Part 13
Suma's POV
We left the Island of Sangu quickly after the battle, and with one less member of our team than when we'd arrived. All of us were hurt, some worse than others. Jake lost his left hand. He has not spoken much since it happened, though when I found him after the battle, it was clear how upset he was. The journey back to base was quiet and long. I thought about Jake's hand, and wondered if there was anything that could have been done. For hours I pecked at every corner of my mind, until finally I remembered something; though I highly doubted Jake would take kindly to the idea. Instead, I decided to bring it up with him later, in private.
Six hours later, we landed on base. A squadron of Neame met us in the air, and guided us down to verify our identities. Night had already fallen, but the process was swift. It was not long before Captain Gigoales dismissed us and told us to get some rest. We were relieved of duty for the next three days to recover. He and the Lieutenant flew away, they had to report our mission to the Major. Nine stayed with Rou, he felt like leaving her alone right now would hurt her. She and Odens were the closest ones in our squad, to the point where Nine and I suspected they may have been in some sort of relationship. I flew with Jake to his room. Once we were there, I felt it was time to discuss my idea with him.
He sat on his bed, and I perched on the table he used when crafting runes. "Jake, I'm so sorry about your hand."
"It wasn't your fault." He said, holding it up and looking at it once again, just as he had done countless times during our journey home.
"If I had not… you are in the army because of me. I was supposed to take care of you. This happened because I could not protect you. I should have–" I tried to continue, but Jake cut off my sentence.
"Suma, stop… The Queen offered me the deal too, and I turned it down right alongside you. We could have both gotten out, but I was so blinded by rage… this happened because I went off to fight. Because I couldn't bring myself to just kill Harbinger the moment I saw her. I had the opportunity, but I wanted to…" Jake sighed deeply. "I just didn't want to kill someone. But at least I survived. Odens wasn't so lucky."
"Jake, there may be a way to heal your hand." I told him.
"But you said–"
"Yes, but I remembered something. Though I doubt you will like it."
"I would try anything. Just tell me what it is." He said, leaning forward on this bed. Jake was cradling his injured wrist close to his belly with his other, now only, hand.
"When the dragon took over your body, you were injured." I said.
"I don't remember anything that happened personally, but I do remember seeing that in the crystal ball thing."
"Your body was torn to pieces by the Royal Mages' spells, but the dragon somehow healed himself in mere moments. He regrew entire parts of your body. If we can discover how he did it…" I let my words hang in the air, and Jake looked down at his wrist again.
"Zachariah put all those memories in my head. One of them has to have an answer."
"Did you not once tell me that Zachariah told you during that same event that he put memories in your head regarding magic inversion?" I asked.
"Yeah, so?"
"When you give me your mana, my Healing-Magic becomes Death-Magic. If you could learn that inversion, perhaps you could use the same healing spell that the dragon used?" I suggested. This is the part I knew Jake would be hesitant about. He has resisted using Death-Magic ever since-
"Suma… I used Death-Magic to kill Harbinger." Jake said, and looked away.
"I… I see."
"We were fighting and I just… She was going to kill me! I had no choice!" Jake said.
"I know you did not. Jake, I'm not blaming you. She was under her master's control. She killed countless Neame. Killing her was our mission."
"I know… but it wasn't just that I killed her. I used Death-Magic. Just like him."
"You are nothing like the Chaos Dragon. He was a monster. He ravaged the land. Killed millions. And he never regretted any of it."
"She screamed so much… it must have been agony." Jake said. He began to do something I'd seen him do a few times since we met. Water, or tears, came from his eyes, and the magic that normally surrounds him became more turbulent. Not so much that it was visible, or that it caused any physical phenomenon, but enough that I could sense it becoming active. Jake's body poured magic constantly, and over the years I have become more able to tell how he was feeling by its ebb and flow. When I first met him, I never even noticed it, but now feeling it was almost second nature to me. However, I did not need to feel his mana to know how upset he was.
"Jake, I am so sorry. Being here burdens you so much. We can still accept the Queen's offer, if you want. There is nothing preventing us from doing so." I told him.
"No… no we can't… If I'm ever going to go back home, to see my mum again, then I still need to get stronger." He said, wiping his garments on his face. "And to do that, I'm going to need my hand."
"Okay." I nodded my head.
"I'll start searching through the memories, both Zachariah's and Deyja's, for anything more regarding magic inversion. I know the basic, but I'm still not great at it. It took Zachariah a while to learn, so there's probably a ton to look through."
"You should get some rest. That can wait until tomorrow." I suggested, but I knew he wouldn't listen. I left his room, and went back to the squad's room, where I found Rou had already laid in her roost, and Nine was perched over Odens' belongings. For the rest of the night, I helped him sort things out, and decide what would be sent back to his family, and what belonged to the camp.
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Jake's POV
I was sitting on my bed, and Suma was perched on the headboard. Around us, littering the sheets, were simple diagrams of cell structures, as well as handwritten notes I'd made that detailed what I could remember from my high school biology classes. "What is a powerhouse?" Suma asked.
"It is like… where all the cells energy is stored." I said, drawing a little bolt of lightning on the diagram.
"Is that where magic is stored in humans then?"
"I don't… maybe? Remember humans in my world… but then again I can do magic over there, but…" I sighed.
"Jake, I believe a break is in order. My beak is beginning to ache." She shook her head. "Besides, this is all… quite a bit to learn."
"Right, I'm sorry. It's just…" I looked down at my stump of a wrist, "if I can't learn how to use my Inversion-Magic on my own spells, then you will be the only one who can regrow my hand."
"Yes, I know, but I need a break. Your people's anatomy is complex, and you know so much about it. To think, all life is made up of smaller life! Why did you not tell me of this the last time you taught me about your world's healing? This is already more information than what I learned during my entire first month training as a healing mage. This is all too much at once."
"Yeah, you're right. Okay, we can pick this up again later."
Standing up, I said goodbye to Suma and we parted ways. She went to the rest of the squad's room, and I headed for Captain Gigoales' office. There was something I wanted to ask him, but hadn't had the time, or really known how to approach it, until now. His office had no door, but a large array of molded vines that I parted with magic.
"Captain, requesting permission to enter." I announced, waiting in the doorway. A few weeks ago, I'd barged in on him without doing this, and got chewed out for it, so I haven't forgotten since.
"Granted, Sentinel; enter." He said from his perch, turning around to face me as I walked into the room. "This is unexpected. Was there something you need?"
"Sir, I wanted to request some time off, for my injury."
"Understood. How much time do you need?"
"I don't know, sir. Maybe a few weeks. Suma and I are trying to find ways to regrow it, and… I just…"
"I understand, soldier. Loosing a limb; it is not something I have ever experienced, though many Neame I have served with have been through similar events. Losing wings, talons, whole legs even. If you feel like you need some time off, then arrangements can be made. Officially, you are only registered as Private Suma's familiar, so the army cannot mandate that you be present. Though you well know how… important you actually are. I can approve some leave for Private Suma, and thus you in turn."
"Thank you, Captain." I said.
"I will make the arrangements, and have Lieutenant Datahu inform you of the details later. But Sentinel, if you need to talk with a specialist in what you are going through, the army has resources for this. Others who have been through it; I believe talking with them may help you."
"I appreciate that, sir, but I still believe that I can regrow my hand."
"Is that an ability your people have?"
"No sir, but my people don't have access to magic."
"Well, mine do, and I have never heard of someone using it to regrow their limbs. Manage your expectations. Do you understand?"
"Yes, sir."
"Unless there is anything else, dismissed." He said.
"I actually had another question, sir. About Odens."
"Alright then."
"What happened to his body? We didn't bring it home with us, and I just… our cultures are very different. I suppose I was just curious about that how the dead are treated. Was he buried?"
"Buried? What? Of course not!" The Captain yelled.
"I'm sorry sir. My people bury our dead, so I just assumed."
Captain Gigoales sighed, "I see. No, we do not bury our dead, and I did not bury Odens. To do such a thing is taboo for our country; for the county's religion as a whole."
"Then what do you do? Suma mentioned a dying tree once."
"A death tree, yes. I entombed what was left of Odens' remains in the trunk of one." He said, and my heart ached hearing him say "what was left".
I thanked him for answering me, and left; reclosing the vines behind me. Now it was time to do something I had been dreading… writing to my mum.
Part 14
The blue colored grass around me waved in the wind. I was sitting in a field somewhere between the army base we'd been stationed at and Suma's home city of Zach-Ahshem. We'd been traveling for hours and needed a rest. Suma was in my lap, eating a piece of sponge cake mum had sent for me in my bag. A few days ago, we left the base for a while. With my hand, losing Odens, and… well everything really, neither one of us has taken a rest in a while. Actually, come to think of it, I think the last time we were alone with nothing to do was before we'd joined the army one and a half years ago.
"Mmmmm, the only thing that could make this better is if I had a piece of raisin bread too." Suma said, eating the last of her sponge cake.
"Want some water?" I asked, offering the opened bottle to her.
"Yes please." She said, and I poured some of the water into the screw on cap for her. I felt bad about doing it this way at first. Like I was watering a pet, but her beak is too big to fit into the bottle, and the last time I tilted it into her mouth she nearly drowned.
"How much further?" I wondered, putting our things away. Doing it with one hand was hard, but Suma taught me a few tricks on how to use mana molding to do simple stuff like this… at least until I can get my hand back. As bad as losing my hand had been, using magic to move stuff around without touching it did make me feel like a Jedi sometimes.
"Another four hours. How is your mana holding up?" Suma asked, standing up from my lap, then flying over and landing on the hoverbike.
"It's fine." I said, filling up four more daljars for the rest of the flight, and sending my bag away. Suma had been saving her strength and stamina by riding on the bike with me. However, since there was no real perch for her to hold on to while it was in motion, she'd mostly been either on my shoulder, or in my shirt.
"Traveling without needing to fly is quite nice, but I do wish that it was a bit faster." She said, landing on my shoulder as I climbed on the bike and inserted the daljar. For a moment, before the noise cancelling runes could turn on, a high-pitched whirr cried out as the wind runes turned on, and then they were suddenly silenced.
"I guess I could create a tailwind, but you or I might fall off if it gets too turbulent."
"Yes, I know. Best not to risk it." With that, we were back in the sky again, cruising along for her hometown. We were about fifty meters above the ground, and moving one-hundred kilometers per hour. Below us were windswept hills, some barren, some rocky, and others covered in blue-grass and vines. In the distance was a forest, and beyond that were the wastelands.
"Are you excited to be going home again? We haven't been back since before joining the Drakes." I asked. There was no need to shout, since most of the wind and noise were being suppressed by the runes.
"It would be good to see my friends again. It has been too long."
"What about your family?"
"… They will also be there, yes."
"You still haven't made amends with them?" I asked.
"Nor have they attempted to make amends with me." She said, sounding sour at the thought of her parents.
"You should be the bigger man… er, bird… Neame and try first."
"I already know what they will say. They will say they were right about me joining the army, and about you being too dangerous, and…" She complained.
"Do you think they're right?" I asked, not even thinking about why I was asking.
"What? No. Of course not. At least… not about you."
"I know… but Suma… listen. I've been thinking, and I think we should get out." I said, swallowing the nervous lump in my throat.
"Out? Of the army?"
"Yeah. What do you think about that?"
"… Okay."
"What?"
"I agree. We have been in the army for a rather long time, and it has cost you so much. I can understand why you want to leave. And I have thought about the Queen's offer more than once, and whether or not it was right to turn it down."
"Me too." I said. "Honestly, I was worried you might disagree and want to stay in. With what you told me about why you joined, I just assumed you might want to stay."
"I do not regret joining, but I do regret dragging you into it with me."
"You didn't drag me anywhere. I followed you here."
"And if you had not, if I had simply asked you to stay, then you would still have your limb."
"I'll… I'll get that back. We'll figure it out." I said.
"But Jake, what about the dragon? I thought our plan was to train in the army to defeat him?" Suma asked.
"It still is. I can't go home with him still around. But I don't think I need the army to get stronger."
"Then how?"
"I don't know, really. I guess we'll have to figure that out too."
"Is this why you asked for leave away from the base?" She wondered.
"Yes and no. It was a part of it, but I really did just need some time off to look into my hand." I said.
"Have you found anything about that in Zachariah's memories?"
"No, as far as I can tell, Zachariah didn't know anything about the spell Deyja used in my body. I'd thought I'd seen one before, but I was wrong. It wasn't Zachariah's memories, it was Deyja's."
"So, the only one who knew how to do it, was the Chaos Dragon himself?"
"I think so. Which means if I want to learn how to get my hand back, I have to look through his memories too." I said, feeling sick to my stomach at the mere thought of it.
Part 15
Suma's POV
Jake and I arrived in my home city late in the day, nearly nightfall. The moon was full, and had already begun to show itself over the horizon. We decided to go to my house for the night, and Jake could stay there until his usual arrangements at the familiar's stable house could be made again. My home, being constructed in the side of Mount Fafnir, has little space; certainly not enough for Jake to land his rune powered "bike" inside. He landed at the base of the mountain and waited for me to summon him. With a spell to open an entrance, I landed, filled the luminous braids with mana, and nostalgically watched as the room filled with light. Sighing, I looked around. Everything was as I left it. Less than a year and a half had passed, but it felt so much longer than that since I last stood here. The room was still clean since I had cast a spell to purify the room and air before I sealed it closed when I left.
"I have arrived, Jake." I told him over our private connection.
"Ready here." He said, and I summoned him. Slowly he appeared, crouched down because he was taller than the ceiling, and holding his bag.
"It has been quite some time since you were last here." I said.
"I remember. Especially that big first step out the door. That made an impression." He joked. For the first time in a very long while, I saw the smallest hint of genuine happiness, what his people called a "smile", from him.
"My apologies, Jake; I keep fairly few Yggdrasil vines in my home. Certainly not enough to make you a roost, or bed, for the night. But I could barrow some from one of my neighbors if you want."
He was still crouched, but turned towards me as best he could. Sitting down, he began to pull out the portable roost he had slept in during our trip. "It's not big deal I can just use the tent again. What's one more… night… Did you say Yggdrasil?"
"Yes. I could gather some. My neighbors are kind, and would surely not mind lending me a few. Enough to make a frame for your bed." I answered.
"Um, no, it's really fine. I don't want to impose on them. But seriously, Yggdrasil? That's what those vines are called?"
"Yes? Why?"
"Well first, I didn't even know they had a name. But really, Yggdrasil? As in the world-tree Yggdrasil?" He asked.
"I am not familiar with any world-tree." I told him, confused.
"It is a Viking myth. Yggdrasil was the tree that held the world together or something like that."
"What? Are you saying that Vikings thought these vines, which grow wild throughout this whole kingdom, were holding the world together?" I asked, slightly amused. It was a humorous misconception. The thought that the Vikings could have gotten something so wrong was-
"Or your people got the name from their myth? Didn't they invade like a thousand years ago or something? I mean, I've seen a few other remnants from their influence since I've been here." Jake said.
"I suppose it is possible. Runes were created by Zachariah, and he was a Viking… so maybe he left other influences during his life." It was a disconcerting thought, one I did not wish to dwell on.
"Yeah, that could be it too." Jake nodded, pulling some tools and food from his bag with mana wrapping.
"Nonetheless," I said, trying to switch topics, "what are your plans for tomorrow?"
"I'm going to Ceil's. My stuff needs more TLC than I can give it right now." Jake said, raising his former hand. "I'll probably visit Sela-Car after that, and show her my new runes, and ask her to tend to the ones on my stuff that got beaten up."
"Yes, that seems prudent." I said. "How have you been adjusting? Without your hand, I mean."
"Stuff's harder. Mana wrapping helps, but it's still difficult with some things. Picking up fabric is a pain. Which makes putting my clothes on a pain too. But overall, I guess things could be worse." Jake explained.
"That is an excellent positive outlook on it. You seem to have taken the loss of your hand with both wings unfurled. Most Neame would still be wallowing in self-pity at the loss of a limb." I thought about the Neame I saved when my group was traveling back from the royal capital. Even though he lived, he lost his wing. I could only imagine what he must have been going through. For years, I had assumed that such a loss would render most incapable of living a normal life, but Jake has not been nearly as affected as I would have imagined.
"Can I be honest with you, Suma? Really, losing my hand… wasn't really that big of a deal." Jake said, to my surprise. "Sure, I was pretty upset for a few days, but it wasn't even close to how bad I felt when I got trapped here, or after losing Odens."
"Really?" I asked.
"Yeah. Maybe it's because I still plan to get it back, or maybe I'm just going numb to all this crap that keeps piling up, but… I just don't feel as strongly about it as I did those first couple of days."
"Is that a good thing?"
"No idea."
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Jake's POV
Flying around on the hoverbike drew plenty of attention, one Neame, who wore the emblem of the Citadel's guards, even stopped me to make sure I wasn't a threat. I knew there were police of sorts here, but I didn't know much about them. Once the guard was satisfied I wasn't a threat, he warned me not to fly close to the citadel, and left.
Landing outside of Ceil's blacksmith shop, I hopped off the bike, but didn't send it away yet. Walking inside, I announced myself. "Ceil! You here?"
From the back workshop, I heard something metal clatter like it fell on a stone floor, and a ragged elderly voice called out, "By the dragons! Is that Jake I hear?" Loud wingbeats rang out, and Ceil, with his blue and gray feathers a bit bluer than the last time I saw him. His beak was still curled inwards, but now it was a bit shinier and pointed. "You're back from your conscription! Returned alive and well! Just as I'd prayed for at the temple so many times. Please, come in! How are you, how are you?" He said, excitedly and landed on the wooden counter-like table in the shop's lobby area.
"Alive." I said, faking a smile, and modeling some vines into a chair.
"That bad then?" He said, his voice had not lost any of its cheer, but he did sound more sympathetic. I raised my lost hand, and his feathers pressed down against his body a bit, and lost some of their sparkle. "Oh my… Jake, I am so sorry that this has happened."
"It's fine. Suma and I are hopeful that I can regrow it with magic." I explained.
"I have never heard of this, but your master is a Healing-Mage, yes? She would know more than me."
"Anyway," I said, changing topics, "I was hoping you could help me repair my armor and weapons. It's a bit harder to do right now for me."
"Of course, you can be my last customer, my friend." He said.
"You're closing this early in the day? The sun just rose a few hours ago." I said, confused.
"No, my last customer ever. I am retiring, and leaving Zach-Ashem." He said.
"What? Why? Did something happen? When I left, your business was booming."
"Ah well, it did for a time, but you know the nobles. When they found out who named me, they put up a fuss. I decided to leave and go live my final years with my son in the Royal Capital, Ambos-Ompera. He is a blacksmith too, so I can help him with his shop."
"Can I help somehow? I know the Grand Duke, and her majesty the Queen. I could talk to someone, I'm sure." I offered.
"No, no. This didn't just happen. I have been thinking about this since before we even met. Lately I just felt like it was time. The only reason I stayed this long was because of how much Grand Duke Udoka Sopra has done for me, keeping the nobility in check so I could run my business without worry. He was the only reason I was even recognized as a named Neame in the first place. He fought for me against some of the nobles who did not like you, or me, or commoners."
"Oh man, I'm really going to miss you."
"Well, you could always come to visit. I'm sure we could find somewhere for you to stay, even if it is a little cramped." He chuckled. "Now then, enough sadness. Let's see those wonderful creations I made." I summoned everything and laid it out. But the moment he laid eyes on each piece, he looked more and more upset. "Every time. Each and every time you leave, you come back and my creations are nearly destroyed!"
"Well, they did save my life." I pointed out.
"For that I am glad, because now I can kill you myself! Look at this! Everything is tattered, poorly maintained, and on the verge of breaking; if not already broken. Twilight is effectively ruined and needs to be reforged and rebuilt. It looks like the head broke off somehow."
"Yeah, that was an–"
"Mori is chipped and dull. Jericho is full of holes, the heat treatment has been ruined, and it has rips up and down the inner filter lining. Destiny is rusty, bent, and dull. Aegis is nearly broken in half, and looks like it has been hit with a boulder."
"It kinda was… two or three times." I told him. His head and wings drooped sadly. "So how much will it cost to fix everything?"
He shook his head. "Effectively, I need to completely remake some things. Several daljars of mana, as well as fifteen gold coins, at least. And none of this will be quick. It will take a week or two."
"There's one more thing I could use some help with." I added.
"Something else? I don't remember making anything else for you."
"No, it's something I made. It's right outside." I said. He landed on my shoulder, and I led him to the bike. He looked at it with… let's call it confusion.
"What is it?" He asked. Hoppin on, I started it. "Oh, it's powered by mana? Interesting- WOAH!" He shouted as we lifted a meter into the air.
"So, what do you think?"
"I see, it is a magic tool that allows you to fly. And you want my assistance with it?"
"Yeah, the frame needs improvement. Right now, it looks like a pile of garbage hastily welded to a metal table. I was hoping you could help me smooth it out a bit."
"Okay, but why go through so much trouble? Could you not simply use magic to fly instead?" Ceil asked.
"I tried that once, as an experiment before starting this." Suddenly, I was having a flashback to some training I did a few months ago. I had been on base, and cast a spell to manipulate gravity, wind, and electrostatic-repulsion to simulate flying. That single spell used so much mana, I was only able to get a few meters off the ground for about a minute before I was completely drained, and falling. After three broken ribs, a concussion, a twisted ankle, six broken fingers from landing on my hands, and a lot of throwing up, I decided to build the hoverbike. "It didn't work out, unfortunately."
"Hmmm… I am no expert in rune-craft, but if all you need is a new frame, then I believe I can do something about that. I will add it to your bill, can you leave the… what was its name?"
"It doesn't have a proper name. I've just been calling it my bike." I shrugged.
"Seems a bit unlike you to not name something, but very well. Leave this with me if you can, and I will prioritize making the new frame first."
"Thank you, Ceil."
"Jake, you named me. This is the least I could do. But that still leaves a problem, do you intend to reapply the runes yourself? Can you do that with only a single limb?"
"Don't worry about that. I know just the Neame who can help."