Chapter 16: Between Storms
Maleki:
My ears rang like chimes echoing in the wind, circling around my skull while my body attempted to undo the daze that it had entered. My fingers felt numb, and my legs felt weak — actually, everything felt numb, and my whole body was weak. The peak was white around me, sterile and desolate. No winds tore at me, and the air was thin. Sluggishly, I blinked my eyes and found my back against the pylon, scraping my fingers against the ground and shaping the brittle snow into the clutch of my hand. Icy remnants woke the feeling in my palms as the gathered snow withered against the warmth of my touch. Long breaths returned me to my senses, but the atmosphere repelled me. This peak was cold, and my lungs didn’t have the strength to withstand this area. The feeling was like drowning very slowly, not quite able to escape, but each breath was less successful than the last.
Miko’s leg curved into sight around the circular pillar. Crawling forward, I summoned the growing strength in my forearms and inched toward my brother. His body was twitching faintly, reacting to the remnants of the previous shock. I pushed against his shoulder blade, and then pulled towards me a few times to jostle him awake. This was not sleep. It was a continued reaction to the trauma of the physical forces that were contained within him. A fierce battle raged inside his body as it decided the victor. My head throbbed, and my ears still rang, but the shakiness of the earth that existed only in my head began to dissipate. There was little left in my muscles, but I gathered it and found myself standing, though my eyes went black in between. That gate was open now, and the storm no longer swarmed this mountain.
Every footstep was like those drunks we saw at the tavern, unbalanced and improvised, like a baby learning to walk. Staying here was not an option, so I gathered our bags and my scythe and hobbled to the gate. Then I returned for Miko. His eyes fluttered, and he mumbled nonsense, and the air wasn’t doing us any favours. Squatting down, my eyes went dark again as the pressure travelled to the back of my eyes. I picked him up, sliding one arm underneath the bends of his knees and the other under his back near his neck. His weight was more than I could stand with after the subtraction of the energy this place stole by default and combined with the toll of the trials. I closed my eyes and imagined myself standing like the weight was not there. Then I took the thoughts to practice, rising with his weight in my arms by driving my heels into the ground. Any air I exhaled was as thin as I had gained through strained breaths. Every cut in my body screamed through the motion. First, my sliced bicep and chest, then the gashes in my back, and especially the two that took the force of the thrown stone. The footprints I left in the short layer of snow were deepened by the added weight, so I focused on the details around me to allow the journey to the gate to pass more swiftly. If I took the time to think or spent energy analyzing and worrying, my body would fall as limp as Miko’s currently was. With each precise step, I found the edge of the stone bowl and the shiny metal gate.
Past the packs and down the slope of stairs was our guide. Only the back of his head was visible as he looked out into the distance. Setting Miko down against his bag, my left hand traced against the ridge mountain wall as a support as I walked towards Nomen. His stance was abnormal and almost relaxed, but the side of his face was dispassionate. Nomen’s right arm and palm supported his sharp chin and pressed against his bulging round cheeks. When I got to his side, he raised an eyebrow but did not seem surprised to have seen me. His lackluster reaction meant he already knew I had surpassed the trial, and he had to walk past me to get over here, so it made sense.
“You have come far — farther than others.” He said in a detached tone.
A subtle displeasure could be heard, but he was careful not to let it continue as I spoke. “I’m not sure how anyone could muster the strength to survive that.”
“Yet, you did.” He responded.
“We did. That storm would have swallowed me whole if it was just me up here.”
“Maleki, I do not wish to be so direct nor appear indifferent to you… “He paused with a sigh before looking ahead. “You are doing twice the work and would not be so fatigued before or during the trial had you gone at this alo-“
“These trials would take me three times to figure out by myself — IF I ever did.”
“Perhaps you are right, but this is not a game of chance. Every trial takes more from you at increasing difficulty and cost.”
The clouds parted before us, opening the sky so that all below was visible. The long, snaking cliffside of the mountain slanted down for thousands of feet until a wide river coursed through at the bottom. South of that was a massive island that mostly blurred at this distance, but something caught my eye. There was a large feature in the middle of the circular crust of land. Was it a mountain? No, the shape was wrong; it was like a tower and then a blob-like green mountain. “Is that where we are headed? Is The Garden on that mountain there?” I pointed weakly with my finger toward the odd shape in the distance.
“No, that is The Garden. And it is no mountain. “His voice was solemn. “That is the tree that governs — Arbor Majikae.” His pronunciation was reverent, but his eyes told a different story. He stared intently at it. Was that desire or hatred? My body was too tired to decipher. I’ve never seen a tree that large; I’m not sure I’ve seen anything that large, to be fair. From here, I could barely trace any details without straining my eyes, but even from here, I could tell it was beautiful. We just have to make it there. I looked back to Miko, and he showed no signs of waking, still twitching in my absence. How could I not worry for him?
“Rest. You will need every grain of remaining energy at your disposal when you wake.” Nomen said with a more thoughtful voice.
I acknowledged with my eyes, tracing my fingers back against the rock and slumping near my bag. Reaching into Miko’s bag, I covered him in his blanket and found my own to huddle underneath. The cold had finally embraced me tightly after letting myself unfold, though it had not affected Nomen. He was experienced at this, but in our similar ages, he made me rethink my own strengths and very apparent weaknesses. Shivering in my pouch of the blanket, I tucked the edges of the cloth around me as the air cut into the fabric. My warm breath became visible as it left my mouth and heated the blanket and myself as I attempted to trap the warmth in my collapsed huddle. Deep sleep found me, and I found myself in the void, standing on a gray rock devoid of life. Surrounding me was the depth of space. The void of the storm scared me, but this felt right. Grand emptiness — a kind of separation between two things that you can only imagine when trapped at the base of a planet’s many levels of atmosphere. Being on the mountain’s peak was the closest I had ever come to understanding the distance that divides us. Lights flickered out in space — tiny flickers of stars that winked to prove their existence. Where was I? Was this a moon? I often thought of the moons, even during the day. Just looking at them was enough to invigorate me. Turning my head, I saw the shine of the astral ring formed by millions of tiny rocks.
Nomen:
So close, but equally as far. My hands can almost reach out and touch The Garden, but the one that currently sits in the palm of my hand is too small; it’s easy to misunderstand it at this distance. None that have made this journey truly grasp the magnitude or reach of this place. How few have even made it across that sea or to the final trial? It is difficult to remember everyone’s stories, but a few of the interesting ones stick around in my mind. Will that be what happens to them? I thought as my eyes peered over to their blanket-covered bodies. Will I forget them like most of the others, or will they make it far enough for me to remember? I do not see Maleki making it past this next trial. Not after the energy he used climbing the mountain, the injuries he gained from the Aeternae, and the added weight he carries. How he even walks after those cuts and gashes he received amazes me, and I was the one who bandaged them, so I know their depth.
Perhaps, I should’ve told them…No, I did not have the heart. It would not change anything, and they would have gone anyway if there was a chance. The result does not matter to me. I am sworn to this place, yet despite its beauty, I resent it. They sense admiration from me for this place, but they are as misguided as I am. Their hearts are not pure, but whose is? Does that make them lesser? They are different than the others, that is true, but that doesn’t change the result. This ends the same; I’ve seen it before. Everyone has been unique, some sicker, some weak, some gods…
Selfless actions might empower you briefly, but this journey drains every last drop from you until you are lesser than when you began. Miko and Maleki are innocent, without majik in a world dominated by it, and yet they proceed with confidence in their talents. Yes, that is a difference they possess. While I and the rest of the world limit themselves with the possession of otherworldly gifts, they have empowered themselves with natural ones, unaffected by the imaginary constraints that societal constructs have imposed on our ability to think beyond ourselves. They have already made it farther than those stronger than them, people who were strong both in majik and in body. Can their minds and bodies endure further than most since they reached the halfway point? No, of course not. I shook my head at that thought. Halfway was a fool’s marker for this journey, and even if they make it past this next trial, no one is prepared for the last two.
I try to rest as they do, but peace does not find me as easily as Miko and Maleki. I envy them; the way they push so hard for their goal. It gives them purpose. My purpose is The Garden’s purpose. That was the deal I made.
I watch Maleki as he wakes and gathers their belongings. His resolve is firm, and despite his injuries, he looks as confident as I am, though his burdens are twice mine. They talk and bicker amongst themselves, cuing me in for their conversation as we proceed down the mountain to the sea. Listening to them converse reminded me of my siblings and the way we spoke to each other. There was not much difference between Miko, Maleki, and my brothers and sisters. Oftentimes, I blinked in confusion at them, seeing my brothers in their place, hearing their voices instead. In many ways, they resembled each other, which made me drift out of reality far too far often. I must not be present during these trials. Watching them fail or get too close to doing so might make me act outside of my guiding role.
Despite Miko’s condition, he does all that he can to remain himself. On the days down this mountain that he can’t speak, he listens. On the days he can speak and not hear, we mouth our words clearly. He has grown used to the language barrier, and we have adapted to his cyclical disease. None have possessed as conquering a disease that has attempted this journey. To suffer such an illness at a young age is a terrible fate. He reminds me of my youngest brother, even more so.
Learning quickly is their strong suit. I will give them that. Despite their rumblings about how long it took, Miko advised them to play it safe, and Maleki listened. He was probably too tired to disagree. They initially tried to find ways to skip ahead and speed up their descent, but they soon realized the difficulty of moving down a mountain. A descent made exceptionally more difficult by added weight. Maleki is far too wounded to climb down a flat wall with Miko, so his only option is to walk down the open winding path. Up here, the air is thin — creating resistance against quick movements. It is best to move methodically, else you step wrong and meet the end of a long drop.
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“Two and a half…weeks….” Miko said through short breaths as he laid on his back, looking up at his brother, “It took like a week to get up there from the bottom. Why did it take so long to get down? Was the mountain range longer on the back side?”
“Well-“Before I could explain, I was cut off by Maleki.
“Why in the hell are you so tired? You’re not the one who just had to carry someone all this way!” Maleki spoke through even shorter breaths while hunched over.
Miko stuttered to retort. “I-, Hey, that’s not fair! It’s not easy clinging on to your stinky back.”
“Clinging? My stinky back is the thing holding you up, idiot. All you have to do is lock your arms.”
I tried to intervene, “Gentlem-”
“It’s not my fault I’m like this!” Miko yelled.
“Not my fault, either!” Maleki yelled back before purposefully falling back onto his rear and lying exhaustedly beside Miko.
“You’re the idiot….” Miko said through a laugh.
Maleki grabbed Miko’s raggy hair, stretching his fingers until his palm covered his scalp. “Just a little farther, Miko. I promise we’ll get there.”
That seemed to quell their argument, at least for the moment, so I interjected to answer Miko’s original question. “It is a mixture of the two. The mountain range is one and half times as long on the side facing the sea, but that is made more difficult by Maleki’s waning stamina and injuries gained from the last three trials.”
“Thanks, Nomen. I had a feeling that was the case, but I’ve never walked this far in my life, so it was starting to become maddening.” Maleki said, wiping sweat from his brow. “At least the temperature is fairer down here than at the top half.”
I turned away from them to disguise any emotions that might give away information. If that was the most Maleki had ever done, he is unprepared for what comes next.