Chapter 27 Against All Odds

“Why do you keep coming back to save us?” Asmadis releases me from the grasp of his not-so-strong hands but stays on top of me, just the way we fell on the ground.

“I don’t know.” I shake my head. If I could get a coin for every time they said “you’ve come back”. Well, forget the coin. So many questions. I need at least one answer.

“Frankly,” Asmadis runs his hand on my cheek. “I’ve always loved you, Tensartis. Your picture is on every wall of every house on Blisperada. We need your wisdom again. Let’s make it the last time.”

Now, the funny thing is, no one ever accused me of being wise before! But the strange uneasy feeling is telling me it won’t be the last time. In order to stop running in circles you need not be “saved”, but to understand where you keep on making the same mistake.

Suddenly Asmadis jumps off of me, or, rather falls, his wings are a blanket, tossed in the air.

“Wow, a chronicler!” He sighs, looking directly over me.

“What?” I turn around, finding myself face to face with Immaul.

‘Sorry. I got here as fast as I could.”

I’m so not used to anyone reacting to Immaul, as people cannot see him. But kribers can. Here everyone also knows that arkchils are the chroniclers from a lone planemo, busy with recording as much as they can to turn the quantity of information into quality of understanding.

It’s just that kribers, apparently, are not used to seeing one of these in person.

“I’m here and I have a plan. Are you in?” He glances at Asmadis sternly.

“I might as well be… Because I’m already out!” He points sadly to the collapsed hill.

“Then tell us about the medication you believe is a cure for Relemill.” Immaul says and disappears in a blink of an eye.

Several kribers walk up to us. They start talking to Asmadis about the bombing, and that if it was not for me telling it was a lone pilot without an order, they’d have to evacuate the whole area. It feels good, they say, to be safe, for as long as Tensartis is here.

I have a strange thought about how the leader of Blisps is easy-going, and not stuck up. Also, he is so willing to help me with my problems, when he could just keep me hostage. And what about the unknown device with orange energy Pieris was talking about?

There is some noise in the distance, and the just-collapsed part of the hill starts moving. Asmadis and I, as well as a lot of other kribers run there, and watch in amazement as Immaul, hanging in the air, slowly raises his wings, and something gets lifted from under the ground. The arkchil lowers his wings and that something lands nearby, moon and shadows playing on its smooth sides.

“My flyer!” Asmadis shakes his head in disbelief and runs to his machine. “Thank you!”

“No problem.” Immaul bows to the wide-eyed crowd in a theatrical manner, and everyone claps their hands. “Now, tell Demi where the medicine is!”

“I’ll just take you home.” Asmadis stuns us with the answer.

He shakes the soil off the side of his machine and gets inside. I clamber in after him.

“You can’t just do that!!” I protest, watching him push buttons with a shaky hand.

“Forgive me, Tensartis, I was desperate to stop the bombings when I lied to you about the medicine. There is none. This is it!”

We flyup in the air, over the smoldering ruins of the destroyed hill, and into the starlit sky.

My heart feels hollow. It’s an unusual feeling for me, as I always feel something. Now I’m in so much pain over the fact that the ghostly hope is gone, that I somehow made myself empty.

“But…” I begin.

“Please do not pressure me for any more details. I’ll take you to Kallitris. The war will go on. You go where you came from.”

We fly in silence and I stare at the huge purple moon. The desperation sinks in. Why? All of this – in vain?!

It gets windy, and Asmadis pulls up the windows. I’d have enjoyed the feeling of flight above the unknown, mystic landscape, if my expectations were not shattered like that. The angst of it is killing me. The vision of dying Relemill takes over me, and I cry. I let him down.

The kriber’s heart is also heavy. It is obvious, that every move is difficult for him. He lied to me? That’s impossible. He was telling the truth. I knew it. What happened to his mood?

The air between us suddenly feels denser and gets darker.

“Would you please put your doubts aside and finally explain yourself? The medicine is there. All we need to do – is go and get it.” Says a familiar voice.

Immaul?

“No!” Answers Asmadis sharply. “It is too dangerous. I don’t know what I was thinking, when I approved of the plan to take Tensartis! If he dies attempting to get to where the lab is, Kallitris will destroy the whole Blisperada, and for a good reason!”

“Unfortunately, you have no choice. Look at your dashboard.”

Asmadis’ face gets distorted with dismay, as he looks at the gadgets on the dashboard of his “flyer”.

“Chronicler! What did you do? We need to fly North back to Komkaran! But instead…”

“I can’t control your equipment, but I can push it off its course.”

‘NO!!” Asmadis screams, and hits button after button, apparently to no avail. We only fly faster into the light of the lilac-purple moon that looks at us apprehensively.

“Why is the machine telling me that we’re now headed West, to the “cursed lands”? What does that mean?” I say, unsure if I heard it right.

Kriber turns to me, and the darkness in his eye holes is swirling like two little maelstroms, flashing blue sparks. Wow.

“We are?” His voice trembles. “Then kiss your butt goodbye!”

“It’s not anatomically possible in his species, Asmadis.” Immaul appears outside of the machine, hanging in the air in front of it, but his voice is here with us.

“Please calm down.” The arkchil comes closer, obstructing the view of the moon, his mesmerizing eyes are on the leader of Blisps. “It’s a dilemma of both trying to stop the war and not to endanger Tensartis. Your move to bring him here was calculated well. But you lost your faith due to the ill will of a rogue pilot. It was scary to have Tensartis killed while in your custody, but it is not a reason to abort the mission. Get your faith back. Let’s go!”

Asmadis growls and pulls down the side window. The gust of fresh air flies in and messes up my hair. It even brings some aromatic smells from the plants on the ground. It’s hard to believe that all this beauty is washed by acid rains.

What did the kriber say about the lab? There is some kind of facility in these woods? I look down, and it’s wilderness as far as the eye can see. Long glens are partially filled with certain liquid that reflects the moon and the stars. Other places in the woods shine with some lights that appear and go out right away. Seems creepy. I get a vision of bogs, marshes, stretching for miles. Is that where we’re are going?

Yes. It is. These marshes are filled with powerful energy, I see figures in the mist. Is Asmadis afraid of these parts? Let it be, I don’t care. I need to try everything to save Relemill. Not in vain did I drag him out of slavery and into another galaxy for him to just expire on Kallitris’s spaceship. Oh, yeah. Maybe the ol’ sheirer can help us.

“No” Immaul answers my thoughts aloud. “You can’t withstand his pressure, he’ll just take you away and the Koms will only be too happy to continue the bombing.”

“Damn” I sigh.

“You guys leave me no choice but to land in one of the abandoned settlements. From there we can get to the laboratory in the woods. It’s a suicide. It’s my fault. I’m truly sorry.” Asmadis frowns. With that just about all of his face gets wrinkly in a very funny way. I’d laugh if he was not so distraught.

“Why is it abandoned?” I wonder.

“Because it was relocated due to unexplained phenomena.” Immaul appears inside of our machine and puts his wing around my shoulder.