The Inheritance of Wrath, page 15
“You’re smart to hide. Who knows who I might hurt next?”
Jaya stepped out from behind the tree and walked over to him. “I am not afraid,” she said. “We all have different struggles that come along with going to Empyrean and coming back. It can take some getting used to before you can truly understand what is happening to you. I presume that you simply made a miscalculation. You assumed it was better to give into the struggle than to fight it.”
“How did you overcome your struggles? I mean, I don’t even know what sort of struggle you have to begin with.”
“It doesn’t matter. It’s all the same. The more we give in to our struggles, the more we lose ourselves. We must deal with them directly, or they will wind up in control of us instead of the other way around.”
“But when I was facing Nanuq, the only reason I was able to keep focused and take him down was because I gave in to the anger. When I allowed it to take over, all my inhibitions were gone, and I was the most effective fighter I could possibly be.”
“You are wrong,” she said. “Earlier at the bar you did the same thing. When you lose control, you don’t only hurt yourself. You hurt everyone around you. The consequences are multiplied. Your effectiveness as a fighter is diminished.”
“I know that now!” Liwanu said. Jaya took a step back. “I’m sorry. I just… don’t know how to face everything the right way. What if I fail? What if I’m called on to take the shot, but miss? I don’t know how much more failure I can stand.”
“Probably a lot more.” Liwanu scrunched his face in confusion. “What I mean is, it’s okay if you’re a failure.”
“I’m not sure that you’re helping.”
“Well, it’s okay, because I too am a failure. And so is everyone in this group. My own failures go beyond my powers. I have virtually no social abilities. Ling helped me with that. And now she’s gone. I don’t know what to do without her, but I’m sure I’ll find the right answer.”
Liwanu relaxed his hands and stood up. “Thank you, Jaya. I do appreciate your help. And everyone’s help. But I know that it won’t be easy for me to trust myself and my own abilities. Not for a while, at least.”
“I don’t know that anybody really trusts themselves. Put your faith in your friends instead. Now let’s head back so everyone knows that you’re okay.”
“All right.” The two friends walked together. A crisp wind whipped through the trees and blew through their hair. Liwanu coughed. “You know, if Ling isn’t here to help you anymore, maybe Zakiya can help. She’s one of the smartest and most helpful people I’ve ever met.”
“I know she is the most logical person to turn to next,” Jaya said. “But can I tell you a secret?”
“Sure.”
“Zakiya scares me.” With a fit of laughter, Liwanu turned and smiled at Jaya’s expressionless face.
“I know she can be domineering at times, but she does have a sweet side as well.” Jaya nodded. As the wind increased its speed, Liwanu rubbed his arms. Perhaps she was right when she said that he could rely on his friends more. Outside of Tummu, he had never known any real friends. But when he thought about it, Jaya and the others were just that.
After most of the camp had gone to bed, Jaya decided to make her way to Zakiya’s tent. Liwanu was right. With Ling gone, she needed somebody to talk to. Like she had told Liwanu before, it was important to logically address one’s own emotions. Even if those emotions were unpleasant and vile. She looked at the tent and raised her fist to knock but realized it would be ineffective on the thin canvas. After picking up a nearby log, she knocked on it as loud as she considered feasible.
“Is somebody knocking?” Zakiya asked from within the tent.
“I am,” Jaya said. “I thought it would be rude to enter before doing so.” After pulling the flap to her tent back, Zakiya eyed the log in Jaya’s hand.
“You can come in. But please, leave the log.” Jaya set the log down vertically beside the entrance and entered the small tent. Perhaps someone else would wish to visit that night and need to knock. A few candles burned within the tent, and two neatly packed bags hid under a freshly made cot. After gulping and biting her lip, she gathered up the courage to speak.
“I find it important to talk openly about certain things. Ling used to be my confidant when it came to some more sensitive matters, but now that she has left us, I was hoping you might be willing to fill her place.”
“I might be able to help you with that,” Zakiya said. “Although I’m not entirely sure what sort of sensitive matters you need help with.”
“I mostly mean the struggles that come with visiting Empyrean. We each have different sets of temptations after going there. You also have had this experience, correct?”
“You could say that. For me, I believe it has something to do with being prideful. That’s what the professor surmised, anyway. What about you?”
Jaya’s left eye twitched. As her hands clenched tightly, she took a deep breath. “It’s rather embarrassing, actually. As you probably know, I am considered by many to be strange. Social norms don’t make any sense to me and I prefer to keep to myself. You can imagine my shock and horror when I went to Empyrean for the first time. My experience was very different from most.”
“How so?”
“Most people seem to experience things that are objectively horrifying. But going by how a lot of people feel, my version of Empyrean may be considered pleasurable to others. But I abhorred it. I still feel sick when I think about it. It was… well… sensual. Unclothed men and women swooned all around me. They grabbed at me with their unclean hands.” She shivered as the images she worked hard to forget reentered her mind.
“Oh?” Zakiya asked. “I don’t know if anyone would have been comfortable in that situation. I for one would have been mortified.”
“Really? Well that is good news. I’m very pleased that I decided to speak with you.”
“So, wait a minute. If that’s what it’s like for you in Empyrean, then wouldn’t that mean that your struggle would be something like what you witnessed? Something sexual?”
“You are correct,” Jaya said. Her left eye twitched even worse. “You see, I never cared about such things until my first visit. And now I feel myself dealing with the issue of lust. I go from disliking any and all social interactions to feeling all these things that make no sense to me whatsoever. It still feels so wrong and unnatural, but it is there. And thus, I needed Ling’s help. Although I didn’t share her spiritual beliefs, I found comfort in her wisdom. Additionally, believe it or not, she had a similar experience and faced the same struggles.”
The expression on Zakiya’s face changed from mild curiosity to intense interest. “I thought each person’s struggle was their own. You both had the same struggle?”
“That is correct.”
“Well, that’s extremely interesting. It could provide some insight into what it means to be Empyreal. Do you know why the professor would refrain from sharing that information?”
“I asked him to keep it a secret,” Jaya said. “As you can imagine, this particular piece of information is rather sensitive. I did not wish for the others to have knowledge about what I’m going through.”
“Forget I asked. That makes perfect sense,” Zakiya said with a smile. “Now please. Tell me whatever you need to. I’d be happy to help.”
Chapter 16
As two weeks passed by, Liwanu tried again and again to shake the guilt that burdened him after striking his own friend. Tummu recovered quickly, and constantly reassured him not to dwell on it too much, but it wasn’t something that could simply be forgotten. The dynamic of their relationship had changed. It hurt. And when compiled with the weight leftover from his father’s death, it seemed at times too much to carry. It seemed as if whether by overt action or inaction, he was bound to hurt those he cared for.
One day, as the sun hit its apex, Zakiya called for a halt. Everybody sat down for a quick meal, not far from a streambed. Liwanu opened his pack and took out a stale slice of bread. It didn’t take him long to eat it, and being far from satisfied, he decided to head to the creek and try his luck at fishing.
When he got to the stream, he noticed that Jaya was already there picking blackberries. “Great find,” he said as he approached her. She turned around and nodded as he adjusted the bow on his back. He rarely went anywhere without it, along with a quiver full of arrows. Even with perfect aim, it was still important to practice whenever possible.
“Yes, it is quite rare to find these berries still available this time of year,” Jaya said. “Unfortunately, by my calculations, I will likely need to fill two baskets to have enough. One basket for Niccolo, the other for everyone else.” Liwanu laughed lustily and after a few moments, Jaya joined in as well. As soon as Liwanu stopped laughing, she abruptly stopped. With a shrug he started his search for worms. He hoped the weather hadn’t grown too cold, or else they would be rather deep in the ground.
After several minutes of looking, Liwanu gave up. “I have some homemade flies back in my pack,” he said. “I think I might try some of those. I don’t have the right ones for this season, but maybe if the trout are hungry enough, they’ll bite.”
“Due to my lack of fishing knowledge, I don’t understand what you’re saying, but good luck,” Jaya said. “I’ll probably be right behind you. I need to empty this basket before it gets too heavy for me to carry.”
When Liwanu headed back to the camp, he was surprised at how quiet it was. He wondered if everyone had taken a nap during their break. After walking onto the scene, he saw that every member of the group, except for Jaya and himself, lay haphazardly about the area, completely unconscious and motionless. He blinked a few times and rubbed his eyes, unsure of what was happening.
His attention was grabbed by a flash of movement to his right, and he instinctively ducked. A thin needle flew over his head and stuck into a tree behind him, quivering furiously. When he looked around to see where it may have come from, nothing out of the ordinary could be seen. Another flash of movement caught his eye. Once again, he narrowly dodged a thin needle.
After leaping to a nearby tree, he stood straight up behind it, back towards the camp. “Who are you? What do you want?” he called out.
“Have you forgotten me already? After that one incredible night we spent together? Just you, me and your poor dead dad.”
“Hiroki,” Liwanu said. The anger was there, as strong as ever. But he forced it down. It was not the time to lose control. He grimaced as he notched an arrow to his bow and stepped out from behind the tree.
There was nobody there. Recognizing the folly in staying still for long, he sprinted toward a larger tree a short distance away. It would provide more cover. A few more needles whizzed through the air, two missing completely and one sticking in his bow. Just before reaching the tree, a needle passed so closely to his ear that he could hear a high-pitched buzzing noise, like a wasp on the attack.
Without bothering to take aim, Liwanu let fly with his arrow and drew a second one. With each passing moment of uncertainty, his anxiety grew.
Effortlessly he scaled the tree he was using for protection, hoping to get a better view of the camp. He used the leafy branches to protect himself from incoming needles, hoping to force Hiroki to take a different approach.
What looked like a thin shadow approached him. His plan seemed to be working. Perhaps a little too well. Hiroki tucked his arms into his side and produced several steel knives. A thin, leafy shield wouldn’t protect Liwanu from those. As two of the daggers whirled through the air toward him, he dropped from the tree, breaking through several branches before crashing into the forest floor.
A gash in his shoulder sent pain riveting through his neck. He grunted angrily. The pain was pushed to the back of his mind as blood seeped out onto his brown jerkin. Forcefully, he pushed against the earth with his powerful legs.
As he regained his footing, he drew another arrow and notched it to his bowstring. Controlled breaths helped slightly in diminishing his anger. A soft swish of moving grass to his left alerted him to his adversary’s location. The arrow he loosed flew with great speed toward its target, but Hiroki twisted his small frame in an unnatural way. Harmlessly the arrow passed by him. Then he dashed straight forward.
Liwanu didn’t have time to be angry. He didn’t have time to react at all. The speed with which Hiroki approached was incredible. After blinking, Hiroki’s grinning face was only a meter away.
Jaya leapt forward, whirling a unique weapon that Liwanu had never seen before. It was a long chain with a sharp knife attached to the end. She twirled it expertly all around herself, stopping the man dead in his tracks. As she moved forward, spinning the weapon over and over, her body twisted and contorted to avoid the blade. She leapt forward with one hard swing, which hit its mark. Liwanu heard a strange sound, as if an animal had been wounded; a sort of growl and shriek combined. With much less stealth than before, but an equal amount of speed, Hiroki sprinted away.
“That was Hiroki,” Jaya said with a gasp. Her eyes went wide and her face paled. She looked toward Liwanu and slowly shook her head. Heavy breaths caused his chest to heave and his fists quivered angrily. “Wait. I know you have every right to be angry, but now is not the time. Take a moment to survey your surroundings.”
The two fighters looked all around at their fallen companions. As quickly as Liwanu had grown angry, he became worried. He ran to Tummu and checked for a pulse. One could be felt, but it was faint.
A large shadow fell over Tummu as Liwanu tried to figure out what was wrong. He glanced up into the sky. To his surprise, Ling was floating above him, about ten meters in the air. He hardly recognized her at first, given her haggard appearance, but who else had the power of flight?
“I could feel all of you in great distress,” Ling said as she lowered herself slowly to the ground. Without another word, she went to each hurting member of the group and administered a simple draught to cure each of them of their poisoning.
“Thank you, Ling,” Liwanu said. She looked over her shoulder at him before floating into the air once more. “Why don’t you stay with us? You don’t look well. We can help you.”
“You cannot help me,” Ling said. “I have already lived my life in its entirety. I believed in peace and hope, that with those two things, life on Earth could be complete and fulfilling. I was wrong.”
Liwanu simply stared up at her, unsure how to respond. With a frown, Ling sped off through the sky.
“Was that Ling’s voice I heard just now?” Professor Baker asked as he sat up. “Has she finally returned?”
Liwanu went to his side and helped him to his feet. “Only briefly. What’s important is that you are well. Is everybody else ok?” One by one, the others regained consciousness. Tummu rubbed his eyes and looked all around.
“What happened?” he asked.
“Well, I went to the creek to catch some fish. When I returned, I came back here and found all of you passed out around the camp.” Liwanu looked directly at the professor and clenched his fists. “It was him. The man that killed my father. Hiroki almost wiped us out, all by himself.”
For the rest of the day, Liwanu caught himself looking backward as often as forward. Before long, the sun lowered on the horizon, and he helped set up camp in silence. He didn’t feel much like sleeping, so he decided to sit down by the fire. A few minutes passed before Professor Baker joined him. The professor wordlessly filled a tin cup with water and placed it on some coals next to the fire. When bubbles formed, he dropped in a tea bag.
“Professor,” Liwanu said after a while, “why do people tend to react so differently after going to Empyrean?”
Professor Baker took a small sip of his drink and peered at Liwanu over his glasses. It was a look reminiscent of one his own father would give, but devoid of the constant judgement. Instead there was warmth and acceptance. “I assume you’re referencing the changes in behavior one experiences?”
“Exactly,” Liwanu said. “Why do I get so angry? Nobody else seems to lose control like I do. And I know we all have different issues, but mine is the only one that seems so damaging.”
“I can assure you that you are not alone. Everyone that has come back from Empyrean brings back a darker side to their powers that they must live with. A sort of temptation.”
“But I’m the only one that gets angry?”
“The only one that I know of.”
“Well, that makes me angry,” Liwanu said. The professor raised an eyebrow and the two shared a laugh. “I am very happy, though, that you found me. I don’t know what I would have done without you appearing in my village on that day. By the way, how did you know to find me there? My village is small and remote, and you just so happened to meet me the same day that I discovered my abilities. That could not have been a coincidence.”
“Right you are,” Professor Baker said. He lowered his glasses and his eyes seemed to glow a deep golden color in the firelight. “I suppose I can trust you, Liwanu. I consider you to be a good friend and a trustworthy young man. You see, I did not stumble upon anyone here by accident. I have a book of genealogies that has led me to different Empyreals. It has also led me astray on multiple occasions, but in the end, it has proven rather impressive in finding people such as yourself. I cannot, however, explain how I happened to be in your village on the exact same day that you first visited Empyrean. Perhaps there was some level of divine intervention.”
“That’s incredible,” Liwanu said. “Where did you find such a book?”
“It was kept at the library in the school that I used to teach at. The writer explained the possibility of specific genes having the possibility to expand upon a normal person’s inherent capabilities. Something would need to happen to unlock this potential, however. That catalyst was the visitation to Empyrean. A connection could then be made between the individual and the ancestors that gave him or her those spectacular genes.”
