Land of Sky, Land of Rain (Chapter Twenty-Three)

Chapter Twenty-Three: One of the Circus Freaks

“Kagami.”

“Yes, I know who I am, thank you very much,” he tells me, “The question is, do you know who you are?”

“Who are you asking? Me, or Eri?”

“Neither and both. You are Eri, Miss Bering, and Eri is you. Ideally, your consciousness would not be so far separated, but there is little we can do about that at present.”

“Start talking sense, or I’ll–“

”Or you’ll... what?”

“Look, don’t try to mess with me here. I know for a fact that I’m strong. I don’t know much about you, but how strong can you be if you’re always hiding behind someone else’s army?”

Kagami steps forward, toward us. “Don’t do anything foolish, Eri,” he says with a theatrical sigh. “I may not waste my power on humans, but I’m still stronger than you could ever hope to be.”

Don’t let him mess with you, I remind myself, don’t listen.

I draw my sword, feeling a bit comforted by the feel of the leather-wrapped hilt in my hand. “Where is he?” I ask.

Kagami raises an eyebrow. “Pardon?”

“You heard me. Koreth. Tell me where Koreth is.” I say, feeling panic rise in my stomach. If we’re too late, what if we’re too late...

“Not far,” Kagami says. “There’s no need to worry. You’re here on time, for all the good it will do you. Which is very little, or none.”

“I said, tell me where he is,” I say, although unable to hide my relief. Koreth’s alive, we’re here on time, and he’s not far away. I didn’t mess up again at all. We can save him, we can, or at least we can try. All I have to do is defeat Kagami. Which I have a feeling is kind of like saying we need to relocate a mountain with our bare hands, but whatever. Still, knowing Koreth’s alive won’t help us out much, if we don’t know where to find him. “Where’s Koreth? Tell me!"

“Why on earth would I do something like that?”

Attaraya pushes me aside, drawing a throwing knife from her belt. “Tell us.”

Kagami sighs, “You’re not a stupid human, are you? Think. You’re hardly more than a child.”

“Listen, you–“ Attaraya begins, but Kagami puts a hand up for silence.

“Humans,” he says, “Have grown altogether too impertinent. I don’t blame you. It’s your nature, after all. Perhaps if the empire were still on its feet... ah well. Another matter.”

I step forward, sword pointed toward Kagami, keeping my voice steady with much effort. “Stop playing games, Kagami. I want to know where Koreth is, and I want to know now. If you take me too him, I might,” I punctuate the “might” with a sharp jab of my sword, “spare your life. If I’m feeling merciful.”

Kagami stares at me for a moment, then laughs, a quiet, terrible laugh that nonetheless seems to echo over the silent hills and fields.

“Do you, by any chance, listen to yourself? You poor fool,” he says, speaking softly, but I can hear the quiet contempt in every syllable. “You haven’t the faintest idea what you’re dealing with.”

“I know I’m dealing with a cruel, arrogant coward.”

Kagami shows no reaction to the insults, no anger, nothing at all. “As I said, you are a foolish child. Though you can’t be blamed, it’s not wonder you’re ignorant. A demonstration, then.”

Kagami takes a few steps back, and I keep my blade out and step towards the others, pulling in close to defend them if necessary.

Make sure to protect Iarin, Eri advises.

I was planning to defend Iarin, of course, but why her in particularly? I know she’s not physically very strong, but neither is Sae. Besides, Iarin’s a Healer. Couldn’t she just Heal herself?

Don’t be stupid. A Healer can’t use magic to Heal their own wounds, only those of others. The magical energies cancel each other out. Iarin’s useless if she gets hurt.

Okay. Got it. I move towards Iarin, guarding her and feeling immensely stupid doing so. How can I know how to protect Iarin, if I have no idea what Kagami’s about to do? And I can’t just run out and attack him, he’s the only one who knows where Koreth is. Besides, oddly enough, I’m starting to feel like attacking Kagami would be a very bad idea. I’m not quite sure why I feel that way, he shouldn’t be all that intimidating, but how could anyone who was a pushover have such a confident glint int heir eye while facing down four armed assailants?

“I wouldn’t ordinarily waste so much power,” says Kagami, “but it would appear that there are three too many of you. I wish to speak with Miss Bering alone, and you humans will only get in my way.”

“Yeah? Well think again! We’ve come this far with Emma, we aren’t abandoning her now! Do your worst, we’ll stick with her no matter what!” Attaraya shouts.

Kagami regards her with calmly for a moment. “An admirable aspiration,” he says, “However, I’m afraid you’ll find it difficult to... what were your words? Oh yes, ‘stick with’ Miss Bering, when you’re dead.”

“Oh yeah? And we’re just going to lay down and die, are we?”

“I’d kill you myself, but it’s a waste of time and energy. You’re only humans, after all. It’s more efficient to let problems like this take care of themselves. “

Take care of... what the...

Kagami snaps his fingers. Sae stiffens next to me, but otherwise nothing happens. I keep my eyes on Kagami, who turns his back to us, speaking again.

“I’ll be taking my leave, Miss Bering. You’ll find me about a mile north of here, once you’ve cleaned up the riffraff.”

“I’ll just follow you, then,” I say.

“No, I’m afraid you’ll find that quite impossible.”

“What–”

“Oh, and Miss Bering? Do hurry. I told you you’ve arrived with plenty of time, and you have. But the clock is ticking, and your... friend’s life is ticking away with it.”

Then he vanishes into thin air.

“What the–” I glance left and right, trying to locate him, but he’s gone. “That... that doesn’t make sense... He shouldn’t be able to teleport here, right?”

“Yeah, yeah, it’s nice to hear about the laws of magic and all, but I think we’ve got a bigger problem,” Attaraya says quietly. I turn to face her, but she’s looking at Sae.

Sae doesn’t look injured, but she stands stock-still, her dark eyes wide and afraid. She looks like she’s struggling to speak, but her mouth doesn’t seem willing to open.

“Help... arms... I can’t... I can’t move on my own... I can’t...”

She takes a few steps away from us and then turns to face us, her movements slow and jerky, like someone being pulled along by marionette strings.

Oh, hell no.

“Sae...”

You know, Kagami’s done some really sick things, but this one kind of tops the charts. I mean, Sae’s... Sae, for pity’s sake. After all that’s happened to her, he expects us to fight her.

No, he expects us to fight her, says Eri, You and I.

Yeah, well I got news for him. If Kagami expects me to kill Sae in cold blood, well, he can shove his expectations up his ass. Because I’m not going to hurt her. I never will.

“We’re going on ahead, guys. Let’s find Koreth. I don’t care what Kagami wants us to do, I’m not hurting Sae. Okay?”

I step forward, in the vague direction Kagami’s headed, but Sae darts forward to intercept me.

“I-I don’t think Kagami’s going to let me let you go,” she says quietly.

As if in confirmation to her statement, Sae’s left arm raises, and... am I wrong, or is it glowing? A soft light seems to be coming from the center of her pale palm. I sure don’t know what’s going on, but I see Sae’s eyes widen with startled fear.

“He wouldn’t have...”

“What? What’s going on?” I ask, panicking now.

“I-I don’t know this for sure...” Iarin says from behind me, “B-but I heard...”

“What did you hear?”

“W-well, it’s only a rumor, b-but...”

“What did you hear, Iarin?”

“I-I heard that there was a spell... that was p-part of elemental magic... it was taught to all of the child mages, but they were told not to use it... u-unless they’d been found out. I-it causes instant death. B-but it takes such a long time to summon up the magic... a-and it leaves you vulnerable during that time... a-and of course, it takes a huge amount of energy, leaves you completely exhausted, s-so it’s no use in a fight...”

“Unless, for some reason, your opponent doesn’t want to attack you,” I finish for her.

“Y-yes. B-but that’s just a rumor...”

“You hit the nail right on the head there, it’s no a rumor at all,” Sae says. “Emma, Attaraya, I’ll leave Iarin out of this, she couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn. But Emma, Attaraya, you know what you have to do.”

“What?” I ask.

“Don’t play dumb, okay? One of you is going to have to kill me. There’s no other way. And you’d better hurry up with it, I don’t think you have more than about four minutes.”

Attaraya, surprising me, shouts, “We can’t do that!”

Sae gives her a disparaging look. “Why not?”

“Be... because... because.” Attaraya apparently surprised even herself with this sudden tendency toward human empathy. “Because...”

“Oh, wow, great argument. I notice you weren’t so keen on sparing my life about two weeks ago.”

“That was different,” Attaraya says, quietly. “I... you... Dammit, what the hell do you take me for? I don’t kill people who are on my side. You’re... You’re one of us.”

Sae looks momentarily surprised. In a second, though, she pulls her face back under her usual composure.

“Well, if so, then that’s a pretty miraculous transformation. Last week I wasn’t even human, remember? But now, I’m one of the circus freaks. I think I liked you better without the sentimental streak.” She turns to me, “Emma. Listen up. You haven’t got a choice. Kagami won’t have me kill you, I don’t think, but he’s making me aim for Iarin right now. Attaraya’s next, I think. Then... perhaps, myself. I’ve never used this spell before, I don’t know if it’s affected by normal laws of elemental magic... but... well, you’ll lose a lot less if you just kill me. It makes more strategic sense.”

“I don’t care what makes sense! After all that’s happened to you, if you think I’m just going to sacrifice you–“

”Please. I’ve dealt with Renketh, I can handle Hell.”

“Shut up! Just shut up, okay? No matter what you say, I’m not going to listen. I’m not going to do this, it’s just what Kagami wants–”

You’re not ready for this, Emma, Eri says. Let me take over.

You’re going to kill her.

Of course I am. The child herself says it makes logical sense.

Her name is Sae. And I don’t care, I said that already–

Don’t be foolish. Someone will die no matter what you do here. I’m trying to save who I can.

What the hell is wrong with you? How can you take this sort of thing so casually?

I’m just doing what is necessary to save Koreth. Which is more than you can say.

That’s right. Koreth...

But something interrupts my thoughts as I see Sae’s arm twitch to the right just a little, and then again. Her eyes are narrowed in a look of great concentration, a solid sphere of light is in her palm now, growing greater all the while, pulsing a faint blue color. The sphere begins to emit not so much a glare as rays of light, and I can see Sae continue to struggle with the beast-manipulation spell, fighting it off, though I don’t see why she’s turning her hand–

Then I realize it, as Sae stops fighting, standing ramrod straight, palm facing her, her dark eyes filled with a sad sort of resignation, as the rays of light grow to encompass everything, so bright that I can’t see anything else, but I hear Sae cry out in pain, hear her fall to the ground, and the bright light is snuffed out.

Sae lies still upon the grass, limp and quite still, her eyes closed. Compared with the bright starry sky above her, with the endless field around her, she looks impossibly small.

“Sae.” Is all I can say. I feel like all the strength is drained out of me, it’s all I can do to stay on my feet.

She’s dead. She can’t be dead. Not Sae. But she’s dead, she’s lying there right in front of me.

“S-s-sae. She... she...”

Attaraya just stares, mouth open, gaping at the limp form in front of her. “No way. There is no way in hell. That... that stupid... little...” her throat makes an odd noise somewhere between a whimper and a cough, and she falls silent.

I step to Sae’s side, kneeling down in the grass, brushing a strand of pale hair off her scarred face. Then my hand stops short.

Surely not, surely it’s just my imagination... but I could have sworn I felt the air stir above her face, as if she was still–

I seize the wrist of her left arm, feeling– yes! The pulse of a faint, but definite, heartbeat.

“She’s alive,” I whisper, “Sae’s alive!”

“Wh-what?”

“Of course...” I say slowly, “She said she didn’t know if this spell followed normal rules... and it does! And what’s the first rule of magic? It requires sacrifice!”

A hand flies to Iarin’s mouth. “Oh! W-w-with elemental magic, the more you cast...”

“–The weaker the spell!” I shout, “Sae’s used a fire spell like... three times today already– that one didn’t have enough power left to kill anyone!”

“Y-you’re right...” Iarin says, “B-but her life is still in danger. Th-that spell will probably still have hurt her.” Iarin bends down, rolling up her sleeves, and places her fingertips on Sae’s brow. “Sh-she’ll need Healing.”

A soft blue light runs from her fingers, spreading over Sae’s face and body, Healing the magical damage. After almost a minute, Iarin lifts her hands and turns back to us. The blue light fades.

“Sh-she’ll live,” Iarin says, voice rasping in her throat, “B-but there was a lot of damage to repair... a-and the sealing spells on... o-on her arm kept getting in my way...”

“Are you okay?” I ask.

Iarin nods, somewhat weakly. “D-dizzy,” she says softly. Then she glances up to the star-strewn heavens and slumps to the ground. I catch her before her head can hit the earth and lay her down, gently.

“The Healing must have take a lot out of her,” Attaraya says, her voice still sounding oddly strained.

“Yeah... for now, they’ll probably both need rest... but... Koreth...”

“We’ll go after Kagami.”

“But... we can’t just leave them in the middle of nowhere like this... and we can't wake them, and we can’t carry them with us...”

“Don’t worry about that,” Attaraya tells me firmly. “I don’t know exactly what’s going on here, but I do know one thing for sure: Kagami’s after you, Emma. The three of us are just in the way.”

“Right then, I’ll go, and you stay here–”

“Oh no you don’t. I’m not letting you walk into a blatant trap all by yourself. I’ve got some scruples, you know.” Attaraya tosses her hair over her shoulder, giving me a look that says, Good Lord, you’re stupid.

“Well, isn’t this a perfect time for you to suddenly grow a conscience.”

She grimaces. “So I’ve been told.”

We turn north, and set out across the great empty fields under a million stars in the dark sky, out to death or triumph, or worse or better, to Kagami and whatever he may plan, and to Koreth, who I hope to God is there, and alive, because if I can’t save him, I’ll never forgive myself.

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Augh! This... chapter... just... ugh.

I really, really don't like the whole instant kill spell... thing. It just doesn't work, it's really contrived, and I ... ugh. I just can't think of a way to get around it, because I need to get rid of Iarin and Sae temporarily if the next chapter is going to work, and just... I dunno. Ideas, anyone?

The good news is this: There are only two more chapters after this one, and I... kind of love them. I think they're the strongest chapters in the book. So, at least you won't have to listen to me whine about them. XD

Thanks so much for all your help and support, guys, and feel free to ri this to shreds.