The request was reasonable enough, but Wataru wasn’t sure the beastkin holding Romy would react in a reasonable fashion. His overall appearance reminded Wataru of the Highlander Trone in Gasara, but he was almost twice Trone’s size. He wore simple cloth garments that were dirty and torn. His eyes were bloodshot with excitement, and there was foam at the corners of his mouth. His breathing was ragged, and his breath was hot. Even the nails on his feet were sticking straight out.
Blood was dripping onto the floor. For a moment, Wataru was afraid that it was Romy’s, but then he saw an arrow sticking into the beastkin’s left calf. One of the Highlanders on watch must have shot him.
“You, little old man! Are you really Dr. Baksan?”
“That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you!” the scholar raged, stomping his feet. The beastkin frothed at the mouth and pinned Romy’s arms behind her back even tighter. She gave a little yelp.
“You look like a man of knowledge. So tell me. How do I make sure I don’t get chosen?”
Dr. Baksan stood absolutely still and stared at the beastkin. “Oh, is that it?” he asked at last.
“Of course it is! I know you know too! That’s what you’ve been studying here all these years, isn’t it? And you’ve been selling your secrets to the politicians and the rich to make your fortune! Well, now it’s my turn!”
“I’m sorry, but I’ve done nothing of the sort,” the scholar said, his voice noticeably quieter. “I can understand why you would be tempted to believe such delusions. I understand, but it is entirely without basis in fact. No one in our world knows how to avoid being chosen, if indeed there is a way at all.”
“Lies! You can’t trick me, little man!” the beastkin roared. His bloodshot eyes were opened wide and spit flew from his mouth. “It’s her blood on your hands if you don’t tell me! I’m serious!”
The beastkin tightened his grasp on Romy’s throat. The slender woman appeared to be in considerable pain.
Wataru began to move between the stacks of books, trying to position himself at the beastkin’s side.
“I know you’re serious. And indeed, none of us shall rest easy until Halnera is done,” Dr. Baksan said consolingly. “For all I know, it may be me who is chosen. This affects us all. We must cling to the thread of hope that only one person will be chosen. That, and faith, are the only two ways we can master our fear.”
Wataru circled around to the beastkin’s left. From his hiding place, he had the beastkin on his right, and a window on his left. If he fired a shot from his blade, he might be able to get him to release his grip on the woman. Then he could dash forward, getting himself between them.
There was another thing to consider: from a few moments before, he had been hearing voices from outside the entrance to the study—probably the Highlanders coming up the hallway. The moment they knew Romy was free, they would be inside in a flash.
It’s all in the timing. Wataru slowly drew his Brave’s Sword, and steadied his grip on the hilt. Come on, just turn a little more to the left—just a little more. I don’t want to hit Romy. Just a few inches more and I’ve got you.
Just then, with a heavy clang of armor, a knight appeared in the entrance to the study. “That’s enough,” he said with calm authority. “Dr. Baksan has told you the truth. No matter what you do here, no one can help you. The only thing you’ll earn is a trip back to prison.”
Blinking, Wataru lowered his sword. It’s Captain Ronmel of the Knights of Stengel!
Sheathed in platinum armor, the captain looked like he was made of solid steel. But on closer inspection, Wataru saw that his chest plate and greaves were covered with countless nicks and scratches. The captain’s helm was off, his hair was tussled, and his cheeks looked more sunken than they had when Wataru had first met him.
Sword still at his waist, and gauntleted fists hanging loosely by his side, the captain walked toward the beastkin.
“Halnera is ordained by the will of the Goddess alone. All we can do is humbly wait until she makes that will known to us. Now, release your hostage, and come here.”
The beastkin froze, drawing his breath in ragged gasps, still holding on to Romy. For a moment, it looked as though he might follow the captain’s instructions. His arms pinning his captive’s hands behind her back relaxed ever so slightly.
But in the next instant, something like a violent storm surged up from inside the beastkin, and he began to tremble uncontrollably. “You’re one of the Knights of Stengel,” the beastkin growled between clenched teeth. “I don’t listen to murderers!”
Both Wataru and Dr. Baksan were taken aback. The Knights of Stengel, protectors of the peace in the south, murderers?
Captain Ronmel made no reaction. Then, slowly, he reached out his left hand, pointing at the beastkin. “If you are Gyu Titus, peasant of Nacht—and I think you are—then that title is better directed at yourself.”
“More lies!” the beastkin howled. “I’m no murderer!”
“You were involved in a theft in Ghoza. You took down two Highlanders on the scene and escaped. The Highlanders asked for our help, and I sent men—who you also killed,” the captain said, calmly. “You were caught for that crime, tried in Gasara, and sent to Golgog Prison to be executed. Three days ago, when you escaped, you attacked two of your warders, killing one. Wherever you go, blood is spilled, and lives are trampled. It is not I, nor the Knights of Stengel, who have done this. It is you.”
“Lies, lies, lies!” the beast-man howled, slashing the air with his sharp claws. “Who drove us out of our village home? Who tightened the screws on us until we had to steal and rob to survive? It’s you and your United Southern Nations! You tried to wipe us out! And now you want to take me, the lone survivor of my tribe, and make me the sacrifice! I know what you’re about, I know! The United Southern Nations aren’t going to wait for the Goddess to choose her own sacrifice, they’re going to catch some poor unlucky bastard! A prisoner! You’re going to take a prisoner like me and sacrifice him!”
Captain Ronmel was perfectly still, moving not so much as an eyelash. His eyes, the darkest blue possible, burned with a cold flame.
“More delusions.”
“Lies!” the beastkin shrieked. “I won’t be caught! I won’t go in again!”
Howling, and still desperately clutching his hostage, the beastkin charged toward the window by Wataru. Apparently in his madness, he had forgotten they were on the uppermost floor. Wataru stood stunned for a second, watching Romy, eyes wide with fear, struggle futilely against the powerful clutch of the beastkin. The vibrations of the beastkin’s pounding feet as he charged sent books tumbling. Captain Ronmel, who had leaped for the beastkin as soon as he saw him move, was buried beneath a collapsing stack of leather-bound volumes.
“Woorrrrh!”
The beastkin’s shoulder collided with the window and shattered glass flew everywhere. A moment later he hung suspended in space, many stories off the ground. For a nanosecond, it seemed as though they were stopped there, the beastkin and Romy, hovering in space.
There was a scream.
It was the beastkin. The impact with the window had brought him to his senses, and now he remembered where they were. His ears stood straight up.
And then he began to fall, dragging Romy down with him.
Wataru leaped. Glass crunched beneath his shoes. Flinging aside his sword, arms outstretched, he ran, his abdomen colliding with the bottom of the window frame. Reaching…
The beastkin fell straight toward the ground, but Wataru’s fingers touched something soft. The sleeve of Romy’s shirt fluttered in the air. Wataru grabbed, clutching for her wrist.
Even though she was small, the effect of gravity was unforgiving. Holding the sleeve of her shirt with one hand, the waist of her shirt with the other, Wataru felt his own legs sliding over the frame of the window. I’m being pulled down. She’s pulling me through the window. I’m going to fall…
She had gone through the window and was now looking up
at Wataru. Her glasses had flown off her face. She’s next. Then it’s my turn.
What happened next was pure coincidence. Wataru’s toes had been pointing up when he slipped through the window, and now they caught on the frame. He found himself hanging precariously by his feet upside down. Basic physical laws predicted that Romy would swing back and collide with the side of the building—and this is exactly what happened.
We haven’t fallen yet. My foot, my toes—they can’t hold for long. Just a little. My ankle will give. Then we’ll be following, upside down…
He could hear shouting and a tremendous commotion coming from inside the building. Someone was yelling about books and he could hear banging and sliding noises coming closer to the window.
“N-no!” squeaked Romy. “I’m falling! You’ll fall too!”
Wataru couldn’t answer. If he put so much as an ounce of energy into opening his mouth, he knew his ankles would give. His fingers would slip.
Just thinking about it made his grip loosen ever so slightly. His hand slipped from her shirt and she dropped slightly.
“H-hang on to me!” Wataru said through clenched teeth. “Grab my arm!”
Somebody help! Captain Ronmel! Get over here!
“I-I can’t. I’m going to fall!”
Wataru tried pulling her up with his one hand. Bad idea. The slippery cloth slid underneath his fingers. Get another grip—quick—she’s slipping…
Then, miraculously, something small and hard slid into his fingers just as he was about to run out of sleeve. Romy’s legs dangled. The movement threatened to rip her out of his grasp entirely. Her boots touched the wall, skidding downward.
“Let go!” she gasped. “Let me go or you’ll fall too!”
That small, hard thing turned out to be the button of her sleeve. It had slid right into the cleft between two of his fingers. I can grab onto this. I can pull her up.
There was a light popping noise, and the button came loose in his hand. The thread had snapped.
Romy’s hair billowed in slow motion. She began to fall. In shock they looked at each other, one above, one below. Wataru’s feet began to straighten. His ankles were giving. Still upside down, he began to slide down the wall of the building.
Suddenly, he felt strong arms around his waist, pulling him upward. From the corner of his eye, he caught sight of something red, shooting like an arrow. The shooting red Star.
“Romy!”
As Wataru slid now in reverse, he saw a karulakin, wings tucked tight to its body, plummeting down after the falling student starseer, catching her just before she hit the ground. Then he was up and through the window.
The floor was covered with books. Wataru landed with the spine of a particularly thick volume digging into his back.
“He made it!” Captain Ronmel shouted, leaning out the window. Wataru could hear people cheering and whistling from below.
As he got up from the floor, the captain turned and smiled at him. “We meet again.”
“Y-yes,” Wataru stammered, his voice still weak from his brush with death. “You…were the one who pulled me in?”
There were several people in the room now, weaving through the heaps of books scattered across the floor. Some of them wore the armor of the Knights of Stengel.
“You saved yourself. I’m surprised you managed to hang on so long.”
“You caught me in the nick of time.”
“Yes, well, it took me a while to get to the window. This place was like an avalanche of paper. I had to claw my way out.”
“What is everybody doing on the floor?”
“Searching for Dr. Baksan.”
Shortly, they heard a voice from somewhere beneath the books. “Over here! I said over here!”
Wherever he was, the starseer sounded unharmed, if a bit grumpy.
“Wataru!”
Wataru looked up to see Meena running through the door—until she was stopped by one of the Knights. “Careful,” he warned her. “You might step on Dr. Baksan.”
“No problem!” Meena said. She leaped into the air, bounced off one of the walls, and landed on a patch of bare floor right next to Wataru’s side. “I was watching you from below. I thought you were done for!”
“So did I.”
“Are you okay?”
Researchers finally managed to excavate Dr. Baksan. One of the Knights picked him up and cradled him in his arms like a child.
“Ooh, Traveler, you made it!”
“Yes, and Romy as well.”
“Excellent, excellent!” the starseer walked toward him, slipping on books as he came, and took Wataru’s hand. “My son, you’ve saved Romy’s life!”
“That beastkin man…”
The starseer looked up at Captain Ronmel. “You came here in pursuit of the beastkin, Gyu Titus?”
Captain Ronmel straightened himself and gave a curt bow. “Indeed. I apologize that you had to be involved in this affair.”
“And this Gyu Titus…was a prisoner?”
“Yes.”
“I had heard of a rumor—particularly vile—circulating through our facilities of detention, that prisoners would be offered up as the first for sacrifice. Little did I dream that it would go so far as to spur a prison-break!”
“We were lax in our security.” The captain’s eyes showed the strain of being responsible for the safety of the people in a land gripped by chaos. That’s why he looks so haggard.
“We didn’t run into any major disturbances on our way here—but I gather it’s worse in some parts?” Wataru asked.
Captain Ronmel nodded. “I fear you Highlanders will be summoned to an emergency meeting shortly. Perhaps that is what brought that karulakin here today. Lucky for the student.”
Meena gave Wataru a worried look, but Wataru’s attention was elsewhere—he was looking at his right hand.
A golden light was spilling out from between his fingers.
“What’s that?” Meena asked, eyes wide.
Wataru slowly opened his hand. In his palm, the round button from Romy’s shirt sleeve was glowing.
Chapter 31
The Second Gemstone
The button lifted into the air, floating up from Wataru’s palm until it was at eye level. There it hovered. It grew brighter, sending a lance of light straight as a sword into his eyes.
“The second gemstone.”
Almost in response to Wataru’s whispered words, another light spilled out from underneath a pile of books. It was exactly the same type of light emanating from the gemstone in the air before him.
“My Brave’s Sword!”
Wataru recalled throwing it aside when he leaped to save Romy. He now walked over to the light and reached out to recover the sword. Whether Wataru grabbed the weapon or whether the weapon jumped into his hand—nobody could say for sure.
He gave the sword a swing, and the gold light began to spread from the second gemstone until it enveloped Wataru and half the room.
Wataru could hear shouts of surprise, but he kept his eyes focused on the gem.
Ding. The gemstone winked. And then, in a flash, a boy appeared. His body, hair, eyes, and skin all seemed to be fashioned from scintillating golden rays. A pair of golden wings beat slowly upon his back. In his right hand he held a sword. In his left, a shield.
—We meet at last, Traveler.
The golden boy called to Wataru, his face filled with pride.
—I am the spirit of bravery, who gives honor to those with wills strong as steel.
His voice sounded like the notes of an exquisitely crafted instrument, yet his tone was serious.
—I am the one who opens the way for those Braves whom the Goddess has summoned.
Wataru nodded.
—Listen well, Brave. I appear before all those who desire me. Yet, when I leave upon these wings, it will be without sound, and swifter than time itself. Bravery is not difficult to summon or to create, but it is very difficult to keep. Be wary. There are few doors to me
, and many windows out of which I may be lost.
“I understand,” Wataru said, a slight tremble in his voice.
The Spirit of Bravery’s mouth was a flat, unmoving line, but his eyes smiled.
—Blessings of the Goddess be with you.
Then the spirit disappeared, and immediately the circle of light began to dwindle until it was sucked entirely within the second gemstone. Wataru reached out his right hand and the stone settled into his palm.
Until Wataru placed the second gemstone into its spot on the hilt of the Brave’s Sword and sheathed the sword at his side, the room was completely silent.
It was Captain Ronmel who first spoke. “So this is the power of the Traveler.”
Someone began chanting a prayer to the Goddess. It was Romy.
Her voice was beautiful as she prayed, eyes closed, hands clasped before her breast. The Knights, the Highlanders, the starseers, Dr. Baksan, and even Meena joined in.
When the words of her prayer were finished, Romy looked at Wataru. Her eyes sparkled.
“That button—no, actually it’s not a button, in my house we called it the starseer’s stone. It’s a family heirloom.”
As it turned out, the Romy family had been starseers for generations. Her father, his father, and his father before that—all of them had been scholars of the heavens.
“When he learned that I would come to study at the observatory, my father took the stone off his own sleeve and gave it to me. He told me to wear it always, and keep it safe. It is a gift from the stars, and from the past.”
A long time ago, so the story went, one of Romy’s ancestors (also a starseer) had been out one night, when he witnessed a golden shooting star. He ran in the direction in which it had fallen, and found a brilliantly glowing stone upon the ground.
“Every scholar in my family has worn the stone during their time of study. My father gave it to me so I would remember my heritage. He hoped it would keep my mind on the task at hand. But I had no idea it contained a spirit of such deep importance.”
Behind her, Dr. Baksan cleared his throat. While they had been talking, he had managed to once again climb to the top of his wooden platform boots, putting him more at a level with the crowd.