Binarius (27 page)

“
Oswin, can you get her ready now?
If we leave right this moment, maybe they won’t even see
us.”

“
I’ll try.”

“
Okay, Kaolin and I will wait just
up there on the shore so we don’t draw any attention to you. When
you’ve got her ready, call out to us, and then let her
go.”

“
What if somethin’ happens and you
two don’t get back here quick enough.”

“
Then drop your anchor once you’re
over the shallows.”

He nodded and walked around to the
other side of the ship; long warped from the humidity.

Kaolin followed Firinne to an
overhang below the cliffs which was situated right next to the path
leading down to the shore. Firinne couldn’t believe they were here.
Few had even laid eyes on the Dantalion Lords, and this was a clear
indication that the Blacken knew what Kaolin and Firinne were up
to.

Kaolin had his hands wrapped around
each other in front of his mouth; blowing warm air into them; you
could almost smell the adrenaline. All that they could do at this
point was wait and see which came first; the ships departure or the
Dantalions arrival.

As it happened, it was both —
nearly. Their black lace cloaks trailed along behind them, almost
floating above the rocks. They made no facial expressions other
than a detachment; crazed; wide-eyed, mouths hanging open. It was
now or never, and Firinne took the first shot, which embedded
itself into the empty space between black bones. There was no
reaction, not an instant one. Slowly, they turned their heads
towards the overhang. One stepped forward slightly and from the
palm of his fleshy hand, a black pit opened. From it shot a silky
string with barbs attached to it.

Kaolin pulled Firinne behind a
boulder. Kaolin then turned to the other side and hurled a bolt of
electrolifi at them. One of the Dantalion’s cloaks caught fire and
everything was burned to ashes — except for his immortal
flesh.

There were three of
them.

“
Kaolin, the best chance we have
is to move as fast as we can. Strike anything that you think could
be vulnerable. I don’t know anything about them, but everything has
a soft spot.”

The space between Kaolin and
Firinne was now speckled with crystal arrows and bolts of
electrolifi flying haphazardly. They aimed quickly and hid
themselves back behind the boulder just as fast. On the next wave,
Firinne was able to note that the Dantalion Lord closest to them,
now had one of her crystal arrows sticking out of his eye, and he
was beginning to convulse. There was black dripping down his face;
blood that had been spoiling and congealing for centuries;
epochs.

“
Kaolin, aim for my arrow in his
eye!”

When he did, it was as if time had
stopped. The electrolifi traveled down to the head of the arrow,
and the Dantalion Lord became still. Gradually, he began shaking
all over, his head was moving in every direction; back and forth,
up and down, side to side. He opened his mouth, wider than was
humanly possible, and an orgasmic screech filled the air. It was
sonic, and it knocked the strength from them; landing on their
knees, where they held their ears and watched. They watched as
there was an explosion of blackness which shot out
everywhere.

The Dantalion Lord was gone, but
his screech was still bouncing off of the overhang and shooting out
across the sea where it would travel the waters for eternity — the
source of the sailor’s delusion.

Evidently, the remaining Lords were
livid, and so Firinne and Kaolin found themselves nearly engulfed
by an explosion of gray flames which had landed just behind them,
and the boulder. They darted off to the side and began showering
them with Eletrolifi and crystal arrows. Oswin had pulled up the
anchor now; the ship gently moving towards the open water. Every
time Firinne implanted an arrow, Kaolin would aim for it and
finally, after another crippling screech, another Dantalion Lord
was dead; or ceased to exist since it had already been dead, before
its death.

“
Firinne, give me a shot and head
for the ship! I’m right behind you!”

She did, the arrow shot through the
air and sliced itself deep into the corpse’s heart. She ran to the
boat and turned to watch for Kaolin. He ran toward them and turned
to shoot the electrolifi, but before he could, the barbed silk had
wrapped itself around his leg; and he crashed to the
ground.

Firinne started laying arrow after
arrow into the Dantalion Lord as she ran down the dock to help
Kaolin. He signaled her to stop.

“
I’m not gonna leave you!” she
yelled to him.

The Dantalion Lord was pulling
Kaolin into him, foot by foot.

“
Use your sword!”

He turned himself around, sat up,
unsheathed his sword, and came down hard on the tendril silk. It
split and recoiled back towards its maker, but the Dantalion was
still coming closer, despite the seven arrows that were sticking
out of it. Firinne helped Kaolin up, but he could barely walk on
his leg which still had barbs wrapped around it.

“
C’mon Kaolin…do
it…now!”

And it was slow motion all over
again but this time the electrolifi spread itself out over all
seven of Firinne’s arrows; a dreamcatcher of silver heat. The
explosion was so great that it threw both of them toward the dock —
pieces of rocks from the shore pelting at their skulls.

Before the ear-splitting sounds had
even stopped, Firinne was up and pulling Kaolin to the end of the
dock. They jumped into the sea, Firinne helping her friend swim to
their ship. Oswin had released a rope ladder which Kaolin began to
climb with Firinne’s support. As she steadied his back, she looked
over her shoulder at the coast and its cliffs. She could see him,
standing there — watching her. The silhouette that she would never
forget.

CHAPTER
THIRTY-ONE

Spectorium

His silver
hair was stuck to his forehead. A blanket was wrapped around him.
Their ears were numb from the cold wind, and probably partially
deaf. Firinne was sure she could still hear the Dantalion’s
screeches echoing inside her skull.

“
You really saw him?”

“
I’m sure of it.” She
said.

“
Why didn’t he chase after us?
Those Demogorchians can fly.”

“
I don’t know…maybe it wasn’t the
right time? Maybe he needed orders? You’re talking to the girl who
was fooled by her lover and her best friend…”

“
That bloke’s creepy…”

“
He wasn’t always…let me look at
your leg now that you’ve warmed up a bit.” He turned his body
towards her and lifted his leg up onto her lap. The barbs were
still wrapped around his leg.

“
You might want to bite down on
something…” Firinne told him.

He stuffed some of the blanket in
his mouth and Firinne proceeded to begin unwinding the thing from
his leg. It was like a thread of barbed wire, but the barbs were
like razors; angled like fangs. She couldn’t tell which was worse;
the initial attack, or this. Once she got all of it off of him, she
took out her dagger and cut through his pants, up to his knee. His
leg from there down looked like he’d been attacked by baby sharks.
She finished by scooping up some seawater and applying it to the
wounds; wrapping it with a clean cloth that Oswin had.

“
You can stop gnawing on that
thing now. I’m done.”

“
AWWRRYSHHRRR”

“
What? Oh! Yes, I’m sure.” She
laughed.

“
Whew, thanks for
that.”

“
Good thing my dress is red.” She
said as she rolled her eyes and flicked her hair behind her
shoulder.

“
I do apologize, my
Queen!”

“
Both of yeh should quit yer
chatterin’ and get some shut-eye. We only got about an
hour-and-a-half left of sailin’.”

“
Ay, ay Captain!” Kaolin
said.

Firinne followed with, “Wake us in
an hour. Thanks, Oswin.”

She curled up in the corner of the
main deck and threw a blanket over her head. As if her body knew
that it was preparing for a battle, she fell asleep
quickly.

She dreamed of Cyneric. It was a
muddled dream. He was sitting in front of her and she was talking
to him. He didn’t respond to her, so she repeated herself. After a
while, she got tired of it and went in front of him to better get
his attention since his back was facing her. He sat there with a
blank expression like he was daydreaming, and his mouth hung open
slightly; letting drool drip on his leg, but the saliva dripping
from his mouth was black. It was disturbing, and she felt sorrow.
At the same time, she had no concern at all. She could do or say
whatever she wanted to him, and he would never react or respond.
Then she noticed that there was a woman behind him hanging from a
rope; side to side; she could hear the rope creaking like it had
when Imphius—

There was a slight tapping on her
shoe.

“
Queen…Queen…please wake. It’s
been an hour.” Then she felt the blanket be pulled off of her head.
The air was cool on her face; she could see the golden light of the
sun setting. She slowly peeked her eyes open.

With a dry mouth she said, “Thanks,
Oswin. Please call me Fir…no sense in formalities at this
point.”

“
Aye, will do.” Then Oswin
proceeded to the other corner of the deck where Kaolin lay in a
ball; injured leg sticking out of the blanket awkwardly. Oswin
kicked Kaolin’s thigh and he woke with a jolt; reaching for his
sword.

“
Oi! My leg’s injured!”

“
I know,” Oswin
replied.

“
So then why’d you kick
me?”

“
Teach you not to get smart with
the Captain.” He smirked. Then he added. “I’d recommend getting
your stuff together. Won’t be long now ’til we hit the
shore.”

After their satchels were packed,
weapons gathered, and cloaks on, they met Oswin at the ship’s
wheel. It was dusk now and the stars were beginning to peek out,
now that the blanket of blackness above could be seen.

“
What’s that?” Kaolin asked. Off
in the distance, there was something sparkling.

“
I don’t know. I’ve never been
close enough to see it.” Oswin replied.

Before they knew it, they lurched
forward, bracing themselves, as the boat knocked into the sandy
shore. They climbed over; landing in ankle deep water. Oswin was
clearly concerned for them. They both thanked him and told him to
head back.

“
I don’t want you to get in the
middle of all of this,” Firinne said.

“
Come back in a day, and if we’re
alive, we’ll be waiting for you,” Kaolin added.

“
Safe journey…” Firinne
said.

“
And to you…”

They both pushed off hard on his
boat and watched him as he floated back off into the dark distance.
After they could no longer see him, they both turned to the green,
glimmering in the distance. Neither of them needed to discuss it —
they knew where they were meant to go.

The temperature was dropping
slowly. The air smelled fresher here; pristine; organic. The
Blacken had not bothered to conquer this land, only forbid it to
the people of Fia. Why? The grasses were soft, and as they topped a
hill, they saw the outlines of fawns grazing in a field — there
wasn’t a sign of anyone else.

They were at the base of it now.
There was a dome made of some type of metal in the center;
surrounded by huge, un-carved pillars of Bismuth; sparkling with a
rainbow of colors off its metallic surface. Firinne grabbed Kaolin
by the arm and they began to walk, and limp, up the stone steps
leading to The Spectorium.

Once inside, they found that the
walls were lined with plates of Bismuth, which were graffitied with
an indecipherable language. Sitting in the center was a staircase,
about twenty feet off the ground, which stopped at the center of
the dome. They knew what they had to do; the Epiphanous had shown
them. They met each other’s eyes with excitement; this was it — the
last step. The only thing that was unclear was what would happen
after.

They put their hands together and
began fabricating the first of three, crystallis-electrolifis. They
fabricated to the exact dimensions that they were instructed to;
four feet high. After the third, the inside of the dome began to
glitter with the elctrolifi light emanating from the crystals; a
spectrum of colors, reflecting off of the Bismuth walls.

Next was the hardest part. Firinne
stepped near Kaolin and grasped his hand. “Are you ready?” she
asked.

He nodded.

Together, they focused all of their
intention on the task they had inherited from the fallen Leviticus
child. Firinne’s hands were placed on his shoulders, and she felt
the warmth of his flesh on the palms of her hands. With each of his
silvers, he connected bolts to the two crystals closest to them,
and a bolt from each followed to the third crystal. Slowly;
painstakingly slow, they began to lift from the ground. By the time
they had reached level with the stairs, Kaolin was
shaking.