Beyond Nothing

Chapter Seven

Kea glances around him, confusion evident on his face. Finding the location to be correct, he steps forward, picking up a clod of earth and throwing it at a tree in frustration, where it explodes into powdery soil.

It occurs to me, later than it probably should, that he was never here. He rescued me from the cat an indeterminable distance from this location, and to my knowledge never saw where my ship crashed. I suppose he must have found it before he came to me.

I run my fingers over the scorched chunk of the tree, staring at the soot that stains them when I draw my hand back. I wipe it on my trousers and try to think of what we should do next.

My ship is gone. My only way home, may last chance. I feel my eyes well up suddenly, having to blink back the tears and swallow the lump in my throat.

There must be another way. I remember Kea telling me that many never make their way home – many, not none. There must at least be a chance.

Maybe I'm clinging to threads. Maybe I should just give up.

I push the thoughts back down. I've come this far, and I'm not turning back now. There's got to be something we can do.

Kea turns to me. He must have been having the same thoughts I had, as he says, 'There's another way.'

Hope rises inside me. 'What is it? Why didn't you tell me before?'

'I wasn't going to tell you unless it was absolutely necessary, which I think it is, now. It's a long shot, and probably won't work. But it's something.'

Silva catches on. She slumps, sighing, 'It won't work. The Skylights, right? It won't work.'

'The Skylights?' I ask.

'It's difficult to explain,' Kea says, 'They're coloured lights that flash across the sky. People used to say that if you stood under them and wished hard enough, they would show you another world. If you touched one while the other world was still showing, you would be transported there. I could fly you up. The problem is, they were one of the most colourful things on this planet, and one of the first that the Umbra took power from. I'm not sure if they even exist anymore, let alone have the energy to transport someone.'

'Then what can we do? If they're gone, isn't it hopeless?'

'No...' Silva says slowly, 'There is a chance. If he's thinking the same thing I am, then the only way to get you home is to talk to the Umbra.'

'I was thinking kill her, actually.' Kea cuts in.

Silva glares at him, then continues. 'If she releases a certain amount of energy in the area, it could kick start the Skylights again. The problem is, she may not even give us time to talk to her before she drains us of colour.'

I shake my head. 'That doesn't matter. I'd rather be dead than not go home. I understand if you guys don't want to come with me, but I'm going.'

'Are you kidding?' Silva laughs, 'Of course I'm coming with you! This'll be fun! Wouldn't miss it for the world.'

Kea groans. 'Alright, I'll come. If only to keep you two alive.'

'So...' I say, 'How are we going to get there? Can we call Haggerd back, or what?'

Silva laughs. 'Oh, honey.' She says, 'It's a lot simpler than that. We walk.'

We walk all day, only stopping at noon for some of Kea's biscuits and to drink from a sparkling stream that runs through the woods. The trek is long, but easy, over a massive stretch of flat ground. The Umbra has set up her home on the side of a small mountain, over the other side of the forest.

As we walk, various creatures investigate us. Some, Kea threatens with his bow until they leave; others, he allows to come almost close enough to touch us. One, a long-legged deer-like animal with a snowy white coat and tiny branching horns running down its spine, lets Silva stroke its neck. When I move closer, however, it skitters away, clawed feet light on the leaves.

'They sense that I am almost one of them,' Silva says.

The animals behave the same around Kea, treating him like one of them.

Silva stares at an emerald beetle and sighs. 'I wish we could find something I can use,' she says, 'All of these animals are too small or too weak to carry a person. If I could find an Ursta, or a Forest Beast, or even a Giga-bird, then everything would be so much easier. I could turn into one and you could ride on my back – we would move so much faster!'

To the disappointment of my aching legs, no such animal appears.

The forest pales as we grow closer to our destination, fading until everything around us is glaring white. It becomes difficult to see where to put my feet, and I stumble over unseen rocks and hillocks that blend into their surroundings.

I squint, trying to get a grip on where we are.

The trees thin out, a small mountain rises in the distance, pale against the lilac sky. I can just make out the outline of a small house, a plume of smoke rising from the chimney. Strangely, the house doesn't seem to have been affected like the surrounding terrain has, the bricks remaining a solid slate grey and the thatch a dull brown.

As we get closer, I can pick out more details – such normal things, hardly what I would expect from the home of a world destroyer. A dull metal lattice over the windows. A trough of flowers, as unaffected as the house, calling out in rainbow hues. A wicker bird standing proud atop the roof. The doorknocker, wrought into an elaborate rose.

Such tiny, personal things.

We stand before the worn wooden door, almost not knowing what to do next. Tentatively, glancing at the faces of my friends for confirmation of my actions, I step forward and knock on the door. The rose knocker makes a delicate clang.

'Don't come in!' A woman calls out to us.

I pause. 'Why not?'

There is silence on the other side of the door. Eventually, she speaks again. 'Sorry, I'm not sure what to do when someone actually listens to my warning. This doesn't happen very often. If you come in, you'll die.'

'What do you mean?'

'I mean, if you come in, I'll kill you.'

Silva steps up. 'Can't you just... not kill us?'

'No. That's the problem. I can't not kill you. I try to explain this to every person who comes to kill me, and they never listen. They step through that door and they look into my eyes and I drain them of their colour. They run, and they tell the first person who finds them, and they die. My legend grows.' She gives a bitter laugh. 'It's a vicious cycle, really. The worse the stories about me grow, the more people come, and the worse the stories get.'

Kea's expression has been growing stormier with every word she says. He finally burst out with 'And what do you want? Do you want us to feel sorry for you? Because you won't get that. You came to this world to destroy it, and now you are. The people will die either way! What does it matter to you whether you do it directly? Can you not bear to see their faces?'

'Do not speak of things you know so little about, boy!' Her voice is laced with anger, and I shiver at the coldness.

Silva speaks again. 'Is there a reason we shouldn't blame you for the deaths that have been, and the ones that will come? You certainly make it sound like there is.'

'There is a reason, actually. Not one that anyone has ever stuck around long enough to hear before. I can tell you, if you would like. It would be nice, to take the weight of my troubles off my chest. Let you carry some of the burden.'

'Oh, the burden is all yours,' says Kea. 'And it will remain so.'

I place a placating hand on his arm. 'We'll hear you out.' I say to the door. 'Will it take long?'

She laughs, dry and cold. 'A thousand years and a day.'

'I don't understand.'

'You weren't meant to.' She replies. 'Now sit down, and listen to me.'