Ava swore this time she saw a spark. She kept snapping. Vae meowed in response, raising her head to Ava.
"Oh–no, Vae. I'm not calling you. I just–"
Ava tilted her head.
Was that—?
"Jay!" Ava cried, "I swear there was a spark this time!"
Ava snapped faster as Jay strode back to her. The next minute of snapping yielded no success. Jay chuckled with every passing attempt.
"Okay, laugh, but I promise there was a spark! No book I owned ever showed me how."
"I thought you wanted to be a corsair?"
Ava rolled her eyes and laughed.
"I say that once and that's what you latch on to. No, Jay, I just never got around to practicing, or knowing it could be taught, for that matter. Now that I know? Well, what else could I learn? Maybe I could even make a fireball."
"Hold on, hold on. That's an entirely different thing. Boshy just wanted to light the fire."
Ava looked down and focused on her snapping. A few attempts in, a visible spark appeared. Vae took the small flash as permission to attack her fingers. She coiled around Ava's wrist and playfully batted at her fingers.
"Oh–Vae, not now!"
She would not hear it. Vae remained enthralled with her owner's fingers, trying to subdue them with tiny bites. Ava sighed and left Vae to her hunt, turning to speak to Jay.
"Yes, he lit the fire, but imagine what else he could do. He's the son of Ulysses Bosh! I should ask what other techniques he knows–"
"I wouldn't be in a rush to learn any offense," Jay interrupted, "Maybe stick to just lighting campfires?"
Ava's smile faded as a lump formed in her throat. She kept catching herself before a sound came out of her mouth. Finally, Ava found her words.
"Jay…back with Lanon…why did you push my barrel down?"
"The Department would have had to file so much paperwork if I didn't," he chuckled.
"Jay–"
"And besides, you're not a combatant, Ava, you're an honored guest."
"Jay, I can–"
"It's my job to maintain the vibes! Firing on someone? Major vibe killer."
"Jay."
He turned to Ava. She spoke, holding her hands together.
"I'm aware of how dangerous that thing…was. But if something is charging at me, shouldn't I–"
"He wasn't aiming for you."
Jay sat up.
"Pardon?"
"Lanon wasn't charging at you. He was aiming for Chrissy. We were between him and his actual target."
"How does that change anything, Jay?"
"Your whole life you've observed animals through the glass."
Jay raised the hair from in front of his eyes.
"Don't be in a rush to join those on the other side of it."
He let the hair fall back onto his face. Vae decided that Ava's fingers had been sufficiently defeated, and pulled away. She coiled herself in Ava's lap and stared at the fire. She had a noticeable weight about her. Ava looked over at the other portions of uncooked fish to find half of them missing. She peered over Jay to see Neville mauling an innocent section of fish.
"You know what I just realized, Jay? If I visit the rest of the world, Vae will see it too. The deserts, the mountains, the mire and forests–all of it."
"She's going to be so well travelled. Not even JJ and I have been that far."
"The real problem is preventing her from overeating the entire time," she chuckled, "Like the one we saw when we were looking for bloom belly jelly."
Ava held Vae out in front of her. The coils of her body straightened into one long tube shape that draped itself across the ground. Vae was easily twice the length of Ava's arm, perhaps a little more.
"Would you want to be that big, Vae? I can't imagine what you would have to eat in order to maintain that size."
She swayed Vae's body around lightly. She meowed back in response.
"How would she fit on your airship?" he amused.
"Oh she certainly couldn't board. We'd never leave the ground. I'd have to wait until she returned to a manageable size."
Ava heard footsteps. She looked up to see Chrissy, Travlack, and Nathaniel return to the campfire and sit down. Chrissy's steps looked…better. Much better than when she initially took her walk. In the light of the campfire she noticed the bags under Travlack's eyes were heavier, more discolored.
The moment Nathaniel sat down, he took off his glasses and began cleaning them. He said nothing, solely focused on his task. In natural fashion, Chrissy broke the silence between them.
"Excited for the valley, Ava? Travlack and I saw a species of cave argias–"
Neville snapped to attention at the word.
"No, Neville. Not, here," she said in an attempt to cease his hunger at the word, "We saw them back in the cave."
"Quite," Ava started gently snapping as she recounted her story. "I remember flying low over the Dulim valleys. I remember seeing it from a distance and thinking we were coming upon a city."
"You should see them over water," Jay sighed, "Only a couple days, and you'll see."
Out of the corner of her eye Ava saw Travlack cock his head. She watched him stare off into the distance, ears flickering periodically. She followed his eyes into the treeline, curious as to what he perceived. When turned to face the fire again, she looked away.
The next couple of days passed without any note. Ava would read from her almanac to pass the time on the road. Every so often they would stop and scout the area around them, Chrissy taking the lead. Her renewed strength made Ava curious, and any time she would comment on her vigor, Chrissy would shrug it off. She claimed that the fish had healed her soul.
Small signs of fatigue from Nathaniel and Travlack also made her wonder. How was it that the one who had been wounded was so full of life? Each of them requested that she ignore them. Nathaniel reasoned that his recent nights of sleep were not as helpful as they would have hoped. Travlack shrugged and kept moving forward, opting to say nothing.
Ava kept snapping. There was no moment of free time in her travels that she did not spend practicing. Periodically she would look up to spot Travlack and Nathaniel talking in hushed tones. Conversations that would spontaneously end when they saw her eyes gravitate to them.
When Ava was not attempting to start a fire at her fingertips, she read the almanac alongside Jay. It seemed fitting to turn to the pages devoted to the argias. Her finger traced the words as to not lose her place atop her mount, which gently bucked in its gait.
"The Custodians of Valleys
It is known that argias will lay their eggs in the soil where blood has been spilt. Others say they lay eggs in areas they know blood will be spilt. Around longer than any other creature, argias are the custodians of the end. Their soft glow heralds the end of one, and the beginning of another. Stories of argias that grow and fester in resonance heavy geysers or zones have been passed down from explorer to explorer, claiming they become fully resonant, and emit a stronger, almost blinding, light."
"Jay," Ava started, "If we're going to the argia valley, what died there that made them stay there?"
"I never asked. Hey, Boshy, do you know the answer?"
Nathaniel, leading the pack, turned his head around to respond.
"My father told me there was a city that once stood there. Ancient ."
Ava gulped. Her body acted before she knew she responded.
"Oh!" snapped Jay, "I heard this story. Someone came and–"
Jay made a series of erratic gestures with one hand before clapping it against his other. Chrissy stifled a chuckle at his retelling, turning away. Travlack gave no reaction. His head was down, ears subtly moving. Ava found herself staring at Travlack before Jay spoke again.
"I don't know what you guys call it, Boshy, but–ah! Vekka(ch)fusha!"
Ava tilted her head.
"I think this is the first time I've heard you speak Ragnaband, Jay."
"Same, actually," chimed Chrissy, "Why don't you speak it more often?"
"I have no reason to."
"I know that word," Nathaniel said, "We call it The Wrath of the Elements."
Chrissy perked up.
"Lexama turmis?," she said, "I was told it was just a story."
Travlack shook his head.
"Real event. Confirmed by archives."
Ava's heart skipped a beat.
"We're going to Voria?!"
The entire party stopped and glanced back at Ava. She looked at each of them, hoping for a response.
"That's the name of the kingdom! Voria! It exists? I've only heard of it in stories and legends and–"
The bun in her hair fell. She took a moment to compose herself before speaking again.
"It's true? Someone was strong enough to…"
She mimicked Jay's earlier demonstration with limp wrists.
"An entire kingdom? At once?"
"Several," replied Nathaniel, adjusting his glasses, "One from each element. Just to see if they could."
With a motion of the arm, the caravan moved again. Ava commanded her capastra to trot forward beside Nathaniel's, matching its pace.
"Just to see if they could? They eliminated all of Voria as…a stress test?"
He responded without looking away from the path.
"Supposedly. Then someone more powerful than them came along and dismantled them. One by one."
For the rest of the journey to the argia valley, if Ava was not snapping, she talked about Voria. If she was not talking about Voria, she snapped her fingers. Slowly, more sparks came to life in her fingers.
Jay saw it first.
Then Chrissy swore she saw a glimmer.
Travlack's ears flicked in reaction.
Nathaniel even adjusted his glasses to see it better.
By the last day of travel, Ava could not hold her arm up. Nathaniel explained she had been pushing herself for the past couple of days. Her muscles had not yet developed to sustain a simple flame. He discouraged her from continuing until she took a proper break. A warning Ava ignored.
At the end of each day the soft glow of the valley got closer. The way down started steep but smoothed with each step. Each encampment increased her heartbeat, eager to stand where Voria once stood. And yet, she did not smile. One night at camp, Jay stood beside her as she overlooked the rest of the trail.
"What's wrong, Ava? Is your arm still sore?"
"No. It's…oh, how do I explain. I'm excited to actually stand where Voria once stood. To know it was real. But that means the rest of the story would have to be real too."
She sat down. Her eyes remained fixed on the horizon as she sighed.
"Someone…or something beyond razed it...for nothing."
Jay reclined beside her.
"Are they hiding something from me, Jay?"
"Voria? I don't think dead men tell any tales, Ava."
She rolled her eyes and chuckled with him.
"I meant them."
She motioned to Chrissy, Travlack, and Nathaniel by their mounts, talking. The moment they saw Ava was turned toward them, they ceased and dispersed. Each finding a task to occupy themselves with.
"I'm not worried, but should I be?"
Jay shook his head and pulled out his piccolo from his afro.
"Absolutely not," he smiled, "I'm not."
"You never are."
"And look how happy I am," he said, chucking. "Relax, it's their job to worry about you. Be glad they take it seriously."
A day remained until they were at the bottom of the valley. The morning of, Nathaniel and Travlack had overslept by a larger margin than what was normal for them.
Ava noticed how their feet dragged. How their arms lazily dangled when reaching for their saddles. Chrissy strode by, head held tall, and gracefully mounted her saddle. With a flick of her hair she began humming a tune.
The last segment of the distance Ava spent neither snapping nor reading. She constantly scanned for any remnants of the kingdom she saw only in her books. Something, anything would do. Just a scrap to bring back to her airship library would do.
As the bottom of the valley got closer, more and more argias surfaced around them. Their elongated thorax and dainty wings wisped in the air. They paid no attention at all to the travellers. On a path predetermined, they remained on the course. Even as Ava lifted her finger to brush underneath the body. Vae meowed from around Ava's neck, her eyes following the soft glow of each one passing by.
Neville stared too. Strapped into the harness on Chrissy's back, he reached for each one as they passed by. Every so often he would flap furiously to escape his backpack prison, only to tire out. This repeated every ten minutes or so, often met with loud sounds of want and struggle.
Finally, they made it to the bottom of the valley.
To the bottom of Voria.
Ava dismounted her capastra but took no steps. Before her stretched a vast and still pond. Jay hopped from JJ and strode toward Ava. She did not notice him until he stood to her right, beaming at the sight with her.
Nathaniel, Chrissy, and Travlack surfaced to her left in interval. No one said a word. Save for Neville's incessant cries of rampage. Ava watched Chrissy unstrap the harness without looking and placed her hand over his mouth.
Ava did her best to ignore the muffled sounds of struggle and focused on the horizon. She observed the heights of the foothills they had come from. From the corner of her eye she saw Travlack reach into the air.
He plucked an argia from its path.
And ate it.
She turned to see Travlack snacking, his eyes locked on the horizon as he shoved the tail in his mouth.
Then another.
A couple more.
She was staring now, and quite obviously so. Everyone was. Travlack, focused on his own nourishment, did a double take when he noticed everyone's attention on him.
He spoke no words.
Seconds later, light seeped through his skin. His glow matched the argias surrounding them. He blinked once with the vertical slits of his eyes and slowly ate another from the air.
"See?" Chrissy pointed, her other hand being bit by Neville.
"Insectivore," reminded Nathaniel, "We've been over this."
Chrissy and Nathaniel continued their conversation as Ava undid her shoes. She paired them together and placed them aside, still unmoved from her spot. She let her feet settle in the dirt as she unwound Vae from her shoulders.
Finally, she took her first step.
Her foot broke the surface of the water, with the other following slowly behind. The argias moved out of the way as she waded waist deep into the water. She cupped her hands, letting water flood into them as she descended them in the pond. After seeing the reflection of her face in the pool, she closed her eyes and breathed.
"How do you feel?" Jay asked.
"Somber."
She gave a sigh before continuing.
"The water is so dense. It feels like…it's trying to pull me under."
"Well don't do that!" Jay chuckled.
Ava remained in the water for another minute. Her arm moved on her own, slowly raising with her palm stretched outward. A single argia landed in the center of her hand. Its wings came to a slow halt, allowing Ava to marvel at their translucence. The argia decided it was time to move on, and departed from her palm, joining the swarm across the pond.
Backwards, she walked out of the water and stopped only when she bumped into Jay. After an exhale she turned around to meet everyone's eyes.
"I know it doesn't exist anymore but…but it's like I can feel it."
Nathaniel nodded and cleaned his glasses with the tip of his shirt.
"Likewise. It's…humbling."
Travlack continued to glow as he walked around, plucking more argias from the air. He came back with a fistful and snacked on them. The bandages around Chrissy's waist were being inspected by him as he walked around her. He shook his head and flicked his ear on Nathaniel's arm, grabbing his attention.
Ava witnessed an entire conversation happen without a word.
Raised eyelids from Nathaniel.
A shake of the head from Travlack.
Pursed lips.
A flick of the ear.
A sigh.
A nod.
"Mister Bosh–Nathaniel–is something wrong? Travlack? Anything?"
They looked at her, then back at each other. Once again, back to her. The words in their chests failed to escape. Chrissy joined in the silent conversation with a head tilt toward the two.
Both shook their heads.
Chrissy nodded. She looked away and plucked an argia from the air, feeding it to Neville.
Ava huffed.
Nathaniel took off his glasses and sighed. He swept his hair back and addressed Ava directly.
"Miss Si–"
He started again.
"Ava. Chrissy's wound isn't healing as it should. The wound Lanon gave her is still laced with his anticoagulant. We'll have to skip the last part of our trip in order to make a stop."
"Is it bad?" Ava asked.
"Nothing I haven't had before," Chrissy shrugged, "Just a little annoying."
Travlack rolled his eyes.
"The real problem isn't the detour," said Nathaniel, "It's where we have to go to get there."
Jay perked up.
"Does that mean–"
"Yes," Nathaniel lamented, "We're taking your shortcut."
Jay could not hide his smile. He turned to Ava, bearing his full teeth.
"Ava, you're in for a treat. We're going through mantis country!"
___
Language Translation:
Ragnaband (Dulim Language):
Vekka(ch)fusha = Wrathful Element
Vekka = Element
fusha = wrath/fury
(ch) is the breath linker that puts adjectives after nouns
Kutaxia (Yervite):
Lexama turmis = Wrath of the Elements
Lexama = Nature/Element
Turmis = Wrath