What can you see in their eyes

Søren

I sit on the bowsprit of the central ship. I savor the view with Laila floating beside me and Lili standing just behind. I try to keep my mind clear and calm.

In the distance the fire flares up in an instant. «It’s time to begin.» Kenji announces, breaking the silence.

I stand and turn to Lili. Tension hits me all at once, but seeing her calm face eases me a little. “I don’t want this to be the last time we see each other.” I pull her to my waist, burying my face in her shoulder. «Good luck, Lili.» I murmur.

Gently, I let her go. Laila drifts closer. We lock eyes for a moment, then she cups my face and we kiss—a long, deep kiss. She moves away slightly; I hold her hand. «Take care of Lili.» I ask, smiling at her.

Laila lifts an eyebrow and folds her arms. «And why don’t you wish me luck, or tell Lili to take care of me?»

Her reaction makes me laugh. I rest a hand on her head, ruffling her hair. «Because with you, I don't need that.»

Laila tries to look stern. «You, on the other hand, don’t get yourself killed. Otherwise, when they open your coffin at the funeral, they’ll find you dressed like a femboy.»

«What is a femboy?» Lili asks.

I laugh nervously, scratching the back of my neck. «N-not the best moment to explain that.»

Laila shapes a square with her fingers, blows into it, and creates a huge soap bubble in the shape of a cube. She steps inside and offers her hand to Lili, letting her in with graceful poise. As they drift away a bit, they wave. «Bye!» Then they hurry into position east of the castle.

“I’d like to say something to Nadia too, but I can’t—I’m afraid of what I might say, afraid that whatever I tell her could be the last thing she hears.” I take a long breath. I don my helmet and pull my hood up. “But I can’t leave her worrying either.” «All right. This is my stop.» I tell her. I give a stiff military salute like Kenji, then hurl myself backward, headfirst into the void.

I glance down and see Stoyan already waiting for me, his greatsword driven into the ground… “Shit! I forgot the zweihander!” Something that shines violetizes past me and buries itself in the soil. My fall slows just enough to avoid slamming into the earth. The ground splits beneath my feet and I grab the zweihander lying before me.

«Finally, you’ve arrived.» Stoyan says.

«Yeah—sorry for the delay, but I was saying goodbye to some friends.»

«Do you assume you’ll die?»

«Not at all, I was just telling them to heat the water for pasta—I'll be done in twenty minutes.»

«I already realized that when we met in that plant,» he says, drawing his sword from the ground and taking guard, «but now I have proof—you have become a worthy opponent.»

«Is it amusement I hear in your words?» I ask, settling into my stance too.

«Perhaps.» he murmurs.

«Then I did well to challenge you… Today we finish the fight we started that day.»

We stand, waiting for one of us to make the first move. An explosion lights the sky behind him. “Nadia!” In a flash she is beside me, “Damn!” I parry the blow; I feel the blade vibrate and for a moment I feel crushed into the ground, as if by a building.

«Not bad, boy!»

«Thanks—you’re not bad yourself.» I grunt through clenched teeth.

°°°

Akanke

We are hidden behind two massive trees in the forest. The sharp, earthy smell of our malylebky pelts wraps around us.

I stay calm. I must be calm. Beside me, Mjinga snorts and keeps adjusting his fur. There’s nothing else to do, so I can’t help watching him fidget.

The piece of “bark” in Mjinga’s hand ignites. «They’ve started.» I whisper flatly.

We wait a few more minutes—long enough for me to tune into the breath of the earth. I speak to the forest itself, to the handful of living roots left. «Protectors of the past and of the wind, show the way to your daughter, and hide your son.»

Immediately, thick roots rise from the ground and wrap around us. We are pulled into the earth, and an instant later we find ourselves in a tunnel of braided roots and crystals of light that guide our way.

We run. The air is cold, earthy, damp. «How far does the tunnel go?» Mjinga asks.

«It ends a few meters from the castle.»

«Uuuuuuuhhh…» he snorts. «Why can’t we come up inside?» he grumbles, trying to pass off his breathlessness as irritation.

Because this tunnel needs the roots’ support,» I answer; my tone growing irritated like his. «If there are no trees, there’s no tunnel. The plan is to be discreet—if someone could teleport at will, do you think they would send us?»

He huffs again but falls silent. We run until the tunnel ends.

We burst from the earth, and Goran’s castle looms before us. It’s massive and solid—its upper half grotesquely enlarged, made of gloomy black ice as if grafted on later, a malignant tumor on the architecture.

We enter. The lower floors are a maze of stone. Ochiupaty patrol halls and wide corridors, just as Lili suggested in case they didn’t deploy them. The furs work: the beasts give us no more than a passing glance.

We begin to move across the first floor, quickly planting the various explosives from Mjinga’s bag. Everything is too quiet.

Suddenly—a muffled cry… Dakarai collapses to the floor.

«Brother!» I shout. My heart freezes. Something black and glossy is lodged in his side—pierced from behind, like the tip of a sword.

From the shadows emerges Vuk; the skull-shaped helm makes him even more macabre than Omid described.

I kneel beside Dakarai at once. «Stay still. Don’t move.» I order desperately. I pull herbs from my pouch and press them into the wound; they fasten themselves, staunching the bleeding. Then I look up at Vuk. My face muscles clench so hard they hurt. “I will kill you!”

Vuk regards us, his voice cold. «Don’t make that face, girl.» There’s no remorse in him. «Your job is infiltration; mine is eliminating you to defend the castle. Nothing more. Everyone is simply fulfilling their role.»

I stand and put myself in front of Dakarai, blood boiling in my veins. «Get out of here, now!» I order him.

«I’m not leaving you!» he moans, trying to rise.

«You’d only get in the way!» Dakarai hesitates a moment, then obeys. He flees, hobbling badly.

Vuk throws a knife, but I’m faster. I fling a seed to the floor, and a thick tangle of brambles explodes up, catching the blade and blocking the corridor. Vuk begins to sink into the darkness that floods the hall.

«You won’t escape so easily!» Fruits sprout from the brambles, radiating a light so bright it strips every shadow from the stone walls and hurls Vuk out of the ground. Only my shadow and his remain.

«The boy must be doing something important,» he speculates. «Otherwise you wouldn’t have thrown yourself for him… Move aside. For now you do not interest me. The boy is my priority.»

My body trembles. I clench my fists so hard my nails pierce my palms. I grit my teeth. «Try it!» I hiss.