Spanners - The Fountain of Youth (35 page)

The Vikings and Arawaks in the distance took notice that Balthasar had no more sacks to give, and they began to encroach inwards.

“But you ended Juan’s history with your own hand,” said Adam. “You made a
choice
.”

“Precisely,” said Balthasar. “Juan’s worldview rests on the idea that morality doesn’t exist outside of us and outside of what we make it, and I believe that. However, morality exists within us for a reason, and that’s to prevent a worldview like Juan’s from realization.”

Adam looked outside and saw that his group was starting to get close; Balthasar had a minute left to flee at most, but still felt he needed to say the things that needed to be said.

“Both you and he spoke of
falling on the right and wrong side of history,
” said Balthasar. “But that’s not always the case; though history can run out of our control, it lays entirely within the hands of men. It can even land in the hands of small men, albeit for an instant only. For this brief moment, be it Napoleon’s back turned to a soldier or the sympathetic guard choosing to release a young Genghis Khan from slavery, history isn’t with the great but rather under control of secondary figures like myself. At that time, men like me have to make a choice. Judas Iscariot chose his path, and I followed mine.”

Balthasar looked
at Adam’s bag and then looked at him with faintly glowing eyes. Adam nodded and then peered outwards; the Arawaks and Vikings were now running towards Balthasar.

“Life is what we make it, nothing more, so do whatever you want, Adam
,” said Balthasar, “but do not let Juan live again.”

Balthasar turned his horse around and whipped it, causing it to flee towards the outlying forest. Within a few moments Balthasar was gone, but a score of Adam’s compatriots followed him on foot.

Balthasar might get away for now,
thought Adam.
But he’ll be hunted for the rest of his days, and an immortal hunted by immortals will inevitably be caught.

Adam looked down at the sack beside
him and gave a grim smile; the battle was won. It was now up to them to ensure that the battle was won forever.

/***/

By the next morning the imprisoned were in their individual tanks. They had come alive and were pounding the inside of the caskets, but they were contained.

“What are we going to do with them?” asked Mayfly.

“I don’t know,” said Adam. “I was hoping that you’d come up with a solution to that.”

“Keep them in there a few more months,” said Mayfly. “I’ll come up with something, but for now I’ve got to head south.”

“To free your brethren,” said Adam. “I understand. Will you be back?”

“Perhaps,” said Mayfly. “The m
ayflies born in Juan’s prisons won’t be able to survive on the outside, so I’m hoping to make our own colony somewhere. Maybe I’ll come back here.”

“You could,” said Adam with a smile, “but if it’s too cold for you, I’ve got a friend with an island off the coast of India. No one will bother you there.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” said Mayfly.

Mayfly stood on the wall and surveyed the ground surrounding the castle; the mist had poured over the battlefield during the night, and the sunrise was burning it off to show unblemished land. It was as if the fog had washed away all memory of the war, and Adam was glad for it.

“What are you going to do?” asked Mayfly.

“I’ll probably stick around,” said Adam. “I don’t quite know what we’ve done here, but perhaps I’ll stay to see it through.”

“And then what?” asked Mayfly, before laughing to himself.

“What’s so funny?”

“I’m not used to asking
and then what,
” said Mayfly. “I’m not used to seeing beyond the next month.”

“Get used to it,” said Adam, returning the smile. “You can’t just live for the moment now.”

Adam eyed Giselle walking along the other end of the fortress.

“I honestly don’t know where I should be, or what I should do,” said Adam. “None of my experience has prepared me for this day.”

“What do you
want
to do?” asked Mayfly.

“Stay here. I don’t know why, but something tells me to stay, at least for a little while.”

/***/

Adam watched Mayfly walk with Cattaga and Brogg over the frozen fields towards the edge of the woods. Cattaga and Mayfly traveled lightly, and Brogg carried a pack as big as both of them. They lingered at the cusp of the forest for a moment, waved goodbye, and then they were gone.

“Will they be okay?” asked Giselle.

“They’ll be fine,” said Adam. “Brogg’ll defend them against any creature that comes their way, and Mayfly’ll do the rest. He’ll probably find a way to hitch a ride, even all the way up here; he’s got charm.”

“What about your brothers Phage and Geryon?” asked Giselle. “They seem to be missing.”

“That’s their style,” said Adam. “They
’re not ones to say goodbye. They disappear just as quickly as they show up.”

Giselle
smiled in response and put her hand on Adam’s and it felt right; he didn’t know why but it
felt
right. He took her hand in his and she stood a bit closer to him, and together they kissed, and then watched the noonday sun peek out from behind a cloud and bathe the ground in a cool grey light.

“Your sister Phoe will be born again,” said Giselle.

“She will,” said Adam.

“I think we should find her and raise her together,” said Giselle. “She’s my class and I’ll be able to guide her.”

Adam smiled and instead of speaking he just nodded and held her close to him, letting her know that he agreed.

Adam heard a commotion behind them and was shocked to see the Fountain coming up to the surface, walking through the Arawaks who
were all kneeling in her presence; she was wearing a thick suit that Santos had made to ensure that she would do no harm. She blinked in the sun and smiled; she was deadly perhaps, but had no desire to be so. Underneath Santos’s suit, she still looked like an innocent young girl.

A few moments later there was more commotion as Skarr brought up what looked to be a small child in his arms. The Arawaks continued to kneel and Adam looked closer to see that it was the other half of the Fountain,
which upon closer inspection was something between a fetus and a small child, dark and not yet fully formed. It had small limbs and couldn’t walk on its own, but it was now strong enough to live and breathe by itself.

“We’re about to start something interesting,” said Giselle. “Something important and real.”

“We are,” said Adam, bringing Giselle in close to him.

He looked across the endless field towards the forest and couldn’t help but smile; he hadn’t felt like this since he could remember, if ever. So much had been at stake in the last few days, and no one would ever know what had happened at this small, frozen stronghold at the edge of the earth. History wouldn’t record what they had done, and there would be no statues to hold this day’s memory. But Adam didn’t mind; he was following what felt
right, and that gave him the sense of purpose that had eluded him for so long. He wanted to stay awake and see the day, not hide in the shadows like he had always done.

“The future is what we make it and nothing more,” he said, holding Giselle close as the sun crept fully out of the clouds. “I don’t fully understand what’s happened, nor what will happen, but I know that the future is up to us. It depends on what we do
today
, tomorrow, and every day thereafter. The only truth I know is that
right now
, the world is ours, and it belongs to no one else.”

THE END

Photo courtesy of Dustin Hamano

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jon Maas is a writer living in Los Angeles. He writes during his bus ride to and from work, and owes much of this novel to the traffic on Laurel Canyon. He is a fan of all types of literature, with his favorite writers being John Updike, Bernard Malamud, George R.R. Martin and

Larry McMurtry.

Other works by Jon Maas:
City of gods –
Hellenica

This book was edited by Patty Smith. You can find her at
www.foolproofcopyedit.com

The cover art is by LNC Art Studios.

Actor Shawn Christian met Jon on the set of the movie
Spanners
, a film in which he both starred and Executive Produced.

He
now acts as an adviser on all
Spanners
projects.