The Warden

Chapter 21

Lowering the pack, she shook her head to aid in the eviction of the odor. Masis had arisen and staggered a few paces forward. In her mindeye, his lifelight kept getting darker and darker.

Still not ready, she thought, as one might test something while cooking and be dissatisfied with the results.

He had to be willing to throw it all away, to be ready to end it all. Then when he had nothing left, when not even his life held value, she would remake him. At that point, he would not resist. He might harbor some feelings of resentment for a time, but with nothing left to him Kyla would fill him with hot purpose once again and—Werold and Wilo willing—unleash him.

Masis trudged on. Wilo kept time. His bright descent marked out the ever flowing course of the day. Summer heat warped the air about the pair, the hysteric half-wit and the foolish follower. For some stretches, Masis gathered his wits and strength and forged ahead with a single-minded doggedness. Such bouts gave Lady Kyla hope that they might make the coast before too long. Alas, such bursts of energy did not linger long. Striding forward with some black purpose in mind, Masis' head would suddenly twitch to the side as though kicked and his pace would slow. Circling him, on several of these episodes, Kyla would growl upon seeing glazed eyes and a rambling mouth.

"...killed them... my fault... foolish... arrogant... my fault... all of them..."

He never fell to the ground again, but his steps would drag when these thoughts overcame them. Each time Kyla would clench her teeth and slow.

Can we please get on with this?

The words never escaped her lips but repeatedly sounded out in her mind. Any interference on her part might distract the boy even further. She rolled her neck and the satisfying pops cracked out. Meticulously drawing in a breath, she dropped her eyelids shut at the same time. She held the air for a moment until it became stale. Lips pursed, she blew out.

Patience, you old fool, she scolded. Don't let this boy's bad habits rub off on you.

Centered, stony-faced, Kyla kept about her task. Masis' pack on her shoulder, fingers tapping out an irregular beat on the pouch on her belt, she shadowed Masis. Stop and start, start and stop. A surge. Then a creep. The distance that could have been covered in only a few hours took double if not triple to cross. Still she kept to her task.

Wilo had descended from over her head and took up a rearguard position. His long beaming gaze elongated Kyla's shadow, now more clearly discernible as the grass began to thin. They were nearing the sea cliffs. Heavy, briny air blew in from the as yet unseen ocean, but gulls could be seen in the sky, calling out to each other. They rode on the currents of air, seemingly perched in space. If Masis did what Kyla predicted he would, his body would not balance so neatly on the breeze as the birds' light wings.

Shortening even further, the grass took on an almost manicured appearance, its height not cresting the tops of Kyla's bare feet. Wilo had begun to slip under the western horizon and no longer warmed the green carpet. The individual blades cooled, a chill comfort for Kyla.

In front of her Masis kept on. Not rushing. Not lagging. He finally found a pace that seemed steady, filled with a decided purpose.

The ocean's heaving and sighing sounded out from just behind the final rise. Masis' body leaned forward on his legs, digging his feet into the slope. Kyla leapt to the top of the embankment, an easy ten feet, no more.

The sea spread out before her, several hundred feet below. If the tide had been out, the distance would have been ten times that. Dark and churning, Wilo's light no longer illuminated the waters into any shades of green or blue. The lingering sunlight showed a near black depth, constantly moving beneath the high sea cliffs that extended out of sight in either direction. Masis lifelight matched the color exactly as though spawned from the nightly waters. If he made the jump he would mix and mingle with that kindred cold until his lifelight blinked out, leaving his body to drift about on any current that chose to bear him.

This close to the open water, Kyla's sweat dried salty on her skin. Little wisps of hair that had escaped her tight braid swirled about her face in the evening breeze.

Masis' efforts brought him alongside Kyla's position, only some four or five paces distance. She stood there unflinching, concealed now completely from his eyes and mindeye, the hot sear from her lifelight stinging her mental grasp. His eyes could never see her. No matter how hard he might have tried.

He didn't immediately walk to the cliff's edge. Instead, he stood there, eyes fixed on the fine line where ocean met sky, Wilo's light still present enough to reveal that distant boundary. The wind worked its way into his locks, twisting and mussing a few strands not held down with grease. His hands hung at his sides. To him he stood alone.

Kyla moved closer. Masis could have reached out and touched her.

This is how I did it, she thought, remembering back to another far distant evening. I was this close to him and he never knew. I reached out...

Kyla's hand extended as though to stroke Masis' cheek. She snatched it back.

I had to do it! Charlan had corrupted him and the Wardenhood. I had to. There was no other way.

Masis stepped forward, his toes rested just behind the edge.

"I'm sorry," said Masis, his voice profoundly calm. "I'm sorry."

In Kyla's mindeye, Masis' lifelight plunged into its profoundest darkness.

"This will make things right."

His words died away. The wind gusted along the cliff's face wailing out in the fading light. The sea grumbled hungrily below. Eyes closed, Masis began to step into empty space.

Kyla kicked the sole of his boot.

Masis sprawled onto his backside with a thump. The palms of his hands pressed into the grass made spongy by the abundance of moss mingled therein. Sitting there, his eyes wide with incomprehension, Masis just stared out over the waves, now darker and hungrier than before.

Kyla frowned. Didn't you feel me kick your boot you numb skull?

Just one more thing she had to work out of him. If the list got any longer, she was liable to tell Werold what she could do with her precious vessel in less than kind terms.

Masis rose. Kyla's eyes tracked his movement.

"No. No," said Masis. He offered a reassuring tone to himself. Though his mood still was somber, his attitude had become more resolute. No tears blinded his sight. No shuddery breaths jarred his thoughts. Stillness made him more solid in his resolution.

At least he's not a coward, thought Kyla, crossing her arms.

"I'll see Saret soon," said Masis. "I'll see her and do no more harm."

His foot rose. Kyla kicked it, harder this time. Again, his backside met the earth with a solid smack. He let out a primal howl.

"Why by Wilo's light can I not do this?! What more can there be for me to do?" Masis knelt toward the ocean. Hands clenched at his sides, his bellows barely departed his lips before they diluted with the surf's monstrous voice. "I have failed my family. I have failed those that thought I could and would protect them. I have failed even myself. What more, Werold, what more can you have for me? Everything has already been taken from me. Just let me die!" His head sank to his chest and dropped his voice to a whisper. "Just let me die."

In Kyla's mindeye, Masis' lifelight dwindled to all but black, stilling into a stagnant quagmire. She handled his seax and had half-a-mind to give it to him.

She shook the thought away and drew in a deep, steadying gulp of air.

A single brilliant, golden thread ignited in Masis' lifelight. A flash of determination. Muscles tensed beneath his skin. His fingers gripped into the sod.

Kyla grasped the seax.

Like a spring released, Masis threw himself forward. Fingers tore away from the sod as his body launched forward.

Kyla struck him over the head with the pommel of his own weapon. His eyes and body rolled up on themselves. His body fell limply toward the water a hundred or so feet below.

"If he survives this," said Kyla, dropping Masis' belongings, "I might kill him myself."

She dove off the cliff.

*DON'T FORGET TO VOTE*