Coming together

The landscape flew beneath the spread wings of our eagles. Technically I’ve flown before. I had been on a plane, obviously. But this was so, completely different. There wasn’t any in-flight entertainment or mediocre microwave meals or any fuselage wall to protect you from the elements. Let me tell you, it was fucking cold. My cheeks were red and tender from getting slapped by the wind. Whenever I glanced at my other fellow passengers, they seemed to be in similar conditions. Except Half-sword Dave, whose stoic and stone-like cheeks kept his trademark grimace locked into place.

Also, if I’m being completely honest, I’m not sure how we were attached to the eagles. I was sitting down, straddling… something. I was on the back of the eagle, but if I thought about it too hard I was worried I would fall off. Basil wasn’t even holding onto anything, he was just siting crosslegged with his hands on her knees and eyes closed. I think he was fairing the best out of all of us.

Despite all of these mild nitpicks, flying on the backs of giant eagles was one of the best experiences of my entire life, and definitely the best experience of my life in Questia. Seeing the landscape blow with my own eyes without glass or anything else in the way is intense. I could see familiar landmarks, like the Wet Saddle, now small enough to squeeze between pinched fingers. Little torches dotted roads and buildings, allowing just enough light to see the shifting colors of crowds or the wandering spots that were people. 

We were so high that if I lifted my hand, it would grazed the clouds. We chased the moon across the sky as it approached its zenith. The sky turned from inky blue to a deeper, sea blue. Midnight was approaching.

Despite how quick and swift the eagles were, it still took around two hours to get to the castle. But I wasn’t complaining. It took me maybe three days to get there on foot. It was tough to remember. My senses were getting dulled from the lack of oxygen. Oh right. That’s another thing that isn’t up here. Oxygen. We still weren’t fully adjusted to that.

The glowing speck of Prayerhaven appeared on the horizon. As we grew closer and the night grew darker, the city only grew brighter. It’s loud, obnoxious spinning sign clearly marked where the city was. 

“There!” I pointed. “That’s Prayerhaven.”

“Yeah, we’re not fucking blind,” Half-sword Dave said.

“Jeez, okay, sorry.” I raised my hands defensively before remembering we were thousands of meters above the ground. Those hands snapped back into place instantly. My coach would’ve been proud. Flying was getting on everybody’s nerves, but I was still very appreciative of everyone being there to support my quest for regicide. 

Everybody in Prayerhaven down below was too caught up in the throes of debauchery and light pollution to see three giant shapes soaring overhead. We landed within the white castle walls without any trouble.

The six of us dismounted and exploded into action, with weapons in hand. We landed in a loose attack formation, the kind you see superhero groups do in movies. I didn’t have any weapons on hand, so I just put my fists up threateningly. But it didn’t matter.

There were no guards around. The courtyard was painted pale by moonlight, casting long, dark shadows. But we were the only living beings in sight. 

“Why is it so quiet?” Half-sword Dave asked. “Feels creepy.”

“Somethin’ ain’t right.” Coral said. “Is this a trap?”

I shook my head. “It doesn’t matter. Freeing Gina is our top priority now and our key to slaying the Hinata and/or the Demon King. If they’re waiting to ambush us, so be it.”

“Well, you were just here before, so you’re the only one who knows where Gina is.” Half-sword Dave pointed with his half-sword. “Lead the way, loverboy.”

I glared at him, and he had the audacity to smirk at me. Which only made me glare harder.

While we were having that fun back-and-forth, Basil dismissed the eagles. With a word and wave of his hand, they returned to their kingdom of the sky on their great wide wings, beating a steady rhythm off into the darkness.

“Wait! Aren’t we going to use them somehow in our final battle?” I asked.

Basil shrugged. “They’re only good for transport, to be quite honest.”

“Oh. Okay then.”

Now just the six of us, I lead the party through my memories of where Gina was.

I sneaked through the stone hallways, and the rest of them followed as stealthily as they could. Coral was a monk, so she was light on her feet. But Sheila and Ford, despite their legendary warrior status, filled the halls with the clanks and bangs of their guard armor as they moved. Basil was old, so his joints cracked every few minutes. And Half-sword Dave was a wall of meat, there was no way we were going to hide him anyway. But no matter where we looked, there were no guards. None were waiting in hiding, none were setting traps. Nothing.

Soon enough we found the spiral staircase leading into the royal dungeons below.

We stopped right before the first foot of the steps. The dark opening was gaping at us. I could barely see the torches guiding the spiral descent below. I didn’t even know if Gina was still here. She could be in another castle, or hidden in some other room. Or perhaps all of the guards would be localized entirely in this stairwell, to ensure maximum security against Hinata’s most dreaded prisoner. All the unknowns swirled before me. Yet the group at my back kept me steady.

“Alright gang,” I said. “Who knows what the king has in store for us down here. It could be anything.”

“Perhaps he sent wizards,” Coral said.

“Or set up poisonous traps we wouldn’t know about,” Half-sword Dave said.

“Or a geese hydra,” said Sheila and Ford in unison.

I whirled around. “You guys are freaking me out, can you stop that?”

They all clammed up and apologized. I turned back to face the darkness, where infinite possibilities lay. 

“Okay,” I said. “I’m gonna enter the hole.”

I stood, about to enter the darkness, thinking about all the things Gina could be going through. All the pain, the suffering, the torture.

And speak of the devil, Gina burst out of the darkness, screaming at the top of her lungs and brandishing an axe.

You’ve probably seen this scene in movies, where two parties of allies yell at each other, thinking that they’re about to face off against enemies, but instead they just take turns yelling at each other, and only when the adrenaline wears off do they realize they’re all just friends here.

We did that. 

It was a funny bit.

After we all put our weapons down, Gina hugged everybody.

“Oh my God! Dave, Coral!” She hugged all of them, Half-sword Dave, Coral, Sheila and Ford, and Basil, one by one, with tears in her eyes. They returned the hugs with equal enthusiasm and sometimes equal tears.

And then she stood in front of me.

The rest of the groups formed a loose circle around us. They were watching, the freaks that they were. Both Gina and I could feel all the eyes on us, but we only had eyes for each other.

“Hi,” I said.

“Hi,” she said.

We practiced in our heads the words we were about to say out loud. I took a deep breath as the rest of the group held theirs.

“I’m sorry,” I said. “For not believing you on King Hinata. And for calling you a liar."

“And I’m sorry,” Gina said. “For lying to you.”

Silence.

“Gina?”

“Yeah?”

A smile tugged at the corner of my mouth, no matter how hard I tried to fight it.

“You suck at this.”

An impish grin spawned on her face, the first time I had seen it in days. Oh, how I missed it.

“You’re not that much better at apologies yourself,” she said. Gina raised her arms. “C’mere.”

I shuffled towards her, also with open arms. We awkwardly hugged each other. The surrounding group began clapping, making it even more awkward. I wish a Reaper had come right then and put both of us out of our misery. But through the fires of that awkwardness was reborn our friendship. 

“You can let go of me now,“ she said. I did. Gina cleared her throat. “So, shall we go to the royal hall and kick the king’s ass?”

She pulled something out of her inventory and handed it to me. I stared down in disbelief. Getting it here felt more magical than when Basil first presented it to me.

“My sorcerer staff,” I said, awestruck. “Where did you find this?”

Gina nodded down the dark stairwell. “In the hold, next to my stuff and a whole lot of other confiscated weapons. Like this bad boy.” She stroked the blade on the giant metal axe. “Now come on, we don’t have much time!”

Together we sprinted up steps, through more staircases and passageways, until we finally found the double doors to the royal hall. It was actually a really nice set of doors. Still, I felt no remorse driving my foot into it, making it burst open. When I first came through those doors, I was a prisoner, separated from his friend with seeds of doubt planted in his mind. Now that friend is right beside me, and my goal has never been clearer.

You’re going down, Oninomiya.