The floor of the sea was, in fact, rising to meet them. Mud and sand gave way to a massive rock that pushed the four soaked travelers back up past the surface of the water.
Oddly enough, Trulo was not sputtering for air. His lungs functioned perfectly normally. Trulo quickly set about reviving the girls and making sure they were breathing properly. Having accomplished that task, he sat back to notice he was surrounded by four Earth Elementals and two Water Elementals.
“Which one of you fleshlings told us to go play with ourselves?” one Earth Elemental asked.
“Sorry,” Trulo said with a sheepish grin. “I wasn’t sure how that thing worked, but I knew we needed help.”
“No harm done,” replied the Earth Elemental. “Thanks to you lot, we were able to retrieve our child and get that dizzy fleshling off our backs.”
“We have now saved your lives and returned the debt,” stated another Earth form. The Earth forms melted into the rock.
Above Trulo and the girls, four Wind Elementals took shape. “Come on,” said the first one that had formed. “Just because we’re free…” The Wind paused for a moment to see how quick Trulo was to catch the wordplay. “…We’ll do you one last favor and take you and the fleshling females anywhere you’d like to go.”
“Do you think he got it?” one Wind Elemental muttered to another.
“Too subtle for fleshlings,” replied the other.
“Home,” replied Trulo. “I’d like to go home. Shojiki is the name of the village. Do you know it?”
“You bet,” responded the first Wind. The four Winds surrounded the travelers and lifted them high into the sky.
As they rose out of sight, they could barely hear the Water Elementals below them talking. “We didn’t even get in so much as a ‘howdya do’. And after us making sure you didn’t drown when you touched bottom.”
“Ungrateful, if you ask me,” replied the another Water.
Popping its head through the surface of the sea water, a third Water Elemental spoke. “Good news. We have the dagger now.” This news pleased all three and they laughed heartily.
The four travelers were whisked swiftly back to the remains of Shojiki.
Setting the travelers on the ground, the Wind began to depart when Trulo shouted after them, “I did get it, you know. You said ‘because we are free’, referring to being ‘free as the wind’, because you are wind.”
“That’s pretty dry,” commented Vexyna.
“Lame,” Cateran piped in.
“What would you expect from Wind but dry humor,” Aliyah offered.
Even the Wind groaned. “I suppose you could do better?”
“Did the Wind that brought you here seem okay to you?” Cateran asked Aliyah.
“Yes. Why? Was something wrong with yours?” Aliyah replied.
“I’m not sure. My Elemental seemed, I don’t know, off somehow.”
“Did it smell funny?”
“Smell funny? Come to think of it, yes.”
“There you go then,” concluded Aliyah. “A funny smell is a sure sign that you’ve broken Wind.”
The Wind roared. “Good one. A bit crude, but humorous. Just remember you owe us a favor.”
“There’s always a catch,” Vexyna muttered under her breath. Loudly, she asked, “What would you like?”
“We’ll let you know,” said one as the four Winds vanished.
Standing outside the rubble-strewn gates of Shojiki, the four weary travelers took a moment to look at each other and survey their surroundings. Giant boulders and heaps of soil were piled up against the stone walls of the village. Entrance was now possible through an opening four meters wide, which was almost as wide as the gates had been.
Passing through the opening revealed village residents hurriedly decorating the village square. Brightly colored ribbons and bows had been strung about freshly erected torch poles. These new poles didn’t have a traditional torch in the socket. Instead, these poles were furnished with crystals.
Doctor Deathbrain was spotted underneath one of those poles chatting with Norlen about the new lights for the village. “The current runs through and makes the crystal light up.”
“But it’s not one your Illusian change crystals, is it?” Norlen was wary.
“No, it is not a Crystal of Change,” reassured the doctor. Noticing the group advancing toward him, Deathbrain exclaimed, “Vexyna! Welcome home.”
“Yes, Vexyna,” added Norlen quickly. “It is good to have you home. And you as well, Trulo. All these fancy trimmings in the square are for you two coming home. What news of your father, Vexyna?”
“Hello D.B., hi Norlon,” Vexyna replied wearily. “My father is dead. He died with my mother at the Coffer of Essence.”
“What of the Red Empress?” Doctor Deathbrain inquired.
“Swallowed up, presumably by Dacreel himself,” Aliyah relayed. “Gone, anyhow.”
“Aliyah!” Norlen burst forth. “It has been a long time. Let me look at you.” He tilted his head around to give Aliyah a good going-over. “Tirlig will be pleased to hear of your exploits. I’m afraid that boy has been struck with a bit of wanderlust after being trapped inside this village for so long.”
“It is good to see you too, Norlen,” Aliyah cheerfully replied. “I have plenty of tales to tell everyone. First tale belongs to my sister.”
“Sister?” Norlen was surprised.
“Yes,” responded Aliyah. “Sister. Right here. Her name is Cateran.”
“Hello,” said Cateran, giving a little wave.
“By the suns, she does look like you.” Norlen was amazed. “Welcome, young Cateran. I am Norlen. My virile son’s name is Tirlig. You’ll be sure to meet him.”
Not knowing how to interpret those last statements, Cateran simply smiled and pulled a flat piece of fruit from her coveralls.
“What is that?” Vexyna asked.
“What?” Cateran asked, innocently looking over the fruit.
“What you have in your hands,” Vexyna clarified.
“What I have in my hands, what?” probed Cateran before mushing the fruit into a ball and popping it in her mouth.
“What do you have in your hands?” Vexyna was about at the end of her tether.
Swallowing swiftly, Cateran responded, “In my hands? Nothing.” She displayed her hands, palms up, for Vexyna’s inspection. Movement caught in Vexyna’s glasses alerted Cateran to someone approaching from behind. Whirling to face the encroacher, Cateran quickly found herself in Raj’s arms.
“Hello, Fancypants.” Raj smiled down at Cateran.
“Don’t you mean fancy feet?” Cateran coyly replied, swinging one sandaled foot forward.
“What happened to Krajav?” Aliyah asked.
“Unfortunately, life for Krajav continues much as it usually does,” Raj told her. “The effect of the Crimson Fog that Krajav and his people have been using on the Vags for so many years will take time to fully disperse from their systems.”
“There is another problem,” Deathbrain interrupted. “Because the Vags have been exposed to the Crimson Fog for so many generations, the Vags are now somehow dependent upon it for their survival.”
“Don’t you know of any way to help the Vags, Doctor?” Cateran asked.
“I’m afraid not,” stated the doctor.
“A way must be found,” said Aliyah. “And I shall find it. Goodbye again, everyone.”
“Aliyah.” Vexyna was taken aback. “You mean you are leaving us again so soon?”
“My people need me. I’ll not rest until they are well. Besides, I still haven’t finished the quest I was originally on for Exuthron. I have things to do!”
“I’ll go with you,” Cateran piped in. “They’ve been my people longer than they’ve been your people. You know what I mean.”
“I understand,” replied Aliyah. “It will be good to have you along.”
“Then I must also accompany you,” Raj interrupted.
“How much use are you going to be to us???
? Aliyah asked.
“He can cook,” Cateran offered.
“You’re in.” Aliyah indicated with a jerk of her thumb over her shoulder.
The group laughed. “Let’s go,” said Aliyah to Cateran and Raj.
“Aliyah.” Vexyna stopped her friend with a hand on her wrist. “I’ll meet up with you sometime out there somewhere.”
“Yes,” affirmed Aliyah. “Somewhere.” The three Vags took their leave of Shojiki.
Soon, only Vexyna, Trulo, Doctor Deathbrain and Norlen remained in that small area of the village square. Other villagers milled about other areas.
“Norlen,” Vexyna asked, “what happened after the upheaval? Was anyone hurt?”
“A few were hurt quite badly,” Norlen reported. “Nobody was killed or anything. My boy, Tirlig, was a great help,” he said proudly. “You were a boon to us, too, Trulo,” he added.
“Thanks, Norlen,” said Trulo. “We all did our parts to help.”
“I’d like to speak with Trulo alone,” Vexyna announced to the two men.
“Take your time, Vex,” said the doctor in a comforting tone.
Walking out of the town square and over to the base of their favorite tree, Vexyna lamented to Trulo, “Things have changed a great deal. I’m a much different person than I was a short time ago.”
“We’ve all had to change, Vex,” Trulo said softly.
“I don’t know if I can handle the way I’ve changed. I don’t know if people around me are going to be able to handle the way I’ve changed.”
“People will always take you as you are, Vex,” Trulo reassured her, with his hands lightly on her shoulders.
“I don’t want to depend on Doctor D.B.’s pills for the rest of my life,” Vexyna said, looking fully into his eyes.
“There must be a way to control your urges,” Trulo replied, gazing back just as intently. “And we’ll find it.”
“But, Trulo,” Vexyna said, with a hint of despair in her voice, “our feelings for each other have grown. What if we become intimate? I can’t face the thought of the possibility I might lose control and drain you of life.”
“Qryxn said there were teachers everywhere,” a low voice said from the tree.
“Tree of Pondish?” asked Vexyna.
“That would be me,” replied the Tree.
“You mean you’ve been here the whole time?” Trulo gaped.
“Since before you or your village got here,” the Tree stated.
“Then you already knew everything that was going on,” Vexyna theorized.
“Pretty much,” said the Tree.
“You could’ve been more help,” Vexyna said flatly.
“What would you have learned if I had given you all the answers?” responded the Tree. “I merely allowed you to open up your own doors of opportunity. Vexyna, there are answers to questions you haven’t even thought of, waiting for you across this globe called Antasta.”
“The Tree is right,” Trulo confirmed. “One of those answers is to the question of how to suppress your desire to collect glands.”
“Go back to your other comrades,” commanded the Tree. “We’ll speak again in time.”
“Thank you, Tree,” the pair called up into the branches. They slowly made their way back to the village square.
The village square had been sectioned into smaller areas by poles and brightly lit lanterns. One area contained a large table piled high with refreshments. Another was simply a large flat surface intended to provide people with a place to dance. A six-piece band occupied yet a third area. The band was unpacking their instruments.
Vexyna and Trulo found seats for themselves around a table with Doctor Deathbrain. A hush had fallen over the square.
Doctor Deathbrain leaned over the table to get closer to Vexyna.
Vexyna leaned away from Trulo to hear what the doctor had to say.
“I’ve been conducting regular tests on different sample tissues I’ve obtained from you,” Doctor Deathbrain quietly informed Vexyna. “The most recent tests indicate your system is ready to reproduce. You’re pregnant.”
Evening stillness shattered, pierced by screams erupting from a girl’s throat.
After Words
Thank you for reading Vexyna’s Awakening.
The story you just read started life as a treatment for a video game back in 1992. Although several companies expressed a keen interest in developing the game, they all confessed that they did not have the technology necessary to bring my work to life.
In 1994, the first draft of this novel was completed and left to sit for another two years.
With 1996 came a new computer and a refreshing of this work.
So it has gone on until today: a new computer and a new re-working of these words.
There are still many changes that I would like to make, but there comes a time when one must put forth one’s efforts in order to discover whether or not one is moving in the right direction.
Such it is with this tome.
I do hope you enjoyed your journey through the fantastic land that I have created for you.
Keep your eyes open for Book 2, Cateran’s Calling, and the final work in the trilogy, Phantasmine’s Fate. In the meantime, you may enjoy another tale from Antasta titled The Master of Dimensional Intrigue. In it, you will get to meet the sword master, Corbon the Carver, and get to know Syngrine a little better.
Your thoughts, both good and bad, can only help me in my effort to grow as a writer and as a person, and I welcome emails at: mailto:
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