you just listen to me! This could have been avoided!” The boy yells.

“I’m sorry son… I’m sorry for everything…” The leader croaks.

Gareth’s hands grip Kahlera’s body tightly. He begins to tremble.

“You’re… Sorry…” He murmurs.

He sets down her body, gently closing her eyelids with his fingertips. He stands and turns to the leader, glaring at him with a hatred that cannot be expressed in mere words. Stepping up to him, Gareth extends his left hand towards Sarvah. She looks down at his hand and then at Vetra, before handing the weapon to Gareth.

“You’re sorry?! SORRY?! These people are dead! Do you have any idea what you’ve done here?! I don’t want your apologies; I want my wife back! Is your apology going to bring her back to me?! Is it going to bring any of the dead back to their children or parents?!” Gareth growls in a rage.

He points to his side with his right hand. There, a Sahvorai child cries over the corpse of a fallen parent. He then points to Volaren’s body a short distance away, and then back to Kahlera.

“Will your being sorry make any of this right?!” He continues.

“No…” The leader shamefully admits, lowering his head.

“Then it won’t save your son either!” Gareth roars.

He lunges forward and takes the teenage boy by his hair, quickly bringing Vetra to his temple and squeezing the trigger. A purple holy bolt plows through his skull. Blood and gray brain matter blast out of the other side, in front of his father. He drops the boy’s body and swiftly kicks the man over, barely giving Steve enough time to jump back. He aims down at him and fires nearly a dozen holy bolts into his body and face, killing him as well, and leaving him unrecognizable.

Startled by the sudden explosion of brutality from Gareth, Kelly shields his eyes from the gore, as Gareth maims the corpse in pure, unadulterated rage. Naomi and Sarvah, too distraught over Kahlera’s loss, don’t seem to care. The Feather Fingers and Blue Feet see Gareth’s reaction and quickly follow his lead, slaughtering the other prisoners without mercy. They draw knives and swords over their throats, shove spears through their backs, and club them to death. After a thorough check of the village, nearly a quarter of the Blue Feet are dead, and two-thirds of their homes and supplies have been burned.

The Feather Fingers only lost a few warriors, having joined the battle during the last third, and with a tactical advantage. Among the dead are Kahlera, Volaren, Gishner the chieftain, Kahlera’s mother Kina, the priestess, and Balahn, the smith. The Feather Fingers gather around Sarvah, who orders that they help the Blue Feet in any way that they can, starting with giving the Sahvorai the proper funerary rights that they deserve. The Blue Feet look to Gareth; they seem to be waiting for his orders. Gareth can’t help them right now. He can’t even help himself. All he can do is cremate his wife and mourn her loss. He carefully lifts her body, as if worried he might wake her up, then carries her away.