The Beginning of the Road

Alex slammed on the horn a couple of times. It was deep, rumbling, unlike any car horn from Earth.

“Man! This thing sounds like a beast!” he exclaimed.

“Once more and you ride in back with the bags,” Kraelin grumbled.

“Sorry, but this is so cool! Look at this dashboard! It’s, like, all hologramy!” Alex passed his hand over the display console, enjoying the way the magic powered vehicle operated.

“Honestly. This truck is fifty years old and running on prayers,” Kraelin said. “I don’t get why you think it’s so special.”

“You’ve gotta understand,” Jake said, loading the last of the gear into the truck bed. “In our world trucks aren’t nearly this…glowy.” Jake ran his hand down the glowing line along the side of the truck showing the magical energy flowing through it.

“Are you two going to be like this the entire time?” Kraelin asked, raising his eyebrow.

“Most likely,” Jake said, clapping Kraelin on the back.

“This is going to be a long, long journey, isn’t it?” Kraelin sighed. He then winced as Stick jumped up onto his shoulder and bounced into the truck cab. “Alex! don’t let Stick touch any buttons!”

“I won’t!” came a shout from inside the cab. Then the truck started beeping, it’s lights flashing on and off. “Wait, do switches count?”

“In the name of the First…” Kraelin grumbled, climbing into the cab. Off to the side, standing on her porch, Elysia and Augarium watched the display with skeptical eyes.

“You’re sure you want to go through with this?” Augarium asked her.

“Its not like I have much of a choice,” Elysia said with a sigh. “Besides, I trust them.”

“Them?” Augarium looked back to the truck. Jake tried to keep it from lunching forward, pushing it back with his large frame as Kraelin and Alex scrambled in the cab.

“Get Stick away from the forward pedal!” Kraelin shouted.

“Bad Stick! No vehicular homicide!” Alex screamed.

“Yes, them,” Elysia said. “They may look a bit ridiculous, but they helped me with barely any thought for themselves.”

“I doubt they have many thoughts about anything,” Augarium said. “But…I am reminded of a saying I always tried to drill into your head.”

“Magic is simply faith given form?” Elysia asked, looking up at him.

“I was more thinking, if it has a chance to start a fire, please stop doing it,” he said with a kind smirk.

“Augarium, how do you make me feel calm when my heart is…”

“I know…” he said softly, embracing her. “If you trust them, I do as well. After all, I’m entrusting them with my greatest treasure.”

“I should go,” Elysia said, standing tall. She wouldn’t let this moment push her down. She had to take this first step.

She walked forward, towards the truck. Not looking back. Not looking at Augarium. Not looking at her past…

She quickly turned around and ran into his arms again. “I’ll come back to you. I promise. When the Twisted are gone, when the world is safe, I’ll come back to you father.”

Before he could say anything, she was gone from his arms. She walked to the truck, Jake and Alex climbing into the back seat, and Elysia took her spot shotgun.

“Are you ready?” Kraelin asked her. She wanted to say yes, but the word wouldn’t come out. Jake reached out, giving her shoulder a confident touch. She looked back, seeing his eyes, full of trust and confidence in her. Alex sat next to him, Stick on his shoulder. He gave a thumbs up, and Stick followed suit.

“Yes. I’m ready,” Elysia said.

Kraelin set the truck in motion. The old grey behemoth set down the road, heading into the east. Master Augarium watched them as they drove, until they were a tiny dot on the road, until he was sure Elysia couldn’t see him. He collapsed to his knees then, feeling like his heart was breaking in two.

“Forgive me…forgive me for being so weak…for not preparing you more for this road you have chosen…for not having the strength to defend our home better so you felt this burden was yours…Elysia…my precious little Elysia…”

In the truck, as Jake and Alex sat in the backseat, they looked at each other, not sure of what to say.

*My dad used to say something,” Alex said. “I don’t know where I’m going, but I’ll call you when I get there. It meant he was always thinking about me, no matter where he was.”

Elysia smiled as the silent tears dropped down her cheeks, diverting as her lips curled. “Thank you, Alex. Jake, Kraelin…thank you.”

They drove on, their fates firmly in the direction of the still rising early morning sun.

*

Setting up camp was harder than they thought it would be. After a full day of driving, Kraelin had pulled off onto the side of the road while the sky was still lit up orange and red.

“What, we’re not stopping at like an inn or something?” Jake asked.

“We don’t exactly have a lot of funds,” Elysia said. “We can earn more through odd jobs in the towns we stop in, but for now…”

“Great. You guys do remember there’s big angry monsters around, right?” Alex asked.

“Yes,” Elysia said, getting out and stretching. “But there’s several types of Twisted. Brute class like in the village don’t usually travel main roads.”

“So what else is out there?” Jake asked.

“Hound class are around knee size to adult human size. Those are the ones we’ll mostly encounter out here,” Elysia said. “Then there are Destroyer class, bigger than the Twisted from Lugara. Much bigger. They can reach several stories tall.”

“Stories?! Several stories?!” Alex gulped.

“There are also Titan class Twisted out there. But we shouldn’t worry about them,” Kraelin said.

“Because we should be able to handle it?” Jake asked confidently.

“Because if we encounter one, we’re already dead,” Kraelin said. “Now, let’s divide our tasks. You two, get firewood. Elysia, set up camp. I’ll go hunt us some food. Should be some loppers around here.”

“Hey, who exactly made you boss?” Jake asked.

Kraelin folded his arms across his chest. “Alright, heroes. Tell you what I’ll do. You get one chance. Knock me down, you can be in charge.”

Jake cracked his neck, smiling. “Okay, warrior boy. You asked for it.” He ran at Kraelin, his fist cocked back. At the last minute Kraelin flipped back, grabbing Jake’s neck with his feet and flipping him over. He landed with a loud thud, stunned and confused.

“You appear to be on the ground,” Kraelin said, standing over Jake.

“Yeah, thanks, I noticed,” Jake said bitterly.

“Well Alex,” Kraelin said, turning back around. “Your turn.”

Alex threw his hands up. “Nope. Not me. I’m good.”

“What? You’re not even going to try?” Kraelin asked.

“No point. I know when I’m beat.” Alex walked over and helped Jake back up. “Come on, flippy. Let’s go get some firewood. Hey Stick! Go fetch!” The little whiptail leapt from the truck and ran to the nearby woods, Jake and Alex following.

“Didn’t even try…” Kraelin said, a frown on his face.

*

The boys grimaced as their knives slipped into the rabbit like loppers, separating the skin from the meat as Kraelin had shown them. More meat roasted on a spit over a crackling fire nearby.

“Bro, I am not a guy who wants to find out how the sausage is made,” Alex complained.

“I know. I didn’t expect the guts to stink this bad,” Jake agreed.

“Why are you two complaining?” Kraelin asked. “Jake, you stabbed Hydas through the skull. It’s not like this is your first time putting a blade in something.”

“I saw my best friend die. Of course I was gonna stab snake head,” Jake said.

“I always knew you would stab someone in the head for me,” Alex said.

“You know you’ll have to fight in the future, right?” Elysia asked.

“Well, yeah, of course,” Jake said. “I’ve got my sword and my muscles…”

“And no chance of victory,” Kraelin said matter of factly.

“Those are big words coming from the guy we had to save,” Jake countered.

“I know I’m only human. But you two were chosen by fate. You don’t realize how much better you could be,” Kraelin said.

There was a long silence between the four of them. The fire crackled and spit out sparks as they thought on Kraelin’s words.

“So we’ve gotta get better then,” Jake said finally. “Train us. Show us how to fight.”

Kraelin smiled wide. “I’m so glad you asked before I insisted.”

“See Kraelin,” Elysia said. “I told you our heroes wouldn’t disappoint.”

“Don’t heap praise on them yet,” Kraelin said. “We stop, we train a warrior’s training. This will be our routine. Understand?”

“Of course we do!” Jake said, slinging his arm around Alex. “We’ve practically got superhero bodies now! Which means we’re going to kick your training’s ass! Right Alex?”

“Squeezing…tightly…” Alex strained out through Jake’s grip.

They ate their meager dinner of roasted lopper. They talked and joked and laughed as teens did, but all of them were distracted by their renegade thoughts. Feelings of responsibility, inadequacy and resentment filled their heads. But they did not let it show. All four of them kept their faces light, their words upbeat, because among all of them, each had one similar thought.

I can’t let them down.