Chapter 46

Part 1

Earth shattered under the ogrekin’s girth! We landed with both Mack siblings bouncing around in the van’s back, while BB and I successfully braced ourselves up front. That hill ogre managed to leap, with us in tow, over the entire river. On our flight over, several birds picked away at the creature’s thick skin, with a few ripping chunks out of Jordie’s vehicle, lo’, we survived. “O-Ok, Anesha, now what?” Despite his insistence of appearing tough, Jordie’s complexion had gone grayer than that pig creature cowering in his arms.

The invisible flow of mana only offered but so many clues as to Bramble’s and Fate’s location. On my radar, spread across Gold River, A myriad of small mana signatures appeared to be moving with clear intent. (They have a target, it would seem. They are heading toward a singular location. Is it Fate?!) Among them, a stronger signature gleamed, lo’; I could not discern whether it was Fate or Bernadine. (Likely, Fate is still healing. If the seed were active, I would know. It must be Bernadine.) Nearest Gold River’s park, close to our planned rendezvous, that large signature appeared unbothered by all the smaller ones. (There has been plenty of time, and she was given a substantial head start.) No time to waste considering possibilities or worse case scenarios, as they were already upon us! “Quickly! To the parks!” I ordered BB!

“Gotcha’!” Before he could engage his vehicle, however; that ogre roared forward, running flight of foot! “Was this the plan?!” Bernie was nearly tossed into my lap, which I avoided by booting him into the vehicle’s rear alongside his compatriots.

“It was not, lo’, we have little time to waste!” Viewing the forest encompassed road before us, lamplights and moon rays could hardly hope to pierce a veil of darkness cast upon the trees by night. Only that lonely and recognizable house in the distance stood out; our base of operations, Arnold’s home. (There is quite some way to go until reaching the bridge. I believe we shall be fine, as this ogre moves quite a bit faster than Arnold’s old truck.) Lo, we were immediately stopped, a joke at my expense by the universe, one is sure. All three of the boys were tossed into the front seat, nearly touching me! “Repulsive ogrekin! For what reason do you have to suddenly halt? I was clear that we need…oh. I see.” Down before the ogrekin, wolves; many so ferocious beasts, all magically empowered by Bernadine’s azure scales and crimson fins. “Leap across! Do not waste your time engaging them!” Despite my instructions, we were dropped! Those birds returned, attacking the hill ogre from behind and causing it to release us to defend itself.

“Holy shit! We’re going to die, bro!” Jordie screamed, squeezing his yelping pig creature!

“I will allow no such thing! Skip!” The amount of mana needed was substantially different from what I was used to. Four people, little creature included, and the van, I slammed my boots into the floor and propelled us upward just enough to slow the descent and land with only a small thud.

“Wow! Good shit, Anesha!” No time for praise! I escaped through the van’s open window and drew my saber. The wolves were attacking! Azurite fangs hungry for my throat aimed to kill me, lo’, I deflected them! Blocked two such attackers, with more continuing after me! I leapt, as did they, biting at my literal heels!

“Skip!” Further up, I moved, avoiding the loss of my feet to such beasts! Again, I stepped on air, flipping forward and away from them! ‘Skip’, a medium level spell; one which allows Magekin to leap forward along the wind. With my physical prowess, and tutoring by master, I was able to fully employ it with a combination of momentum and strength! (Simple animals; chase me.) Those dogs were not smart, lo’, as pack animals; they attempted to surround me! Reshrinking my saber, my next move was one master had shown me numerous times before; a technique made perfectly for her, being of small stature! I landed with many wolves pouncing toward me! Down, I reached, taking a handstand! “Raze, earth beneath my feet!” Boots ignited; I spun! A whirl of blazing kicks, blasting beastly heads and fangs back! I did not slow, swinging low, momentum carried my movements, sweeping the dogs’ legs from under them; then back up into a handstand and whirling about into a cyclone of flaming death! (Master loves this technique, coiling serpent. She would use her smaller size to twirl under attackers and strike out like a cobra!) My guard was lowered, focusing elsewhere! Foolish!

My foot met one head; worse than kicking solid steel! My momentum halted before that tiger. It looked down, feline eyes oozing with malice, and azure clad claw raised overhead! I back flipped just in time to avoid death, lo’, fangs clamped down onto my shoulder! The bare flesh was not spared; those teeth sliced into my skin, pointed into my trapezius! My mage’s robe was truly a gift, saving me from another separated shoulder. No rest for the weary; one would say. Locked down by one wolf, others closing in, and a tiger wielding claws stronger than tungsten; I was forced into a corner.

“Vanguard, rise!” That instant of air was all I was offered and needed! Mana exploded into their forms, my chess piece familiars! With porcelain colored sword in place of its hand, the pawn rose up and skewered that wolf, releasing me from the beast’s maw! Using a shield blacker than coal, my knight piece leapt to defend me, then slayed a wolf with its ebony blade! That tiger’s imposing claw was blocked by my white rook’s tower shield, a barricade for perfect protection!

I was safe again, lo’; a tiring skirmish was about to unfold. Fearsome wolves, tigers, deer, and badgers stalked down the road from Gold River’s bridge area. Bishop of black carrying its staff formed to my side, a comfort knowing there was another spellcaster. To my back, Jordie and his group trembled with fear in the van, and that ogre was swatting down attacking birds! “A-Anesha, bro! Should we shoot?!” He shakily grasped Bernie’s raised handheld gun, posturing with little gusto.

“No! Make yourself no target for them.” I shouted in reply. “I shall carve a path through these beasts, then find Bramble and Fate!” Black and white ruler piece formed once more that night; and again, we prepared to face a difficult battle.

Part 2

One down, but two charged me in its place! “Burst, gusts beneath my feet!” Crouch; then from kneeling, I spring into a harsh, chin shattering backflip kick! Then again; backwards, my heel shot upward, propelled by magic! The wind exploded, launching my blows like cinderblocks from cannons; sending those dogs off into the sky. Before I could even reach the ground, several wolves, jaws wide open, reached for me! Both blades of my chess pieces, black and white, decapitated those wolves far too focused on me. I landed, knowing my back was exposed to those attacking animals again. “Slice, blade of liquid!”

My spell originated from me, but that bishop to their backs fired the magical attack! A humming, thin, blade of water sliced through the unassuming beasts, lo’, one survived thanks to Bernadine’s scales! It was swiftly felled by my ruler pieces’ crossbow, however. Animals entered the clearing from behind us, adding to the seemingly endless army. Escape routes wrested, there was no room for retreat; only victory would allow us to chase Bernadine, then move toward Bramble and Fate!

Laid behind the wolves, badgers, and deer were those two tigers; and with a face marked by numerous scars, that liger. Atop the hill near Arnold’s home, it calmly watched with fierce eyes, but no visible azure scales. The beast was larger than any other, lo’, did not show hostility or a want for combat. Just seeming to laze away on the ground, the liger simply flicked its tail repeatedly.

“Are you the leader?” I called to it. “Bernadine, I can only assume you have some way of hearing or communicating with me through your familiar. Face me! Do not leave your minions to settle our conflict!” Taunting did not work. Below, badgers snarled and lurched for my feet! “Dastard!” Drawing my saber to cut down those rodents must have given the deer a foolish impression that I was paying them no mind. Pawn and rook blocked my behind whilst I cut down those before me! (I cannot keep this up. Being on the defensive will only serve to waste time and cache. I must push the front line!) Forward! It was time I usurped the advantage! (No beasts shall dominate me!) Using the rook’s shield as a steppingstone, I launched myself upward and toward that scarred liger!

Attacking birds changed their target from the ogrekin to me. I cast a ‘skip’ spell and bounded off the air, each step propelling me on a breeze, fast and fluid! Those pursuers were of no concern, as several bolts were loosed from the ruler’s crossbow, sniping my avian attackers from the sky! A command from Bernadine must have changed their plans, as some animals turned attention to the Mack boys’ van. I reacted by moving my own familiars to defend those cowering humans! My knight piece moved swiftest, cutting through wolf after wolf on its way to defend its new target. Another ‘slice’ spell from me was transferred to the bishop, using that magically empowered staff to slay beasts with a sharp watery sickle. Lo’ their hides were tough; unarmored portions were viable targets.

One last skip across the summer breeze left me poised to drop my blade onto the liger's head! Ready, I aimed to plunge my saber deep into that beast, only for it to dodge at the last second! Gracefully leaping from its perch, the liger moved swiftly downhill and amongst fellow magically powered beasts. It seemed to wait, calmly watching me with stoic amber eyes. “You aim to slow me down, then. I already surmised that the seed is not within your grasp, lo’, with such stalling, one can assume you do not even have an idea of where to look!” I was not totally sure how much Bernadine was able to perceive from her familiar; despite that, dismaying her could only play to my advantage. (‘Unsteady your opponent so they will make mistakes’, and yet I do not have time to be thorough. I must speed this along.) Charging straight ahead, foolish with no real plan, lo’, I was left with few options.

The two tigers, one with its claw clad in azure and the other coated in a chest plate of scales, encircled me. Their attacks were synched near perfectly, swiping at me from both sides! The ruler piece blocked both ferocious felines, with claws so large they eclipsed my chest in size, opening a path for me. Up close, that liger was even larger than I realized. Casually sat back on the ground, that behemoth’s head was above mine!

(I will not be intimidated; master is a far fiercer beast than nature could brew!) With all my arm could muster, I swung the saber and clashed with that liger’s face! It stopped. The blade was halted, totally blocked! Bewildering, until I saw that liger had simply reeled back its lip, showing azure fangs that were unscathed when clashed against a saber crafted by the Magesmith himself! (…Celeste Zappa would be intrigued with you, and upset with me.) I was shrugged off with ease, flipping back and making space. The liger stepped forward, crushing rocks underfoot. Growling that rumbled the air, its eyes glowed with predatorial intent. “A woman, huh?” I noticed that as the queenly behemoth approached. “Feel proud, for you shall be felled by a stronger woman – a soon to be goddess!”

I thrust my blade; the liger rose up upon her back legs to dodge, suddenly standing nearly ten feet tall! In turn, I was left to withdraw as both claws were stomped down after me, shattering the ground where I stood! Flipping back, those earth crushing paws swiped past me with more force than a runaway truck! I was on the defensive; a mouse fleeing its feline pursuer, corralled into running my back against a tree! That would not stop me. Kicking off the trunk, I flipped over that massive head just in time for her claws to cleave through the tree bark!

“Foolish!” I seized the liger’s open back! Hardly able to contain the muscular beast’s wide body, even squeezing my thighs tightly, it nearly bucked me off with great force! You will have to try harder!” I plunged my blade into her back, slicing deep between muscles and bone! “I shall blast you to smithereens! Ignite—” Far too full of myself, tunnel vision toward swiftly ending the conflict cost me. The scarred liger’s combat experience served her well, throwing us both into that tree! Crushed between her back and the tree’s trunk, my own bones nearly cracked. My mage’s robes blared hotter than I had felt in some time; not since taking front kicks from master had they roar like that. The tree gave way and I was thrown off her back!

My lungs burned as I gasped for air, feeling all my previous injuries ache once more. Nary a second was offered to recover; shadows swallowed up the moonlight overhead! Ferocious liger fangs armored with azure scales, one; a serrated crimson fin larger than my arm, spread wide, ready to eviscerate me! The rook piece’s tower shield barely made it in time to block those blue scimitars from dicing me, lo’, they were too strong! Fangs sliced into the shield, and its porcelain body! “Not again!” I recalled the rook, leaving its white body to disintegrate into mana. I snatched the crystal while performing a roundoff to safety. (Moving on its own to defend me? I should have written more specific commands onto the encasing.) With said encasing secured, I could remake its body, lo’, my cache was already thoroughly taxed that evening. So long as the encasing, or physical crystal, was not completely obliterated, said corresponding spirit would not be damaged either.

My pawn fought off smaller beasts, ruler remained locked in combat with both tigers, and knight as well as bishop fended off attackers for the Mack boys; leaving me to face the liger alone. We locked eyes, the liger and I, then charged! That majestic behemoth before me needed to be felled, no matter what! Blade met fang as we clashed! I kept moving, circling back for another attack, as did she! We exchanged strikes repeatedly, neither allowing the other to one up her! That liger, she did not fear me – no, I was her prey!

In our exchanges, it became obvious how years of battle had shaped the beast’s instincts; my blade was no true advantage. She knew how to avoid critical hits, and I could not bait the liger! Even whilst unable to score a killing blow, neither of us left any clash without landing a hit at least. Shoulders, legs, chest, stomach, thighs, hands and paws, bled! A battle of attrition? I would lose before long. Sharp claws could not pierce my robes, lo’, the pressure and weight on my limbs and joints were winning out. There were hundreds of pounds separating us; even with my skillful dodging, slight grazes took their toll.

(An animal, that is what you are. I can overcome this!) Unlike animals or humans, I had magic! There was a spell that was perfect for such a beast; thus, I began the calculations. “Opening of the earth…” I drummed the toe of my boot, over and over, as she began another charge!

Each time those paws struck earth, the ground thundered in denial of that beast’s existence. So massive, powerful, and dangerous, humans would only call her a ‘monster’. Unlike any around her, wearing scars like badges of honor…but maybe she did not see them as such. Maybe they were reminders of her anguish. Maybe it would have been better for them to fade away. Maybe it would have been better for those scars to have never been made. Maybe her life could have been different. But ‘maybe’ is not real; possibilities did not matter, only the reality before one’s eyes and made with one’s hands. Before mine, a galloping, bloodthirsty colossus!

Head larger than my torso, legs thicker than tree trunks, paws wide like traffic signs; the liger’s regal golden fur and bronze streaks shined under moonlight. So close, the prey reflected in those thin feline eyes was large enough that my actions played out in a mirror. I watched as the liger pounced, and my reflection sunk into the earth. “…Devouring grave!” A massive crater opened up right beneath my feet! I fell back with claws just short of my nose, feeling ground collapse downward into nothing with the liger sending a missing swipe overhead! That failure spelled defeat for the liger. As more collapsing earth spread outward into a meters wide and leagues deep dirt pit, we entered what would become the liger’s chasmous grave. Deeper down, wider out; trees and rocks toppled over the expanding lip; It was urgent that I made my next move! “Ensnare, all those who I wish held!” My magical red strings shot out from every side of the bowl catching the trees, rocks, and most importantly, liger!

Catching all four legs, its massive body slowed while descending and ended with the beast’s chest stabbed right upon my blade. I thrust deeply into her chest, boots sinking back into the soft soil under my, and her, weight combined. Up to the handguard went my blade and I still was not sure I had reached her heart.

I had not felled her. A roar above me signaled how short I had fallen of victory. I peered up to a maw of azure daggers arcing down for my head! I tucked my chin as she claimed my hat, but not my head and life! There was less than an inch; I lived only because of that, able to finally end the fight there!

“Pierce!” With my free hand, I sent a magical spike into the liger’s chest, heart, and out through her back! (…Rest well, powerful beast.) It was over; that fight at least. The battle was still raging overhead. Stomping from that ogrekin shook the bowl around me, with the walls quickly crumbling! “Fool! Halt! Cease!” It did not! Clumps of dirt rained down on my head and dress, thus the pit’s integrity was clearly fleeting! I pushed off the liger’s body, once again bidding her farewell…until noticing my hat did not come with me! “What? Why have you not released it?!” Clenched between those azure fangs was my hat, completely stuck. Even passed, I could not manage to pry open her mouth open; using my saber as leverage failed too. By then, larger chunks of earth had tumbled down and were gathering around my ankles. (I cannot leave my hat; I am already disadvantaged with my cache so lowered! Without it, I shall lose the ability to properly control spells above a high level; and against Bernadine, will leave me nearly defenseless!) That was one problem, lo’, being buried underground alongside my recently felled adversary would be a deeply humiliating death! The fangs shimmered, suddenly. All azure scales crawled back toward that singular amethyst fin; then the mouth spung open, rocking them off into the night! My hat was free, and I rushed to escape the pit.

After a minute of embarrassingly pulling at rock and roots, I reached the lip and climbed up. In and staining my dress, thigh-highs, even boots, dirt and mud! Not an impediment of any sort, lo’, if those two could see me in such pathetic state…there was no time to think about it! And no grinning, sick woman! The Macks, however, would see me so disheveled. My familiars had felled many of the beasts, not without receiving substantial damage. None were destroyed, lo’, that was not far off at the rate things seemed to be going.

In one hand, my saber, still sharpened with an edge that could slice through steel. In the other, my hat, rendered functionally useless with several gaping holes tore into its sturdy fabric. The animals turned their attention to me; approaching with fangs drawn. “…Well…” I did not have a witticism prepared, just a groan as my stomach swirled with worry for Bramble and Fate.

Part 3

Even if I hated admitting it, Dad worked hard for us. He brought home the majority of our family’s income, paid bills, fixed things, everything a dad is supposed to do. It was different from Mom, really. Free spirited, even more so when I was a kid; she’d bail me out of trouble, help grow my interests, and instill her own brand of optimistic life lessons. A balanced home life, I thought. Being a kid lets you ignore the obvious though, or maybe that was just me. When did I realize how bad things were? I was still having fun, even when times went from bad to worse.

Mom met Dad after a year of college; dropped out first chance she got. Computer science didn’t work for her, or more so, Mom hated it. Staring at numbers, spreadsheets, and graphs, all day was soul draining, is what she said. She was…a free and whimsical type of person. Total opposite of an overly serious killjoy like Dad. With what little money Mom saved after dropping out, she moved to Greenville; mostly because there wasn’t anywhere for her. Grandpa and Grandma died before Mom even graduated high school, there wasn’t any inheritance or life insurance; couldn’t even get them buried right, had to let the state handle it. Mom told me… “Couldn’t sit around crying forever. Life goes on.” But I always felt like my grandparents’ deaths hurt her, buried somewhere deep below a mound of positive thinking and eccentric rhymes.

I heard that story about how they met all the time growing up. “You need some help?” Dad asked, finding some barely even twenty-year-old redhead stuffing clothes into a shopping cart stolen from another store’s lot. They were behind a thrift store, right after he got off his shift at work.

Mom told me she was immediately downbad. Saying how he was the coolest looking guy she’d ever seen, handsome, and a whole bunch of other crap. “Nah! No way, dude! Haha. Wha—what’s your name…handsome?” Meanwhile, Dad thought she looked like a crazy person. Back then, apparently, Mom’s style sat somewhere between hippy and kindergarten teacher, which extended to her rainbow-colored hair accessories.

At first, Dad didn’t want to tell her his name. He probably thought she was a new weirdo in town, but he liked her eyes; droopy eyes that ended up getting passed onto me. “Zahn.”

“I’m June, new to town.” He could tell.

It started with a handshake, ended with a slap. A whirlwind relationship, that’s what she said. Winter turned to autumn; greetings at the station turned to greetings at the bedside; familiarity turned to family. They found out mom was pregnant one day, and decided to move in together, right then! Dad already had an apartment, Mom…couch surfed, so the transition was easy. The biggest problem came with Mom never wanting to slow down. When you’re chasing your dreams there’s never time to ease back, even for life. All the way up until she was waddling back and forth to shoots, Mom still got up at the crack of dawn, rushed out the door, and hopped onto a bus full of energy! Not much changed, pregnant or not.

Then, July 4th, 1995, I was born. Fate Lyle Isley; middle name from my grandfather, first name given to me because Mom believed in destiny, and Isley because Dad never married her. He didn’t make it to the actual birth either. Part of me resented him, but when I got older and understood the circumstances, that changed. My other grandfather had died, and Dad took it hard too, obviously. I couldn’t blame him for that…or why he started getting mad at Mom.

Like clockwork, she was up, out the door, and on that bus as soon as she could be. Mom wanted to be a director for films and documentaries, but she did basically everything technical on set. Edited the footage, found filming sites, got permits, and worst of all, put up cash for those indie projects. She worked so many different projects and jobs, people called her Handyman June! That was her passion, and making a film was Mom’s dream.

Years of that must have gotten to Dad. “You’ll pick up Fate, right?” I remember him asking that, finally beating Mom out of the door for once.

“Of course! You go on to work; I’ll drop Fate off at school.” Back then, I thought Mom was the coolest and Dad was boring. I could brag that she knew everything about movies, worked on sets, and had been named in some credits. Chester, Demica, Teddy, and Perry all thought she was the best, and so did I! “Fate, ready to go?” Whenever Dad was stuck working late, Mom would pick me up…and that was the problem. That dream was always in her sights. “We’re going to stop by city hall first, ok?” Mom and I would run all over the city, late into the evening. Sometimes only leaving only an hour in the day, and I’d crash before even heading home. There were times when I was so tired that Mom would have to piggyback me home. “Sorry, honey. Didn’t know those jerks would make things run so late. Next time there’s an after party, I’ll tell them to stick it up their…uh…forget I said that.” Another thing I would never admit, I kind of enjoyed those piggyback rides.

The mornings after those nights were always awful. I’d be dead tired, dressing for school with eyes half open, and sometimes missing homework. To Dad, that was over the line. So many arguments, too many, too loud, too long, too justified. “You can’t keep doing this stuff! What has it gotten you? I’ll tell you, bills, wasted time, and a tired son who keeps falling asleep in class!” Dad was right, completely. “I told you to drop all of those losers and get a real job!” But his words always bit. Dad was the type of person to say actions mattered more than words but get upset when someone said something he didn’t like.

“They aren’t losers! They’re friends! And…ok…geez, I know! Look, dude, Zahn…I won’t take Fate to the shoots anymore.” That ended up being a lie.

“What did you just get through promising me?!” He found out right away. “How hardheaded can you be?! I swear to God!” That time, he stormed out and was gone for days. I remember it, because it was the first time I heard Mom crying alone at night. The next day, we skipped being on set, even though I know Mom promised she’d be there.

It was just me and Mom for a while, and since Dad wasn’t around, it felt like we could cut loose. We watched horror movies and creature features, since those were Mom’s favorites; I even bought my first cryptozoology book! Dad was a serious control freak; deciding what I could watch, and what hobbies I indulge in. During that period, not being run ragged through the streets of Greenville was refreshing, but Mom’s occasional despondent looks into the distance were distressing. I felt guilty; all because I couldn’t keep up with her and school, that argument happened. “Mom, do you think you can teach me how to work a camera?” Her eyes sparkled when I asked that. “Chester’s got an idea; he wants us to film urban legends and monsters. That’s why I got this cryptids book.” Mom didn’t just teach me how to film; she dumped everything on me! Got me even more books, showed me documentaries, and before I knew it, she was back! I stopped hearing her cry at night.

Eventually, Dad returned, but things were weird. He was distant. It wasn’t like him at all. Now I know why, but back then, things were just so off. Whenever Mom spoke with him, Dad basically ignored her. Even when she started talking about helping her friends out again, he didn’t care! More and more, Dad would come home late or sometimes, not at all. Should’ve seen the signs back then, but I was a kid; peace meant peace.

Then the night came where it all ended. Dad was supposed to pick me up but was an entire state away, busy. School wasn’t that far from the apartment, but Mom wasn’t going to let her kid ride the bus through a city all by himself. She rushed off set, and was ready to ride all the way across Greenville to get me home. I knew it would mess up her schedule, so I convinced Mom to just take me along…which wasn’t hard. We stayed late, way later than normal, into the next morning. “Those guys suck!” Mom shouted! “Sorry.” Then apologized to our cab driver. “Out of their minds…dropping us from the production. Well, screw…er…forget them! That’s why I stole all the ‘Death is Death’ tee-shirts! Hey, Mr. Cabby, want one?” She offered a black tee-shirt from one of several boxes stuffed into the back with us.

We got home, and I was exhausted. Walking through the front door, I expected to see Dad waiting for us, and dreaded hearing he and Mom arguing. The door opened, and no Dad. Nothing in the apartment looked different from the morning; I assumed Dad never made it home. We packed those boxes away and as I got ready for bed; just then, the front door opened. “Oh. You’re awake.” It was Dad.

“Hey. So…where were you?” Air tense, even a kid could feel it. “…Fate, go to bed.” Mom shooed me off, but it didn’t go unnoticed by Dad.

“Fate’s awake? Of course he is. You just got in, right.”

“Yeah, we just got in. I had stuff.”

“Stuff? Filming. You had filming.”

“Yes, filming.” They glared at each other. Seconds, to minutes, to hours, but really only awkward seconds ticked by. “Go to bed, Fate.”

“He should’ve been in bed hours ago. Didn’t I tell you not to take him out with you when you’re doing all that dumb shit.”

“Don’t curse in front of him!”

“You take him onto sets with people getting their heads split open and watch movies where people kill each other all the time! Why do you suddenly care about that?”

“Hearing his father curse is different!” I wasn’t sure of what to do; stay or go. “…You didn’t answer me, where were you?”

“That’s not important. Fate, go to bed. He’s got school tomorrow and your irresponsibility is going to have him falling asleep in class, again.”

“Hold on! You’re the reason he ended up going with me! It’s because you just suddenly went…wherever you did! Which, by the by, still haven’t told me where it was.”

“It doesn’t matter where I went…it was an emergency for work.”

“Work?! Since when does your job have you leaving the state last minute on a Wednesday?!”

“Stop yelling. You’re going to bother the neighbors being so hysterical.”

“I’m not being…!” Mom took an incredibly deliberate deep breath, then exhaled. “I’m not hysterical. Tell me where you were.”

“I’m not going to be interrogated in my home; the home that I pay for while you’re busy running through the streets, playing film maker with a bunch of bums, and dragging our son around into the early morning.”

“They’re not bums; they’re my friends! And the reason I took Fate is because you left him!”

“That’s why I told you to quit all of that dumb shit!”

“Stop cursing in front of Fate!”

“Who fucking cares at this point, June?! This is what I keep talking about! You always want to play like this is some kind of happy little family and everyone lives in your whimsical fantasy world! You don’t take anything seriously, just play it off like things won’t get bad, and then when it does, you joke and try to morph everything with your optimistic fucking outlook!”

“Having an optimistic outlook is what’s kept me from falling into being a pessimistic jerk like you! Everything is always bad, always sucks, always needs to be better – not could be better, but needs to be! There is no peace, unless you get your way and everything you want!”

“I put up with your dream chasing for ten fucking years! Always working to get a better job for all of us, and what did you do?! You kept going back to those damn shoots and sets, wasting your time and using my fucking money to help them!”

“It wasn’t your money! It was our money!”

“I make the money here! If it was just you, you wouldn’t be able to afford a damn pair of shoes for Fate!”

“I…I still contribute!”

“What? The electricity is me! The gas is me! Fate’s clothes are me! The rent is me! The water is me! The phones are me!”

“Groceries and Fate’s tuition…”

“That’s the least you could fucking do! You eat, don’t you? You made the fucking boy too, didn’t you?”

“…Don’t talk about him like that.” It dawned on both of them…I couldn’t even cross into my bedroom. They were arguing in the living room, between me and my room. “Fate, go to bed.”

“I’m leaving.” Dad turned and made for the door, but Mom ran across the room and slammed it shut just as he pulled it open! “Move.”

“No.”

“June, move. Now.”

“No! You never told me what you were doing! Your job has no reason to make you go to another state at the end of the day! What were you doing?”

“I told you! Now, move!”

“…You’re lying.”

“I am not.”

“…” Mom pulled out her phone suddenly and dialed someone, back still pushed against the door. “Oh, Lucy!” The line connected! “Yeah, hey, how’s it going? Really quick, did you and Zahn have to make an emergency—hey!” Dad snatched her phone away and ended the call!

“You are not calling my co-workers! Are you out of your fucking mind?!”

“Give me my phone back!”

“You’re out of your fucking mind! That’s it! You’re out of your fucking mind!”

“Give it back!” For the first time in my life, I saw my parents get physical in one of their arguments. Mom threw limp shots that bounced off Dad’s chest, meanwhile, he just pushed her back against the door! “Tell me what’s going on! Why are you lying?!”

“I’m done! I’m fucking done! You’re crazy!” One punch turned to a slap, hitting Dad in his right eye. “Fuck!” He said, gripping my mother, a foot shorter than him, up by the shoulders and slinging her onto a couch across the room! “I knew this would happen! Your fucking father ignored your mother acting like this, but I won’t! I’m not putting up with this shit!” Dad was enraged, with that struck eye beginning to swell immediately!

“Wait! Zahn, I’m sorry!” Mom jumped back up from the couch but stumbled and fell. She sat there for a second, just looking at the pink carpeted floor and not saying anything. “…Zahn, is…are you coming back?”

Dad stood there, gripping the doorknob so tightly veins in his hands were visible. No answer came, just silence. It was like that for so long; I started wishing they’d argue again! My father was always the decisive type, making up his mind in a split second, and it was often the correct choice. So, seeing him hesitate to answer a question, I felt was easy, scared me. Say ‘yes’, it felt so obvious! He was my dad! Mom messed up, but he loved her! Dad love both of us! They’d work it out, and I could go to bed, then off to school the next day! “…No. June, no. I…I don’t think this is working anymore.”

“Zahn! Zahn!” Mom grabbed his pant leg and screamed! “No! W-we can work this out! I’m sorry! I—it was a mistake, I swear! I didn’t mean to hit you! Fuck, I’ll quit! I’ll quit filming!”

“No! No, you won’t. We’ve been over this. You won’t.”

“I will!”

“You won’t! Fuck! This is what I hate about you! I can still see it in your eyes! You won’t! We’ve had this exact argument before! You won’t change! The second they call you, you’ll be right back there! You’ll drag my son into those dirty warehouses, cold fields, and nasty buildings around a bunch of bums!”

“…I…Zahn! I swear…swear on my parents' grave, I won’t!”

“…Have some fucking dignity, and respect for your parents. Don’t swear when you know you won’t change.”

“I love you though…”

“…I…I can’t anymore.” She let go. It was over, right before my tired, puffy eyes, running with a river of tears staining my ‘Death is Death’ tee-shirt. Dad turned to me. “Fate, go…fuck it.” He walked up to me and started speaking, but I was out of it. A lot of his words went over my head while I watched Mom sit on the floor sobbing. He didn’t comfort her or even bother looking back. Just crouching there, trying to meet me eye to eye, Dad’s words did not matter to me. “Here.”

He placed money in my hand. It was a lot, probably the most I’d ever seen at the time. “…What?” I could barely comprehend what Dad was telling me. My voice couldn’t even reach beyond a dull squeak. “What?” I said again.

“Take this money and look after yourself.”

“…What about you?”

“I just think things will be better if me and your mother aren’t around each other.”

“Then, you’re leaving?!”

“I…I’ll be around. I want you to be happy, so hang onto that. It’s eight hundred dollars, and if you need more, just call me.”

“But I want you here!” I’d held mud cleaner than those eight hundred dollars. That feeling of guilt once again reared its head. If I didn’t fall asleep in school and got better grades, that argument wouldn’t have happened. “I’m sorry, Dad. I didn’t mean to make you angry!”

“It wasn’t you! I’m leaving…I’m leaving your mother, not you! Not you, Fate. Your mother is irresponsible. She’s…things just aren’t working out.”

“…No.” Everything was wrong. All of it! “No! I…why are you leaving?! Why are you just walking out?!”

“I can’t stay here anymore.”

“Then you are leaving me and Mom!”

“I’m not leaving you!”

“Then why are you giving me this?! Just stay!”

“I can’t! You don’t understand! You’re just a kid! Some day you will understand, but…just…I’m going.”

“…Go! Go and never come back!” All eight hundred dollars, I clenched them and threw all of that money back into his face! “I don’t want money! I want my dad to love my mom!”

“…Goodbye, Fate.” He left the money there and walked out of the door. My father’s large back in that black leather jacket was my last memory of him for years.

“I’m sorry.” Mom’s voice barely pierced the silence smothering us. “I’m so sorry…Fate. He’s right. Your father was right; I’m such a screw up. I wasted so much of my life believing things would get better. Believing that eventually everything works out, but never actually doing what I needed to.” There was no pillow to wrap around my ears; I couldn’t block out Mom’s crying. “All for what? Just to be taken advantage of, sent running errands for jerks who never even remembered my name or face; that’s all I got for years of work. I spent years neglecting you…my son; the best thing to ever happen to me!”

“I love you, Mom!” It was all I could do, embrace her and cry…together.

“I’m so sorry. I will do better. I promise.”

Part 4

Gold River’s mall was in sight; the sooner we arrived the better. Dad, Maya, and I; we all sat in awkward silence for the whole ride. There was no way I could tolerate sitting up front with him; Maya took the seat, fortunately. “Um…can I ask something?” The assertive mother spoke up, in a surprisingly reserved tone. “You’re father and son, right?”

“Yes, we are.” Dad answered before I could. Annoying jerk.

“I thought so. Zahn, I didn’t know Fate was your son. You mentioned having a boy, but I just didn’t know he was your other kid.”
“Well—” I interrupted, because fuck him.

“He doesn’t like to talk about his mistakes.” Didn’t matter how much time passed, I wasn’t over it. I would never be over it!

“I have never called you a mistake!” That upsetting Dad was a shock.

(I would’ve thought he’d be more angry about being cut off. Look at that.) Maybe I was being too harsh; or not, I didn’t care. “Right! You never called me a mistake, just the relationship with my mother. I was a byproduct of your mistake. What’s that make me?”

“Hey! Road!” We ignored Maya.

“It doesn’t make you a mistake. Fate, I didn’t bring you along so you could chastise me and be a smartass!”

“Oh? Was it because you felt guilty for abandoning us all those years ago?”

“Road!” Again, her call for attention was ignored.

“I didn’t abandon you! I left your mother!”

“You walked out on both of us! You didn’t even think about asking me what I wanted! You didn’t ask if I wanted to go with you, because you had better things to do! A better life that you wanted without me and Mom! And you know what the worst part is, I look back on that and think how scummy it all was. You just brought home eight hundred dollars for no reason? Fuck that! You brought it home knowing exactly what was going to happen. Guess what?!”

“Road! Look at the fucking road!” I finished what I was going to say…

“I left that fucking money right in the middle of the living room! I didn’t spend a dime!” …Then we crashed. I’d been slammed, swatted, smashed, and slung around multiple times by then, so, my brain jumped right into defensive mode. Chin tucked and thanking the seatbelt holding in me in place, our car flipped onto its side and slid to a stop; I ended up hanging in that car seat. “Fuck. Maya, Dad?! Hey?!” Maya was barely consciousness, Dad was out. Fumbling with my cast covered hand, I unbuckled the seatbelt and fell onto my shoulder.

Getting both Maya and Dad out of the car was a struggle, but I managed. “Ow, ow.” Only small cuts along Maya’s arm and face; they would heal. “Thanks, Fate. We hit that thing pretty hard.” I didn’t see what it was at first, but up the road, a full grown and azure scaled buck laid dead. “Let me check on Zahn.”

While Maya focused on my father, I looked around. We were just outside of Gold River’s residential area and parks! If I kept going only a few more blocks, the bridge would come into view. Static rolled up my spine. I turned to see those blue scales on that deer’s corpse crawl up, meet at a singular shining purple spike, then shot up and off into the dark woods nearby. The light hung there, illuminating an approaching threat.

From the darkness emerged a woman, flanked by an army of beasts! The tan skinned woman in a greenish-gray jacket, boots, and skirt walked with those blue armored animals. Lining the ivory-colored trim on all of her clothing were purple, mana infused, stitches! She was Magekin, obviously. I ducked, or my knees went out under me; wasn’t sure which.

“Fate, what—!” I covered Maya’s mouth with my hand! She’d be mad, but the consequences would only dire otherwise.

“Shh…” The terror in my eyes must’ve conveyed how horrible the situation was. We were hidden by the car, but if that Magekin, who I assumed was Bernadine Clément, was anything like Anesha, she could blast through a car with ease!

“Ugh…” Dad began to stir. “Fuck. Ow! Fate, Maya? What happened?” Maya did everything she could to stop my father from getting too loud! I peered around the car’s side and Bernadine was looking in our direction!

“…Humans.” She spat. “Driving their cars so recklessly. Taking the lives of innocent animals with their…” Bernadine raised her short wooden staff… “Selfish metal machines!” …and blasted a hole, clean cut, right through the car’s hood and engine block! That was a spell, and if it hit us, we’d have been killed instantly. Everyone was on the same page at that moment. The growling beasts only a few yards away led by a woman with magical powers was a threat we weren’t ready to fight.

Out of the corner of my eyes, brown fur moved. I turned my head to see Bramble! He looked at me, then Maya and Dad. Even with his dog face, the frustration was conveyed. Me being there was totally against what he wanted, but there wasn’t much surprise. No way Bramble didn’t expect me to show up. But the question was, what were we supposed to do? He was hidden in the brush, and we were behind Dad’s overturned car; meanwhile, that witch was ready to snipe us the second we were noticed!

A wolf at her side growled. “Hmm? What is it?” Her voice almost cooed as the woman knelt and stroked her beast’s head, then under its chin, and belly. The amount of petting turned weird quickly. Bernadine knelt down, rubbing her face against the animal’s furry stomach, seeming to huff its scent with a noticeably pleasurable grin. “Aw, you sweet, sweet boy. I know. I know. It won’t be long.”

(…Are all Magekin just weirdos?) Genuine question. Pondering for half a second if there was a single Magekin I’d ever interacted with that wasn’t some kind of weirdo or pervert, Ulric and Holly came to mind, but that wasn’t even assured.

Another hole was shot through Dad’s car! It missed me but sliced a chunk out of my father’s shoulder! Dad gripped muscle, torn nearly down to the bone, with blood spewing between his fingers! He stifled a shout of pain, aided by Maya holding his mouth shut. “Fafnir, are you sure?” Bernadine spoke, most likely to her familiar. “Over there? Are you sure it's the seed’s mana?”

(She can sense me?!) Was I out putting mana? I couldn’t tell right then. (Fuck. I’ve got to…) Bramble growled. (You can’t be serious?) He nodded, then his fur glowed with a red hue. (Stupid, don’t!) Off as fast as those little doggy legs could carry him, Bramble ran toward the strip mall!

“A dog…? How is it that you weren’t taken by Fafnir? Ah. I recognize that butt; Anesha’s familiar.” An odd statement. “I knew she survived. Fafnir, is that where the seed’s mana is coming from?” I heard nothing in response. “Fine. We’ll give chase. Anesha is in that direction anyway. She should’ve accepted my mercy and ran. Stubborn.” Bernadine directed those wolves to hunt Bramble with her wand and slowly sauntered away.

I breathed a sigh of relief, only for the obvious to set in. Anesha was going to encounter Bernadine, and she was headed in the direction of those missing Gold River citizens; Rita, Arnold, Caleb, Jaci, and Dirk. Knowing that Bramble was sacrificing himself too, I wasn’t just going to lay down and accept being saved!

End of chapter 46