Retreating

Thundering growls rattled the organs within Tomita and Izhari’s chests, bypassing the barrier and their bones. Tomita felt Izhari’s heart pounding into his from beneath her ribs as panic began to seize them both. The great beast clawed its way from the hex, growing larger every second. Arms cracked and unwound as a misshapen, disproportionate body snapped into place and fell on the ground with a thud. Whereas Mathael was graceful, composed, and elegantly terrifying, this familiar was the absolute opposite. It was grotesque, heavily uneven, and brutish.

A massive, gaping circular mouth lined with innumerable folds of layered lips opened and let out a deep, sustained bellow as its throat gullet and sagging, ancient stomach dragged along the ground. It was truly wretched.

When the ancient familiar was finally out of the summoning hex, the glowing energy vanished and the beast was left alone with the two terrified companions.

“Calatravos…” whispered Izhari as she clung to Tomita.

Calatravos let out a deafening roar that cracked the very ground. Its bandaged, seeping arms raised high into the air and came crashing down. Balled, stonelike fists struck the earth, sending a concussion of energy that flung the barrier into the air. Tomita and Izhari screamed and pulled against one another as their barrier fell to the ground with a thud before shattering. Izhari let out a scream of agony as she rolled over.

Tomita moved as quickly as possible to stand and face what was before them. Only now could he fully see the four-story-tall behemoth that was lurching towards them.

“Tomita! We have to fight! We have to work together!” Izhari yelled as raw energy crackled from her eyes in a last-ditch jolt of desperation.

“Give me the last vials of ether and we can-”

“FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK THAT!!!” Tomita blurted out in a half scream, cutting off his master’s order and leaving her bewildered.

“Fuck that we are RUNNING!!!” Tomita screamed as he grabbed Izhari’s hand and violently yanked her weak body into his arms.

He was already racing to the cart before she registered what was happening. Even Calatravos seemed perplexed as it watched its adversary running in the opposite direction from its teeth and fists.

Tomita dumped Izhari into the cart with as much grace as he could, and they were off. Behind them, the great beast let out a roar of frustration as it slowly crawled after them with booming steps.

“I can’t teleport us anymore! It will kill me! Us!” Izhari shouted.

“That’s okay! I can run! Stamina, remember!!” Tomita replied.

The heavy thuds were still near them. Every slamming step from Calatravos sent snaps through the sand and clay, threatening to break Tomita’s ankles as he fled, but they did not slow.

Boom.

Tomita prayed that his otherworldly stamina would hold, and he could outlast their pursuer. He focused on the years of climbing flight after flight of stairs. His lungs screamed, and his head still burned from the teleportation marathon, but he persevered.

Boom.

Seven flights of stairs down Shinjuku Station.

Boom.

Mandatory evacuation drills from the fifty-sixth floor.

Boom.

Running classes in high school.

Boom.

Literally anything! Just keep running!!!

Tomita’s mind raced as his lungs burned in pleas for oxygen. But he kept going.

…

…

Boom.

…

…

…

Boom.

…

…

…

…

Boom.

The steps were softening as the distance spread between the pursued and the pursuer. They were escaping. Flat, serene sand was all that was before them, but Tomita didn’t care. He was going to run as far as he had to get them from this place and from that beast.

Amidst the stabbing pains of starving lungs and gasps of icy air, Tomita felt something else tearing through his chest. Something had changed in Izhari’s spirit. It was broken. Hollow. Shattered. Defeated.

With every step that he took to get them further from Calatravos, Tomita could feel this new heaviness sinking through the entirety of his essence, threatening to pull him into the ground. Izhari was staring ahead, blind eyes focused on nothing, honed ears down in reclusion. For the first time in Tomita’s memory of her, she wasn’t intentionally holding on to her staff. It was at her side, bouncing against the cart’s edge as they sprinted away from the angered roar of the familiar that was now giving up.

“Izhari! Izhari, is there a crystal nearby?!” Tomita called to his manager, who was all but comatose.

Without speaking, she raised a limp hand and pointed a single claw to their left. Tomita turned and set their course in the direction of her aim.

Minutes passed, and Tomita’s strength finally gave out. Elevated heartbeat thuds slammed against his ribcage as his organ threatened to explode. No amount of gasps or winded gulps of air could send his lungs what they needed. His hands met at the top of his head before immediately falling to his knees. The top of his head felt different but his body and mind couldn’t be bothered to care. Instead, it took all of his focus to not collapse.

Beside him, Izhari was beyond collapse. She was imploding. Looking at her felt like looking at a dying star that was accelerating into a supernova.

As she sat with her spirit, Izhari felt a great hole had appeared that was swallowing up the remaining resolve she had so desperately clung to. Everything was wrong. She had been beaten at every step. She was weaker than Mathael, by a great margin. She was nothing but a waste. A cursed weapon of a lesser mage-sect, with no plan, no vision, no hope.

“Master?...” Tomita asked as he watched her silently grimace.

Mathael’s taunts and revelations danced in her mind, refusing to fade or vanish.

Claws extended from her fingers as her paws began to tremble. Then Tomita’s hand was there to stop her from striking herself. His touch was gentle, but firm.

“Izhari, no…” he said softly.

“He was right. He was right about everything he said…” Izhari admitted in a faint declaration of defeat.

Tomita didn’t move his hand away from hers.

“I… I have no vision for another reality. I never cared… I only cared about killing him. I think… I think I had hoped that killing him would make me better. I thought I wanted to make the world better, but I really just wanted to make myself better…”

There were no tears left to fall. Just slow, exhausted exhales. After a few moments of shared deep breathing, Izhari faced her familiar.

“How can we possibly defeat that?...” she asked.

The question took Tomita by surprise. For so long, he had relied on Izhari’s steadfast dedication to her goal. Even if she didn’t know the exact path or have a complete answer, she always pushed forward. Now, she was rudderless. A kite in a typhoon, clasping for safety and certainty amidst the storm and pain. Tomita didn’t have an answer, so he resolved himself to do what he could.

His other hand rested against hers.

“I do not know. But I’ll help you figure it out…” he offered.

Izhari tried to smile but it was to no avail. She shook her head and closed her eyes.

“We may not have time to figure it out… He said his new reality was almost here…”

In his heart, Tomita knew she was correct. He had no doubt that whatever Mathael was planning, it was nearing completion. They were out of time. As she sat in the cart mulling the weight of existence, Izhari silently removed her crown and held out her hand for Tomita’s. Without knowing what was being asked, Tomita obliged.

Izhari held both crowns and sighed in nervous anticipation.

“He said he could sense my magic… And now he knows who I am… I… I… I might have to suppress my magic to keep us safe…” she explained.

Though he knew it meant something bad based on her tone, Tomita did not fully know what Izhari’s concern was. She continued, and he felt the dread in his spirit swelling once more.

“If I suppress my magic, Mathael might not be able to feel my presence anymore. But… It will mean the burden sharing will be severed…” she said as she tried to calm her shaking hands.

Now Tomita understood. It had been so long, so many months now, that he had almost forgotten that the shared sensations of emotion, physical pain, and mental strain were not natural. Izhari’s spell had been so well executed, it had become part of him. Their burdens had been steadily dissipating between the two of them, allowing them respite, strength, rest, and even hints of peace. If she was right, then that would all be gone. The strain would return in full capacity. The depression. The exhaustion. The pain. The fear. All of it.

Still, in his heart, Tomita knew she was right in her proposition. If Mathael could feel her before, he could certainly feel her magic now. He knew them. If this offered them any slight advantage and safety, they had to take it. Tomita’s finger softly rubbed Izhari’s wrist in support.

“I understand, master. No matter what, I will do what I can to ease your burden, however I may…”

Izhari nodded and sighed through her pursed lips as she braced for the return of the full burden of life.

“Suppress my magic until I order it to return. Hide us from Mathael’s gaze.”

Silver light drifted like a gentle wave out from Izhari’s hands and across the crowns. Izhari returned Tomita’s crown to his hands, and the two of them steadied themselves. As the crowns slid back onto their heads, so did the unbearable weight of reality. There was no dramatic flash or thundering sound, but Tomita and Izhari both immediately felt the shift.

The burden sharing was gone, and now all of life’s trauma was racing into their minds like floodwaters breaching a dam. Their journey had just become significantly harder. In the deepest depths of their thoughts, though neither of them verbalized it, both Tomita and Izhari were feeling a new dread that this was all going to come crashing down and they would be dead in a few days.