Darkest Ursrai - Chapter 7

Chapter 7: A Flame In The Night

Both Kai and Kal sat transfixed as the train neared and then crossed the border. By contrast, Cypher slept, having seen the sight many times before. The spot that marked the end of Vratislok and the appearance of Krazato was not easily missable, being marked by a mighty wall of ivory-tinted rock, the face on the Vratisloki side carved into a concave shape to make it effectively unclimbable, sloping upwards at the base as if to give would-be illegal crossers false hope before flattening to the vertical and then curving back on itself to overhang the base by a foot or two. The railway tracks crossed the border at a checkpoint, flanked by wooden guard outposts outside of which stood three soldiers, two women and a man. Unlike the Vratisloki army that had massed at Nezek, these soldiers were dressed to be seen, easily and clearly, pristine white jackets made bulky by Kevlar vests worn underneath, belts with shining buckles, rifles in their gloved hands. What the boys could see of their faces between their helmets and high collars was both familiar and strangely alien, the same pale, thin faces of those from Tetsudo, but with thinner, strangely intense eyes and strands of jet black hair resting against their foreheads. The train was past them in a matter of seconds, leaving Kal craning his neck against the window in an attempt to pick out more details before their outlines were lost against the backdrop of wide rolling woodland that had sprung up around them. Looming over the scene imposingly stood three rugged, ice-capped mountain peaks, off some fifty kilometres in the distance but still managing to dwarf the trees, the plains and everything closer to.

With Kal’s attention still focused on the strange new land shooting past outside, Kai turned his eyes to Cypher, still resolutely asleep, then down to the floor where lay Cypher’s bag. The front pocket hadn’t been done up properly, the zip was half undone, and the crumpled corners of several sheets of paper, obviously thrust in with more haste than care, could be seen poking out. Being careful not to draw Kal to notice him, Kai slipped his hand down and slid the papers out, arranging them on his lap and beginning to read.

The Ethereal viewed in terms of Filtered Perception, he read. The theory of filtered perception (Fuentes, Adams, 3641) states that there are aspects to the world that are beyond human perception. The theory allows for two reasons for this. The first hypothesis states that the human brain is simply not capable of sensing everything, that perception is filtered by the limits of the brain itself. The alternative puts this filtering down to a subconscious decision. For whatever reason, our subconscious does not allow us to perceive everything which we are capable of perceiving. The theory of filtered perception raises serious questions about the nature of our science, if we deal with concepts which cannot be observed as they are removed by the filters placed on our perception then we enter territory where practical observations can not be used and we must rely solely on theoretical hypotheses and assumptions, does that not make that in which we deal mere speculation instead of science? Of course, there has never been any conclusive evidence for existence beyond that which we are able to perceive. However, the nature of the Ethereal, in my opinion, give strong credence to the theory. The Ethereal shows ability to enter into our perception instantaneously to occupy a space where previously there was nothing but air. They appear by magic, one might fancifully say. However, this begs the question, where do they exist before they appear to us? If they do exist, which I believe they do, then they must exist in a state beyond our perception, hence our perception must be to some extent filtered.

Kai put down the papers. The language was complex, the subject baffling and beyond his understanding, the whole text had been almost completely meaningless to him. And yet, something deep within him, a little segment that was older, far older than the rest of him, had not only understood, it had felt a numbing surge of emotion, of revelation, a sudden epiphany the like of which it must have awaited for hundreds of years. Kai sat motionless, hands by his sides, mouth hanging slightly open, eyes staring blank to the front, as this amazing sense of wonder that was most definitely not his flooded through every inch of his body. It all made sense, but not to him.

* * *

Rain speckled down outside the window. Made dizzy by the feelings he had experienced earlier, the second half of the train journey had flown past for Kai, passing him by so fast that he had to stop and think for at least five minutes merely to recollect where he was. Ah, that was it. Krazato, the east coast, the quaint little harbour town of Iskenusk-duna. The name was a puzzling one. The language, however far from home he was, was Kai’s own, Tetsusk, though here they called it Kratsusk and spoke it in bizarre, contrived accents that took nearly all the familiarity out of it. Isk, meaning 'yes', e, meaning 'and', nusk, meaning 'no', and duna, meaning 'town'. Yes and no town. A name that made no sense, but that he couldn’t help but feel complemented the confusion and uncertainty bubbling around inside his head quite fittingly. He thought back, retracing his steps since leaving the train, a brisk walk to this, a pretty old hotel of a mere five guest rooms, two of which they had taken out for the night.

Two rooms, he thought. Two between the three of them. That must mean, he looked behind him and saw Kal, sitting trembling on the other of the room’s two single beds. Immediately concerned at his friend’s expression, Kai hurried over and sat next to him.

“What’s up?” he asked nervously.

“It’s all,” said Kal slowly, every word quivering. “It’s all too, too like…” He was unable to finish his sentence, unable to utter that final word ‘home’, before the tears took over. Kai merely sat motionless, unsure what to do now he found his friend crying next to him. He contemplated placing a comforting hand on him, maybe on his shoulder or wrist. In the end, he did nothing save sit and watch.

“I’ve, I’ve not really thought about it till now,” sobbed Kal. “But it’s awful. I miss home, I miss mum, I miss dad. It’s not like I don’t want to be here I just want to be back home more.”

“I know,” whispered Kai. “So do I.” Saying that made Kai himself want to cry, though only because it was a lie.

It must have been at least two in the morning when the feeling came. That was all it was, a feeling, a niggling twinge of curiosity, appearing seemingly from nowhere, just as an Ethereal might. Kai opened his eyes. He was lying flat on his back, though still dressed and on top of the covers of his bed rather than under them. A glance to his left told him that Kal was asleep, all trace of the tears gone save for a slight flushing in his pale cheeks. The curiosity was made all the stranger at first in that Kai wasn’t at all sure what it was trying to persuade him to do. Go outside somewhere, was that something to do with it? But why? What for? He got to his feet and slipped behind the curtains for a look out of the window, but there was nothing of interest. The rain had reduced to the occasional light speckling. Squinting he could see all across the silent harbour, lit faintly by the moon, little fishing boats and only slightly larger passenger ferries equipped to carry around twenty to thirty people bobbed sleepily on the water while the odd nocturnal scavenger scampered across the streets inland. What could there possibly be out here that he was so desperate to go and see. He undid the rusty latch and eased the window open, getting up on the windowsill so he could stick his head out and widen his field of view to include more of the cottage lined streets and also the wood that began only a couple of hundred yards from the hotel’s front door. Nothing. Still, if there really was nothing then there was no harm in his going outside, was there? Did he really need the excuse of something exciting and intriguing to go for a walk? Wasn’t the peaceful setting of this silent moonlit little harbour enough? Slipping on his shoes, his iritskai, he tiptoed over to the door and left as quietly as a shadow at noon.

The night air was brisk and chilly, with the odd raindrop still managing to find its way onto his wispy white hair as he set off away from the hotel, the fine gravel on the drive crunching softly under his feet like powdered snow. Soon he was on the road, hard and fresh tarmac that was probably under a month old, free from wear and all trace of potholes. He walked along it at a leisurely pace for a few minutes, but when he reached the point where it curved away inland he chose not to follow it further, instead stepping off onto a rough path, slightly muddied by the earlier downpour, that led him in amongst the trees and into the wood. Kai didn’t feel threatened by the concept of the wood at night, merely curious as to what wonders lay within it. A glance back showed that the trees had enclosed him completely, but he saw no reason to worry. He was still on the path after all, and he had only to follow it back and he would be at the hotel again in five minutes, ten at the most, possibly fifteen. How deep had he gone? His curiosity jabbed him in the ribs and reminded him why he was where he was. He looked up and saw, was it a man, or merely a man-shaped flame? Whatever it was, it was advancing towards him, not menacingly, but with a definite purpose. Kai stood his ground, staring unflinchingly as the figure came closer and clearer, showed itself to be wreathed in a flowing crimson cloak that undulated like a candle flame in the wind, extending down to the ground where it billowed out to its widest point and up to a hood that covered the figure’s bowed head. Underneath the cloak the figure wore a suit of dull, black body armour, covering every inch of skin below the neck. Slowly, purposefully, the figure raised its head. The eyes were all that Kai saw, they allowed no other detail to matter. Fire burned behind them and within them. There was little human soul behind those eyes, nothing left of it save a silent spectator as the body and its power were let loose upon the world. Suddenly, Kai knew what the figure was.

“Chaos Magus,” he said firmly. Then, suddenly, emerging from deep within him, an inner shadow rising from the depths of his heart, came a voice from his mouth that was not his own, a deep, echoing voice that spoke of majesty, of power, of magic, that here spoke but a single word. “Brother,” it said.

Suddenly the Chaos Magus, Eldrous, snapped into life, spread his arms wide and summoned from thin air a wide arc of blazing fire, stretching out above him from one hand to the other. Panic suddenly setting in, Kai flicked his eyes to his left, just in time to see a deeper shadow emerge from the blackness, shaped somewhat like a wolf, a shining purple gemstone resplendent on his forehead. Kai’s heart jumped. To his right, there was another, more and more swirling around him, surrounding him, allowing him no chance of escape. Then, drowsiness descending over him like a thick blanket, he twisted on his heel and collapsed in a heap on the roots and soil of the forest floor.

* * *

A pain, a pain in his arm. Where was his arm? Ah, there, he felt it, hanging limply into nothingness by his side. His head, that too was hanging downwards, along with both his legs, though they curiously felt somehow better supported. Gradually, as if he had forgotten how to do so and was having to summon the technique from the deepest depths of his mind, Kai opened his eyes. He was looking up into a face, a familiar face. Where had he seen it before? It had a name, what was it? A, A, Álvaro, that was it. Cypher’s friend Álvaro, from St. Vicente. He had accompanied them on the Catalunya. But why was he here? Kai was no closer to any conclusion when he was back in his hotel room, Alvaro laying him down carefully on his bed.

“Listen to me,” he whispered kindly. “Listen to me, Malakai Fulmasri. Tell no-one what you saw tonight. If you are asked, you remained in your bed all night, but are tired because you did not sleep well, a stomach upset, travel sickness. Keep what you have seen to yourself and keep it close. And do not forget this one fact. When deciding whether someone is an enemy or a friend, someone in your position will rarely be served badly by first instincts.”

And at that, Kai fell into a deep sleep, not waking until Cypher shook him by the shoulder at 9 o’clock to tell him that the boat that would take them the short distance to the West Divide was leaving in an hour.