Chapter 12

The Gash

Few trial candidates were left when Meredith and Eddie packed up. The sun was high over the sky, indicating afternoon’s beginning in the cold settlement, and in her rested state, Meredith could examine the area and those who remained. Most were familiar from the evening before, and it appeared rare for any new candidates to arrive daily. The only one noticeably missing was Vivian, but Meredith was feeling too positive to let thoughts of her in. Questions aside, the rest had given her mind the chance to focus on their next destination.

So, the best friends forged into the forested land to the west of their current location. Hardly any time passed before they discussed their itinerary and the soon-apparent elephant in the room.

“We continue west until the land turns south and then we’re into the Land of Eternal Night,” Eddie told her, waving his map in her face. She nodded; their location was well and good, but her mind was busy remarking on the gradual warming of the air…and what was behind them. “Wonder if that’s a metaphorical phrase.”

“We’ll find out, but, uh…do you have any idea why they’re following us?”

Eddie took pause to stow the map away, and both teens looked into the forest behind them. Their pursuing quarry wasn’t well-hidden, with one standing in the open and another darting behind a tree. It didn’t take long before the hiding one hissed, “Max, get over here, you dolt!”

“S-sorry, Lady Vivian!”

“You know we can see you, right, Viv?”

Pine boughs rustled in the silence that followed this observation. Max looked like a deer in headlights. Next to Meredith, Eddie was stifling his laughter. It was the cue for Vivian to step out from behind the tree, hands on her hips and her cheeks puffed. They were tinged pink and she was purposely looking away. Meredith just raised an eyebrow, waiting for a response from the prideful Vivian.

“Y-you just happen to be heading in the same direction, that’s all!” she finally said.

“And I’m the leader of the Guardian Corps.”

“In your dreams.”

“That’s generally what I dream about, yes.” The response mollified Vivian, and the blonde cleared her throat. “Why are you following us anyway? I thought you needed to finish the Trial of Self.”

“Well, you see, Lady Vivian figured that since you completed it-”

“I decided to try it later. Shut up, Max.” Her attendant sighed in response.

The girl’s deflections were starting to get onto Meredith’s nerves, as well, and she rubbed her temple. “So, you decided to stalk me the last couple hours to what, research me?”

“Th-that’s…N-no! I merely went in the same direction as you to discover more about my enemy so that I can overcome the trial when I return.”

“You’re stalking me.”

“Ugh, I am not!” Vivian stamped her feet on the ground, advancing. Her footwork made it look like she was moving through snow. Some even fell off one of the tree branches and on to her head. She shook it off and finished getting to the Lumarina duo. “I just wanted to know how you passed the trial, and I heard you were going to the alchemic settlement to the west, where the Trial of Enlightenment is. I’m not a fool and…um…er…”

“Max doesn’t know how to cook, right?” Eddie asked.

“And you don’t have a skyship, so you’ve never actually had to travel on foot before…” Meredith was the one who couldn’t hold her laughs back this time. Vivian didn’t like that, and she brought her boot down on Meredith’s toes. Laughter continued. “Okay, if you wanted to travel with us so badly, ha, y-you should have just asked!”

“I don’t want to travel with you, but Max suggested it might be mutually beneficial,” Vivian continued to insist. “Th-that’s beside the point, though. I need to get the better of you!”

“You have problems.” Meredith’s statement made Vivian flinch. She took a step back, avoiding the gazes on her. Through narrowed eyes, Meredith wondered just what Vivian had seen inside the Trial of Self that caused her to abandon it and stalk her. “Ugh, fine, but no complaining. And learn how to cook your own damn food.”

“Like you’re one to talk, Mera…” Meredith aimed a swipe at Eddie’s head, but he ducked under it. “More the merrier. You want some cooking tips, Mr. Max? I trained under the best chefs in Lumarina.”

“That sounds almost degrading…” Vivian commented. Tired of the girl already, Meredith aimed a kick at her. While it missed, the momentum allowed Meredith to keep moving on their trajectory. “But it’ll be better than nothing. Do you have any apples?”

“I’d need to restock for something like that…and don’t buy the store out,” Eddie told her. They were all moving now, Max running awkwardly through the snow to catch up.

“I don’t…think…that’ll be…a problem, Mister Eddie,” Max said. “We’re a bit low on funds for something that extravagant. But will you have enough for four people?”

“We get by. We’re pretty conservative in how we ration our funds.”

“Long as I have something edible, I’ll keep the complaints to a minimum.”

“When have you ever kept your scathing remarks to a minimum?” Meredith shot back to the blonde. The forest was thinning now, emerging to grassier plains and warmer weather. Mud and frost began to change into a grainier dirt, but Vivian’s own manner remained unchanged.

“Well, if you need to restock, the town closest is Eltin, I believe. My research has shown it to be a prosperous town that-”

“We’re not heading to Eltin.”

Vivian huffed, tromping ahead of Meredith to stand in her path. “And why not? We could use some lodgings!”

“Because there’s nothing of Eltin left.” Vivian’s eyebrow quirked while Meredith passed her. “I told you: that Beastmaster went and started razing villages. Eltin was the first stop. Do you really think it’s a wise idea to go near it when he was obsessed with your weapon?”

“Who made you the decision maker, trash?”

“Because I’m the leader of this group, Vivian.”

“Oh, a fine leader you make!”

“I’m sorry, who didn’t clear the trial, again?” Meredith’s sly expression, shot back towards the blonde, caused Vivian to become enraged. She recommenced her stomping, readying to either slug Meredith or grab her bow off her back. A line of flame interceded before the two before she could do either. The girls turned, nasty expressions on their faces as they saw Eddie. His gaze was pointing daggers.

“Stop bickering for a second.” His voice was low, and both girls gulped. Max sidled up to Eddie’s side, his head nodding with complete agreement. “We’re avoiding Eltin and following the nearest river once we find it, that’ll at least lead us westward. And if I hear you two bickering again, neither of you will get any food. Got it?”

Meredith opened her mouth, but closed it with the insistence flashing in Eddie’s eyes. Much as she hated to say it, she was stuck with Vivian, and Eddie was the one calling the shots. “Fine. Just stay out of my way.”

“Likewise.” Despite their tone, both girls stepped forward at the same time. Once they realized they were moving in tandem, each tried to speed up. Eddie only sighed.

“Long trip ahead…Mr. Max, how about I give you tips on the road?” Meredith only heard Max’s acceptance, their long journey westward beginning.

Finding the river was an easy task, even if it took them close to nighttime to do it. The air grew colder, and Meredith could see Eltin, or what was left of it, in the distance that evening. Some fires were lit outside, but no one dared to approach it, not even travelers on the northern horizon. The quartet simply continued along the river until they found a decent place to camp. Mercifully, the trip had been silent to that point, unless one counted the mutterings of Max and Eddie.

“I see…so the flame’s heat and level determine how well something cooks…”

“Uh, yeah…have you ever learned to cook anything?” Eddie asked, turning over some beef he’d bought from the trial settlement. It was the only part of the conversation Meredith heard as she returned from gathering water. Vivian, naturally, had refused to do an act that was beneath her.

“Max just turns flames up full throttle. He doesn’t exactly have control over his Explosion Magic,” Vivian said, tacking on a yawn. She swiped a canteen of the water from Meredith and began to drink, only to gag from its cold temperature. “Ugh, can’t wait until we’re out of this frosty hellhole.”

“Anywhere’s a frosty hellhole where you are, dear Vivian.”

“Shut up.”

“Yes, my magic is useful for a combat setting, but I’m not a fighter. I’m here solely to defend Lady Vivian’s rear and ensure she reaches each destination unscathed. Haven’t used my magic in years, I’m afraid, unless one counts the desert,” Max said. His eyes still pored over the cooking utensils Eddie was using. Meredith watched her best friend pull the steaks and place them on a plate, seasoned minimally. “I tend to just char things when I try.”

“It’s inedible most of the time…”

“Anything would be inedible to you, prissy as you are,” Meredith whispered out. Vivian took note and chucked her canteen at Meredith. “Why are you here again? You’re not someone out for roughing it, so how did you ever want to become a Guardian?”

Over by the food, Max froze, looking across to his lady. Meredith rotated herself to look between both, and after much hesitation, Vivian answered. Or seemed to. “Because I want to earn respect.”

“And that’s why you need to win all the time? There’s more to a Guardian than that.”

“I don’t remember asking your opinion. It’s thoughts like that which allowed the attack on the Metropolis to happen,” Vivian said. Her arms were folded now, and she ignored Eddie putting the plate of dinner in her lap. “The Guardian Corps needs to stop fooling around, and I’m going to make sure my name is engraved on their hierarchy. That means stepping over trash like you.”

“Says the girl who couldn’t pass the trial and decided to stalk me. What did you see in there, anyway?”

“What did you see?”

Meredith frowned. She nabbed her plate from Eddie, and cut into her meat with an annoyed ferocity. Now that she was being asked it, the whole thing felt personal. Still, watching Vivian cut into her own beef with light strokes and graceful gestures, she chose to answer. “I saw a memory of the day I decided to be a Guardian…and then I saw me.”

“I didn’t,” Vivian said after nothing but minutes of the crackling fire. “Well, I didn’t see me. I saw you. Like an annoying gnat. You just kept coming after me, but when you spoke it sounded like…like he always sounded.”

“He?” That was a question Vivian didn’t answer. Meredith didn’t push.

“To be honest, I’m not sure how well I succeeded at that trial,” Meredith spoke. Having heard Vivian’s story, the events in the towers made more sense, but felt intimate. Like they were secrets being laid bare. Max and Eddie listened in the background, interrupting their own talks occasionally. “I wonder if…the Flame of Identity manifested, took on us, our own self. It wanted to test us. Could we acknowledge something about ourselves? Something we didn’t want to. Could we overcome it?”

“Did you have to overcome how weak you are?”

“I don’t know.” Here, Meredith placed her plate down, staring down to her hands. “I think I acknowledged…”

Meredith fell silent, her hands dancing with shadows from the flickering firelight. What had she truly acknowledged? That she had fear? That she could overcome fear? Get rid of it? Regardless of her battle in the towers, she felt she had no answers. Passing the trial felt like dumb luck when she thought of it like that.

A clatter sounded, and Vivian was placing her plate down. She scoffed. “Well, that’s hardly helpful. I don’t need to acknowledge anything. He’s the one that needs to…” A further pause gave time for Meredith to look to Vivian. The blonde ignored her. “I’m going to sleep. We set off at dawn.”

No one saw the need to say otherwise. Vivian retreated into the tent, leaving the other three in the cold. Max breathed loudly, drawing all other attention to him.

“You’ll have to forgive Lady Vivian, she…” Max once more blew upwards, staring towards the clear sky and the canopy of stars above. “She took the Metropolis rather hard, you see. I believe she suffered far more than the wounds of battle, and when her father saw the news…well…”

“That why you’re traveling on foot?” Meredith asked. She knew the answer, but hearing about Vivian from someone who knew her made her want to ask more. Distracting herself from that unpleasant notion, Meredith found a loose thread in her coat and began to pull at it.

“I suppose you could say he no longer felt she was worthy. That she had to prove her worth as a Guardian because she’d…” Max folded his hands, his eyes gleaming in the firelight while his intent was razor-focused on Meredith. “Tell me, during your battle in the Metropolis, did Lady Vivian use her full strength?”

“How would we know? She never tells us anything. Unless you count being called trash.”

“Yes, well, she wasn’t always like that. She was…kind. Always eager to prove. I suppose that translates into her zeal to become a Guardian. To stand above everyone else. I try to rein her in, but she’s always been so headstrong, even as a child!” Meredith definitely didn’t like hearing that, and she stood. It sounded more like her than she cared to admit, just in a different way. “I don’t know what Lady Vivian will find on this journey, but I’d like to think she’ll find it. I’ll just have to be more discerning in what news is spread to her father. At least he never learned of your tussle at the Trial of Desert; he seemed displeased about the rank enough!”

“Speaking of the desert, Mr. Max, how did you manage to get out of there?” Eddie asked. Meredith found herself done with the conversation and she, too, headed for the tent.

“Well, you see, we-” Max’s answer was cut off by Meredith entering the tent and zipping it shut.

Vivian was asleep, made obvious by her rhythmic breathing and light snoring. She’d taken up residence in the middle of the floor, wrapped up in a sleeping bag. Had Meredith not known her while awake, she would have said Vivian was a kind individual, the way her nose wrinkled as she slept, keeping her movement to a minimum. She didn’t even wake as Meredith made her way across the tent, though she did roll a bit and begin to mumble.

“Dad, mom…no…Better. I’ll do…Mmmm…”

Dream, or nightmare, Meredith wasn’t sure. She didn’t dwell, preparing herself for sleep and soon drifting off into her own dreamland. Said dreamland didn’t last long, as the sun hit the tent in the early morning and woke them all from their slumber, Vivian first of all.

“What took you all so long? I said we were leaving at the crack of dawn!”

Seconds was all it took for the sympathy to drop and Meredith to go back to hating her. It made their party move no faster in cleaning up their camp and setting off through the wilds again.

To everyone’s relief, those wilds became warmer, leaving the frosted pines behind. Each member of the party shed their coats, replaced with usual traveling garb in the more temperate climate, and the terrain was replaced with hilly plains. When Meredith chanced a look backwards, she could catch a glimpse of the snowy mountain range that covered up the Metropolis, hiding that glorious city behind its peaks. From Eddie’s map, she could deduce that the land had begun to shift in a direction now curving to the southwest.

This change in direction brought with it a change in many other things. Villagers and other trial candidates could be seen on the roads, roaming the hills, though they usually disappeared down other paths before long. There was the faint rumbling of skyships in the distance, but Meredith saw none. The only thing they did see, continuing to follow the river, was smoke coming from a town to the south. No one said anything about it, though Max ran the closest he could to peer into the coastline as they reached one of the taller, wetter hills.

“I can’t make out much, other than there maybe being a land mass…”

“Another destroyed town, though?” Eddie asked. He had taken out a pair of binoculars, their glowing display indicating their origin in Lacardia. “Yeah, looks like another wreck…”

“The Beastmaster, you think?” Meredith asked, though there was no doubt of that being the case. Eddie wasn’t aware, fiddling with his binoculars.

“That man just gets more annoying every time. First the Metropolis and then these towns. What’s his aim, anyway? He failed in the Metropolis, right? What’s he thinking?” Vivian said. Her hands were on her hips, back turned to her fellow teenage companions. Like a response to her question, Meredith sensed the subtle shifting of the air, and her eyes were drawn to the girl’s bow, resting on her back.

Her own mouth soon formed the answer. “He’s after Weapons. Legendary Weapons.”

“What?” She could hear it: the fear in Vivian’s voice. Or perhaps it was indignation. Whatever it was, it caused Vivian to stride up to her and grab her by the shoulders, eyes wide with interrogation. “What do you know about the Legendary Weapons? The seller that gave you that blade mentioned them, too. How much do you-”

“What’s your problem? Why do you care?” Meredith asked, hoping to cut off the tirade before getting a headache. “Or is it because that bow of yours is the Bow of Torrents?”

Vivian stepped back, eye twitching. Eddie swiveled his head between them while Max was returning from the coastline. “How do you know that name?”

“I told you; I did more than studying magic in Lacardia. The Trial of Enlightenment isn’t the only reason we’re heading for the alchemic settlement.” Meredith didn’t know what was possessing her, but she grabbed the broken blade and held it out to Vivian. Her disagreements with the girl aside, there was a newfound kinship, and her Soul Vision was telling her this was just…right. “This is the Earth-Splitter, and I’m going to re-forge it.”

Wind blew across them, the world whispering its collision of the two Weapons. Their souls, muted as they were, felt like they were acknowledging one another. Vivian, unable to hold her posture, fell to a sitting position on the grass. “I always knew there were others out there, but to think some would be searching.”

“What do you know about them?” Eddie asked. He was scratching his head, just as confused as the bewildered Max, but still eager to learn.

“Not much. The Bow is a family heirloom, passed down. I got it to aid me in my trials, but I never thought it’d be targeted.” Vivian grabbed her bow and spun it around in her hands. Meredith watched the curve of the weapon change position. She wondered, for a moment, if her rival would let her touch it, communicate with it…yet it had nothing to say. Meredith backed off. “Of course, that’s just what I’m told. The Legendary Weapons are as much a folktale as they are weapons. And I’m protecting this bow because of its significance to my family, not some weird myth or whatnot. Why are you re-forging that hunk of metal anyway? Not like it can make you any stronger.”

“You’re a real ass, you know that?” Meredith said. “But if you’re that eager to find out, what say you and I spar? Find out who’s stronger.”

“Uninterested. We know how things would go, or did you forget the desert?”

“Oh, I haven’t forgotten, Viv, but now that I know your bow is one of those Legendary Weapons, it tells me what a crutch you have.”

“You just don’t know your place, do you, trash girl?” Vivian’s face was suddenly in hers, the rim of her bow glowing with red light. Meredith matched her own grin to the girl’s.

“Of course, I do. It’s right here, wiping the floor with you.”

“You two are worse than Felix and Emil…”

Eddie’s complaint didn’t put an end to whatever sparring match (if that was what they could call it) had begun. Meredith swiped the broken blade out, and Vivian jumped back. She nocked her arrow of energy, enchanting the air around her with her magic. She let loose, but Meredith knew what to expect. Her knees bent and Meredith rolled to the side, allowing the projectile to strike the ground and explode in clots of dirt.

The black-haired teen kept herself low to the ground, darting as swiftly as she could while Vivian tried to get a lock on her. Soon as she would let the arrow fly, Meredith would be moving on. Vivian couldn’t land a hit, but Meredith quickly realized her issue: she could dodge, but she couldn’t use her magic. Eddie’s sigh and Max’s resumed fretting aside, Meredith knew that was an issue.

Come on, Mera…Think. Connect! Her Soul Vision turned on, sensing the wandering souls far away from their little skirmish. She could see Vivian’s as well, heightened from the thrill of battle. Beyond were the travelers and a grouping to the southwest, past the hills, though they were so clustered it was hard to make out. Most importantly, there was the earth, calm and steady, ready to rise up to the occasion if she asked it. You’ll do. Please help.

Dodging another strike from Vivian, who began to transform her bow into the shape of a sword, Meredith’s soul reached out, straight for the earth. Once she touched it, her soul and its began to connect.

A millisecond of a pulse later and Meredith knew that something had become remarkably off.

The world around her froze. Wails issued from the very ground she stood on, their loudest point behind her. Decay. Death. Two souls in front of her were throbbing with recognition, and the whisper of words about a seal was inside Meredith’s head. She couldn’t stop it, the cries and moans. Close. It was so very close.

“To the edge…of the world…?” Her mouth formed the words unbidden, like it had when she’d touched the magic core of flame. This, however, didn’t feel like a magic core. It felt far more arcane, and far deadlier; a secret that should never have been unearthed.

The second expired, and Meredith blinked, just in time for Vivian’s blow to make impact with her. Her eyes widened, not feeling the pain, and being flung backwards, to the crest of the hill. Distraction ran through her, and she looked down, to the other side, where she saw it.

There was a gaping maw in the earth, like a giant gash.

Unable to keep her mind on her own body movement, her foot slipped over the top of that moist hill and tumbled down it. Cries followed as her body tucked itself into a ball, descent impossible to stop.

“Are you kidding me? You could have killed her!”

“I thought she was mounting a counterattack! Don’t blame me!”

“Perhaps we should go and make sure she’s all right, Lady Vivian.” Whatever Vivian’s response was, Meredith didn’t know. The voices inside her head were getting louder, overtaking the ones belonging to her companions.

She didn’t know how long she was rolling until she stopped, flat on her stomach and her eyes trained on the gash in the ground. Meredith lay there, watching and listening, a heartbeat in her head. Her hands pushed against the slick grass, and she stumbled toward the giant gash in the ground.

“Mera!” Eddie’s call went unheeded.

Meredith walked closer, the groaning of souls reaching out to her. Wraithlike wisps, unknown and numerous, reached from within that gash. The blade at her side quivered. Light poured from within, and the terrain under Meredith’s feet began to transform, becoming grainy…like sand…like…

“Desertification…”

Stop! No closer! The voice, almost familiar to her time in the Metropolis, shouted the warning, but she couldn’t listen. No, there was something there. A giant soul was insisting she come closer, reaching for her. It wasn’t a multitude, but something more. The voice called again as footsteps were heard. You cannot! You will not return!

“What…is it? What…are you?” Meredith fell to her knees, right at the edge. Her head pounded, and she could no longer focus. The only way her eyes looked was downward, to the small light, visible in the crack. More was pouring from the gash itself, obscuring Meredith’s vision, yet she thought she could make out some details. There were walkways, an almost ancient structure, with locks and levels, hidden behind the very crust of the earth.

And a large light, a soul, whose hand could barely squeeze through and touch to hers.

Meredith’s eyes widened beyond their natural limits and she felt her body being bent backwards against her will. Moans increased in volume, a great cry of worry and death. The gash was flashing erratically, the land around Meredith turning to desert at an even faster rate. Her Soul Vision was fluctuating outside of her control, expanding its limits beyond her measly range, though with no clarity.

Souls were approaching, a good number of them, but she could not identify them. Many more were beyond, in villages and towns, though still more were winking out as she saw this, causing the gash to go wild. There was a darkness as well…multiple points of darkness, each looking to converge on a single spot, one faster and larger than the others.

Amidst all this were glowing lights of a different quality to the rest of the souls. Three were nearby, with one farther but drawing close; another was near the darkness; yet another in a familiar place. Two were yet indiscernible. Only the three nearby were reacting, screaming at her to stop, to not get close. Wondering why this was here with muted, fearful mutters.

Meredith couldn’t stop. She had no will of her own, not this close. Because it was trying to send a message.

“Fading…away…the seal…broken…” She gasped once more, and the giant hand retracted from her soul, ceasing all its communications, too weak to continue. “Crea’s…end…The soul. Conflict. Death of…the…soul…”

Meredith’s body gave out, released from the hold of what had gripped her. Body drooping, Meredith began to fall, right towards the gash in the ground. She was ready to slip into oblivion.

“Mera!” Eddie’s voice called her back, his hand grabbing at her arm. He was joined on the other side by the unlikely vision of Vivian and Max.

“You idiot, what the hell are you doing? Running away?”

So close by, a buzzing sounded in Meredith’s ears, one she couldn’t turn off no matter how much she willed her Soul Vision to go away. They were resonating, the same three that had done so in the Metropolis. The flame in the bottle, too, was going wild. Meredith wanted to scream, to tell them to get away as they finished pulling her back.

The sound vanished, as if air was being sucked in.

All was silent.

What followed was one last gasp from the gash that had formed, cracking wider for but a second as the screams of death and destruction resonated in Meredith’s head. This time, she wasn’t alone in reacting. Vivian covered her ears while Eddie became rigid. Light poured forth from the gash, a beam into the sky that lasted only a moment, but caused Max to fall back. The land around them became sand, just beyond where they stood.

It only took thirty seconds, at best, but it was enough to pause the world. To render an irrevocable change to the space they were in.

Many souls were paused, even the ones that were approaching.

Save us.

The last whispers faded with the light. The desertification stopped. Vivian collapsed, and Eddie did the same. Max was already out. Meredith held for just a moment, and then she fell. Her eyes felt heavy, but stayed open long enough to see the shadows approaching, one in a worried frenzy. It was shaking her, calling her name desperately, but Meredith closed her eyes and slipped silently off to oblivion as the world around her grew quiet, and the memory of that occurrence slipped away.