Book 2 Interlude

In the distance stood a mountain with clouds shifting slowly over what appeared to be a massive castle. The entire landscape before was lit by bright rays that seemed to speckle the miles of grass extending between. Miko’s arm sat in its sling, a leather belt contraption that extended from a shoulder pad that was also attached to his upper bicep and chest around the armpit. Using his right arm, Miko was able to loop the leather belt through another simple piece that stayed permanently looped around his wrist, resembling a sort of bracelet when not in use. The entire contraption was simple yet effective in keeping his arm from dangling uselessly, allowing him to easily free and tie it at will. The process was quick and easy since it was mostly made from leftover belt buckles and leather that their grandfather had in his shop. After explaining the design to his grandfather, the way Miko had imagined it in his head, he had expected the build to take a few attempts to perfect, but Grandfather Thaumus had it perfected within a few hours.

“Do you wish we had stayed longer?” Miko said to Maleki, who was sitting next to him on a rock that comfortably sat the two of them, allowing them to peer over their destination.

“Of course.” He smiled. “But our lives are more complicated now, and this is the first step towards our goal.”

Miko smiled with eyes that flickered lightly. “I’m glad we got to see them, even if it was for a little while. I still can’t get over their faces when they saw me for the first time. I didn’t know Grandma Kecila had that much strength in her; she almost ended our entire journey with a single hug.”

Maleki looked over to his brother curiously, “Do you think they actually believed most of the stuff we told them?”

“Wouldn’t you? They raised two majikless children, one of them half paralyzed, only for them to leave and then come back healed and with majik. The results kinda speak for themselves, don’t you think?” Miko's voice evoked a passive confidence for someone who had seen so much and yet so little.

“I guess.” Maleki laughed before his eyebrows settled and his voice softened. “So you think the others are there?”

“Why wouldn’t they be?" Miko questioned. "There couldn’t be a more perfect scenario. The most prestigious majik school in the entire continent just happens to be a collaborative effort between all six kingdoms, and all students funnel here. If they aren’t all here, I’d be surprised. This is the best-case scenario for us."

“The Ikhons,” Maleki said to himself before looking to Miko to comfort his unsettled thoughts. “How will we know who they are?”

“I’m not sure yet. How good are you at guessing?”

Maleki glared with eyes that teased disappointment.

“Lighten up, loser. They’ll be the strongest, the most talented, the best at anything and everything they do. I say we start there.”

“Yes, but how do we confirm they’re ikhons?" Maleki argued characteristically. "It’s not like we can just walk up to them, even if we get to know them well, we can't just be like ‘Um, do you hear voices in your head?’”

“How good are you at making friends? That's actually not a bad idea.” Miko joked while raising his eyebrows and tilting his neck.

Maleki sighed loudly. “I’m not getting to know people just to awkwardly ask them that; there would have to be an exchange of information for them to trust admitting that, and I can’t just go around telling everyone that we hear voices. That seems like a good way to make people avoid me.”

“I guess that’s fair,” Miko admitted with a sigh as he realized their journey was more complicated than he had prepared for.

Maleki continued in the void. “And they don’t know what we know; whatever is happening to all of us was just sprung onto them randomly with no explanation. They’ll be guarding that information even more closely until they learn more about why it’s happening.”

“I see your point, but we will just have to figure it out as we go. There’s not really an alternative.”

As the two bickered, a voice climbed over the rocks below before the figure finally came into view. “You two done arguing?”

The voice was a boy's, lower and familiar to the brothers.

“Why don’t you come join us? Then we can be bickering and arguing.” Maleki beckoned back at the boy.

“I’m only coming over there if I get to push the brat over the edge.” The figure said as their face and arms peered over the top of several arched rocks behind us.

Miko smiled before turning back to the castle out in the distance. “Don’t make us late for school, Kal. I don’t want to have to beat you with my bad arm.”