The Fourth World Page 6

  “But what does he want?”

  “The tattoos on their bodies are not mere drawings. As soon as a sermerio is born, ink is placed on his skin. As the years pass, the tattoo grows and within it, the destiny of that sermerio is written. The reign of Sermeria is not passed from generation to generation. The king may have a son who will not be his successor—usually, he is not, since it is only the child who grows up with the king's tattoo who should ascend to the throne, and this child can be anyone. He can be the son of a soldier, a merchant, or even a servant. When the destined child is 12 years old, he is separated from the others and gets a different education. It is rumored that the child who will succeed Grant has already been born, but Grant does not want to leave the throne and does not want to be just the King of Sermeria. He wants much more. Every city, like Raban, governs itself, but he wants everything. With the help of some wizard, he changed the way the marks worked. Before, when someone could not complete a mission, they would die afterward; no one needed to kill them, but since the missions have been changed, someone needs to execute those who do not complete them, and that's why your two friends escaped.”

  “Why are you telling me this?”

  “Because you deserve the truth and I want to help.” Again, he showed his teeth in a smile. “I thought you should learn; it's painful to see a human caring for another here. Sermerios do everything they can to make you think you have to work alone, but I noticed that you care about others... my people are not warriors; if the sermerios arrive with their dragons and their troops, we will be forced to surrender ourselves, so we do not die... but, who knows? You might be able to do something...” The little being lowered his head and continued apologetically, “We manufacture; that's what we do. We can create anything from any material. But we do not have the skills to fight.”

  “You should be proud; liking to fight is not an admirable quality,” Steven replied with a friendly grin. “Trust me; I know it. I was in a war, and for a long time, I liked it; it made me feel useful.”

  “You’d better get back, before they go searching for you.”

  Steven got up and thanked him. Before leaving the cabin, he asked for his name.

  “Kekuk.”

  Steven introduced himself and smiled at him. He left, still not wanting to go back to the room, pondering about what he had just heard. He did not want to fight anyone; he just wanted to save Virginia and Chad.

  Leaning against the parapet of the ship, something caught his attention; it looked like two eyes in the clouds. He looked more carefully. He recognized those eyes! No, it was not possible! Ivy had escaped before they boarded, and she was a wolf; she could not fly. Slowly, an immense bird appeared among the clouds. It was moving toward the ship and did not show any intention of deflecting.

  At that moment, a sermerio placed a hand on his shoulder, but before he said anything, Steven knocked him to the ground. The bird scraped past them, destroyed one of the asadélis’ wings, and disappeared into the clouds again.

  The ship swung; Rabans ran from side to side. The sermerio and Steven got up. The Rabans brought ladders and materials to repair the wing, but the ship was already falling, faster and faster. The passengers left their cabins, including Steven's the gray-haired sermerio who slept with the prisoners. As soon as he saw Steven, he moved towards him. It was difficult to balance; passengers shouted and ran frantically.

  The Rabans tried to keep control over the ship and the passengers. The sermerio next to Steven described what had happened to the others, but Steven did not even glimpse at him; he took advantage of the confusion and dashed to the rooms. When they’d boarded, he had paid attention; he knew where they were and rushed to them. On the way, he encountered other passengers who wanted to climb the stairs and had to press himself against the wall to proceed.

  The door to the room where the prisoners were being held was open. He came in, saw the two inside the cage and ran toward them, asking where the key was.

  “With the lizard!” replied Virginia.

  “What's going on?” Chad asked.

  “We're falling!” Steven replied as he struggled to open the cage.

  At that moment, the sermerios entered the cabin, with Steven's companions behind them.

  “What are you doing here?” demanded the commander of the sermerios.

  “Let them out!”

  “Why?” replied the sermerio calmly.

  “Because we're going down...”

  “Rabans are the best pilots in the world. They know how to perform emergency landings. I'm not concerned. Now, get away from that cage before I decide that you deserve to be in it, too.”

  The ship leaned forward, and everyone fell. The cage rolled across the room; then, they heard a shout coming from above. “Come up, everyone! Hurry!”

  Steven ran toward the cage, but the white-haired sermerio stopped him. “Do what the Raban says; I'll take care of the prisoners.”

  “If they die before...” Lácio spoke but ceased when he felt Steven's eyes on him.

  “Do not worry; they will not die, not yet. Now, go!”

  “Steven, come on!” shouted Richard.

  He had to obey.

  They all ran outside, including the three sermerios who dragged the cage with them.

  “Lay down on the floor; try to hold onto something and cover your heads with your hands; it will not be a smooth landing!” one of the Rabans shouted.

  The ship was diving at a terrible speed. Steven spotted the cage a few feet in front of him, and next to it, the lizard. The sermerios were close, but at least five people were between them and the cage. A crash echoed in the silence, and fragments of wood flew everywhere. Some passengers were thrown out of the asadélis at the point of impact. Steven spotted one of the sermerios flying out, and along with him, Richard and Proctor. The sand invaded every inch of the ship; no one could open their eyes or breathe.

  Something hit him on the head. For a few moments, he forgot where he was and what was happening. He placed his hand on his head and realized he was bleeding. The only thing he recalled was the cage. He searched around for it, but only saw a thick cloud of dust. Then he noticed a figure on the floor.

  Justine...

  No. It was a woman's body; his mind was playing tricks on him. He crawled forward and found a sermerio—the same one who had smashed his head against the wall earlier. Steven checked his wrist; he was still alive but had fainted. Steven searched him and took his weapons—a longsword and a dagger. He grasped the sermerio’s hand and dragged him. He caught sight of something shiny and moved in that direction. His vision was getting better.

  Some people screamed; others groaned in pain and cried out names he did not know. Steven spotted the cage on the other side of the ship; he ran to it, but the lizard jumped in front of him. Steven stared at it for a moment, then threw the sermerio at the animal and shot to the cage. The bars were deformed; Virginia was struggling to push Chad out without success.

  Thomas was confused and coughing compulsively. He walked away without direction, just wanting to get out of there. He saw the commander of the sermerios going after Steven and the approaching lizard. Steven was trapped. He was trying to get Chad out of the cage when Virginia screamed; the lizard was about to bite him. Steven jumped aside, grabbed the dagger, and stabbed the animal, but it was only a scratch, nothing serious for an animal of that size.

  Thomas watched; he hadn't yet decided whether he would help. He walked away, but Steven and Virginia saw him. They shouted his name. He stopped, and a plank of wood struck the head of the sermerio who had been about to attack him. When the sermerio fell, a Kekuk holding a plank of wood in his hands was standing behind him.

  The fire that had kept the ship in the sky was growing; everyone was rushing out. Kekuk continued to pound on the sermerio with the plank of wood, and Thomas observed the scene, startled. Virginia was still calling out for him to come back and help. The sermerio was not yet unconscious; he grabbed the piece of wood and began
punching the little Raban, again and again.. When the sermerio thought the Raban was stunned enough, he started to leave, but Kekuk suddenly grabbed his ankle. The sermerio gave him a kick in the stomach, drew his sword, and was about to kill him when he felt a slight pain in his back.

  His hand froze in mid-air; he looked down and saw a blade sticking out of his abdomen.

  Lácio had killed him.

  During this time, Steven fought the lizard. As Virginia yelled for Thomas to come back, Chad yelled at Steven, telling him the animal was poisonous, which only made matters worse and more troubling. But when Lácio stabbed his sword through the sermerio, the lizard stopped attacking Steven and moved towards Lácio instead.

  When Lácio realized what was going on, he was already on the ground; the sword slipped away. He gripped the lizard's mouth with his bare hands. Steven jumped on the animal's back and after several blows, he beheaded him with his sword.

  The airship’s engine exploded. Steven lowered his head and when he did, he saw the key on the floor, near the lizard's head. He dashed to the cage. Lácio helped Kekuk stand up; Steven looked for Thomas, but he was no longer there. Virginia and Chad stepped out of the cage and ran. Steven took Chad in his arms and he and Virginia jumped.

  The whole ship exploded, and they were all thrown to the ground.

  Chapter VIII - Reunited

  After gathering the provisions that were spread over the sand, Habel pointed where they should go. The sun was infernal, and they were already sweaty and tired.

  “Why did we come here?” Theo demanded. “And how do you know where we should go?”

  “I know where the Oasis is, and I know where we are because the person who gave me that bottle told me where it was. That's why we came here. Sorry if I couldn’t bring you to a more comfortable and convenient place.”

  “And who gave you the bottle?”

  “That is not your concern!” shouted Habel.

  Theo didn’t answer, just mumbled something no one heard. Hubert chose not to interfere, and he obeyed everything Habel told him to do. They walked without talking; they needed to save energy and they didn’t have much water, but Habel knew how to move in the desert, taking water from cacti and digging to find water under the earth.

  “How do you know where to dig?” asked Hubert, extremely impressed.

  “My race is more sensitive to movement than yours. I can sense the water under the sand.”

  The days went on like this; they walked endlessly during the day, talked little, and ate whatever they could find; insects and snakes were the largest source of food in the desert.

  When Habel couldn’t locate water, they were compelled to drink their own urine. The first time Hubert ate a scorpion, he nearly threw up, but Habel said, “If I were you, I would swallow the vomit because there is nothing left to eat.”

  The snake meat was not so bad. When he saw one, he would hunt it ferociously; he would do anything so that he would not have to eat the insects that Habel found. Not that she seemed to enjoy eating them either, but it looked as though she'd been through it before, so she wasn’t so disgusted.

  Hubert accepted everything without complaint. Every night, Habel took care of his ankle, which, although slightly better, was far from being cured. Theo, on the contrary, protested most of the time; he would blame Habel sometimes, and other times, it was Hubert who had to bear the litany.

  At times, to speed up the journey, Habel would fly and Hubert would ride on Theo's back. But Theo was not always willing to carry him. Everyone was exhausted.

  One day, Habel grew tired of hearing Theo’s accusations and they quarreled. Hubert didn’t take his eyes off the fire, even when he heard his name amid the yelling. Suddenly, Theo transformed into a tiger and ran off across the dunes.

  Hubert was worried, though Habel didn’t seem to be impressed. He decided to ask anyway. “Shouldn’t we go after him?”

  “He will come back. He loves to make a scene.”

  Hubert thought they were almost like a couple, but he chose not to ask, so he tried to change the subject to see if it would calm her down. “Have you been here before?”

  “Yes.”

  After Habel's dry answer, he returned to silence, and they remained like that for some time, listening to the crackling of the fire.

  Finally, Habel said, “It's because you said I looked like an angel.”

  Hubert was puzzled and thought maybe she was asleep and talking nonsense, but her eyes were wide open.

  “Before, you asked me why I changed my mind. That's why...” Habel heaved a sigh and spoke. “The wizards love Arvel, and many of us, like myself, are fascinated with everything they do—the potions, the magic, it's all exciting. Then we became companions to them. Not all of us, of course. But it is common for a wizard to have an Arvelian as a partner. I helped someone else, who gave me the bottle that brought us here. She's not like Zauber. The sermerios called her to work with them and I traveled with her. They paid well, and we lived there for a while.

  “One day, they ordered her to take a human and create a kind of poison that would strengthen them but take away their conscience. Once injected, the sermerios would have control over them; the human would do anything the sermerios asked. Azura refused, but she realized they would not let her off the hook that easily and she could not leave this world without their permission. She gave me the bottle and said I had to search for Lorne and ask for his help. I asked why she was giving me the bottle, because I already had one. Each one of us carried a bottle in case of emergencies. She used to say that ending up in the desert wasn’t the best situation, but it was better ending up in the wrong hands. Anyway, she explained that I might need to travel here more than one time. When we were about to leave, they caught us, poisoned Azura so that she could not fight, and took us to the Oasis. There's a big prison there, the biggest in our world. They walked away from me to open the cell, Azura shouted at me to use the jar, and I came here. I survived and returned to Arvel.

  “I didn't know where Lorne was, and in the meantime, I met Zauber. I never liked him, but it was a good opportunity to get access to things that could help me locate Lorne and Kyla. And that's how it was; I discovered them a little while ago, and since then, he's been stationed in the Oasis. I wanted to go there, but Theo showed up. When I saw him come in and hand a paper to Zauber saying that the sermerios had sent him, I didn’t know what to do. I didn't want to leave him, and I told Lorne that Zauber was doing what Azura refused. Every time he injected something into Theo, I wanted to do something... but I'm not as tough as I'd like to be. Recently, Kyla wrote me a letter and said that Lorne thinks the only way to save Azura is with the help of humans, and in return, he would bring them back to life, safe and sound. I told Theo that we could go together, but he didn’t want to... I thought that if Zauber was busy with you and that fugitive... I hoped maybe I could get Theo out of there.”

  Hubert noticed that her eyes were tearing up and he couldn’t get angry; he only felt pity for her.

  “But you reminded me of her. When I helped her with something important, she would say I was her angel. I was not just a companion to her; we're friends… and thinking about her in that prison...” Habel hugged her knees and sank her head into them, almost disappearing.

  Hubert approached her and gave her a hug. They said nothing else and soon fell asleep. When they woke up, Theo was sleeping near them.

  After that day, they had to stop walking for a while; a strong storm invaded the area where they were. However, this was good, because they drank a lot of water and filled the canteens. One thing they’d taken with them before they left Habel's house was a small tent. The three of them didn’t fit inside—mainly because of Habel's wings—but in the storm, they had to squeeze into it anyway.

  “Luckily, we have beetles and one snake to eat,” Hubert declared, trying to encourage them. Theo's mood seemed to have improved; at least he didn’t quarrel with anyone.

  Two days later, they were around
the fire, the night was cold, and their empty stomachs would not stop bothering them.

  Suddenly, Habel pointed to the sky, saying, “What is that?”

  As they looked up at the sky, they watched something catching fire and falling.

  “It looks like a balloon! Maybe we should go there and see if anyone needs help,” Hubert suggested.

  “We already have enough problems,” Theo replied.

  “People might be hurt!” Hubert replied.

  “It doesn’t matter; it's not our problem! We have to get to the Oasis; I can’t stand to wander in this desert anymore! This is not the time to play the hero…” Theo was cut off by the echo of screams.

  “I will not stay here listening to this and doing nothing.” Without waiting for a reply, Hubert ran towards the smoke.

  “What happened to you?” Habel asked Theo. “It’s not our problem if people are dying?”

  “I shouldn’t be here! If I go back now, maybe there is still time for Zauber to accept me again, and I will not die.”