Call of Descent
Chapter Twenty-Three

AfterReniko left Malik, she had returned to the apartment that the hologram hadprovided. As she entered the door, she stripped off the bloodied clothing andran into the washroom where, surprisingly, a bath awaited her. Withoutquestioning it, she slipped into the warm water hoping to drown her thoughts.This city held so much information, so much change and none of it had been whatReniko was really looking for.

“Areyou upset with your choice?” the hologram asked as it flickered into existence.

Renikoimmediately thought of the two doorways: one was her way home and the othergave her Malik. With that in mind she answered.

“No,I did what I had to do.” The answer held true for her encounter with Kruok aswell and she sighed with a sudden relief. Sometimesdeath is a release and life is the prison.

“Wedo not understand why you have chosen as you have. However the killing of theRük has proven useful.” Reniko shuddered at the thought, trying to erase thepossibilities that rose unbidden into her mind with the hologram’s comment.

“Wehave come across an item that may prove useful to us as well as you. It is adata cell. We wish you to take it on your journey. We understand that you wishto travel to Tordaskar and Fharlasina. If you do so, please take the data cell.It will help us re-establish our connection with the archives in those twolocations.”

“Whatdoes it do?” Reniko asked as she lifted the object from the spot that thehologram had pointed to. It was a round silver sphere the size of her palm, thesurface of which was riddled with small rectangular pieces that fit togethersmoothly. She turned it in her hands noticing the same chaotic puzzle coveredthe whole circumference of the object.

“Itis a communication device amongst other things. If you were to take it with youwe could keep in contact. That small cell can hold almost as much data as wehave in Reflaydun, though at present it seems to be empty. We have beentracking its transmissions. It seems that the deceased Rük was using this tocontact her superiors.”

“Howdoes it work?”

“Itis voice activated. We have coded it to respond to your voice, as well as yourcompanion Malik’s. All other access will be denied unless you request it.”

“I’llkeep that in mind,” Reniko said. She set the sphere back on the shelf andremoved herself from the bath.

“Wehave provided you with a new set of clothing,” the hologram said. Reniko ambledback into her room. A dress of a deep blue lay upon the bed, as well as thesleeveless surcoat that Malik had given to her in the Mistfall Caverns. Shedonned the attire and proceeded to the foyer. Malik was still not back. AsReniko paced uncomfortably in the foyer, the hologram appeared once againinstructing her that it would be best if she had a meal while she waited forher friend’s return. Glad for the distraction she went into the dining area andstarted the meal in front of her.

Asthe meal finished, Malik had still not returned. Unable to sit still and waitidly she wandered into her room where her backpack sat against the wall.Sitting cross-legged on the floor she rummaged through it in hopes of replaceingsomething to make the time go by faster. After pulling everything out andrearranging it, conveniently making more room, she tossed the bag aside andscanned the room once again. When nothing interesting caught her eye she sighedand made to get up off the floor. A voice stopped her midway.

“RelaxReniko, the more worked up you get about this, the more time will crawl.” Itwas Dertrik’s voice and it echoed only in her mind.

It was the day she had learned theimportance of patience. Dertrik had told her that he had something to give her.The Dorsalin’s were holding one of their annual parties that evening andDertrik had told her that during the party he was going to give her something.She had turned thirteen only weeks before and was still childishly impulsive.She had pestered him all day, trying to weaken Dertrik into giving it to herearly, telling him that she would simply die if she had to wait. He had notrelented, so instead she had tried to pry some sort of information from him asto what it was. His answer had been what Reniko remembered now.

“How am I supposed to relax when my mindis trying so hard to puzzle out what this thing you’ve gotten me is? You simplycan’t tell a child such as me they are going to get something and refuse to letthem know anything about it,” Reniko had replied, her speech showing she wasnot quite the child she was portraying.

“Do you remember what I taught you aboutmeditation?” Dertrik asked. They were in his study and he seated himself in thechair behind his desk.

Reniko frowned and slumped into a chairof her own. “Yes. I’ve never been very good at it. There is always so much I amsupposed to be doing. Mama doesn’t leave me much time to just sit around and donothing.”

“Well you are doing something, have youever tried telling her that?”

Reniko looked at him aghast. “I couldnever tell mama anything of the sort. Not only would she think I’m foolish butshe would figure out soon enough that I was doing it at your request, whichwould lead her to the conclusion that I am, in fact, studying the Blade.”

“I’ve never approved of your secrecywith her, Renny.”

“I know, but would you rather I told herand thus stop my lessons, or would you rather I not tell her and continue?”

“I want you to convince her to let youcome.”

“It will never happen. Just give it up.”

“If you won’t tell her I will.”

“Dare, no. I love our time together. Shewould ruin all of that. Please...”

“Only if you promise me that you’ll atleast try to do meditation.”

Grumpy from being so easily defeated,Reniko slunk from the chair and kneeled patiently on the floor. “Alright, haveit your way,” Reniko said as she slid her eyes closed.

“This is better, my student actuallylistening to my instruction,” Dertrik teased.

Reniko opened her eyes and caughtDertrik’s, sending him a vicious glance which quickly turned into a smile.

“Keep your eyes closed. Now, I don’twant you to clear your mind, only calm it. What calms you the most Reniko?”

Her eyes closed, she searched thedarkness for a calm point. She had many: riding through the woods on Shade,listening to Ava humming as she went about Reniko’s room, listening at the topof the stairs as her mother entertained--they were all things that calmed her.However, thinking about this in Dertrik’s study caused her mind to race in manydifferent directions, lost in all the memories attached to her calm moments.

“Have you found something, Reniko?”

Reniko bit her lip and sighed. “I don’tthink this is working.”

She heard Dertrik’s footsteps shift andsuddenly she felt him at her side whispering softly into her ear. “One thingthat doesn’t make you think of anything else. There has to be something.”

She clenched her eyes tightly, caught inconcentration. There had to be something.

But there was nothing. Nothing that cameinto her mind was unattached to other thoughts. She felt a slight breezewashing over her exposed skin, causing goose pimples and suddenly she feltsomething half remembered. The wind. She loved the wind more than anything elsein the world. The wind always calmed her. No matter how vicious it became, shealways felt she had some sort of control over it. Some days she even wishedthat the wind would become strong enough to pick her off the ground so shecould soar amongst the clouds and leave her confining estate behind. Her facerelaxed and so did her body. Dertrik, who had been watching the process,noticed the change instantly.

“Just let yourself go from there. You’llreplace your way.” Dertrik said softly and tiptoed out of the room shutting thedoor quietly behind him.

Reniko got lost that day. So lost, shenearly missed the party. Claire had found her on her way back with Erik, who,being but a baby, had had enough of the loud noises and large crowds. When shenoticed the study door closed, she had gone to investigate, thinking Dertrikhad also come home early from the party. When she flicked on the lights, itstartled Reniko out of her reverie and back into the world around her. Clairehad asked if anything was wrong. Reniko had just shaken her head and ran pastClaire back to her home in search of Dertrik. She found him on the outskirts ofthe crowd cradling a glass of champagne.

“Were you going to leave me there allnight?” Reniko asked, startling Dertrik who tried to hide his surprise.

“I wasn’t prepared to disturb somethingI have been trying to get you to do for years,” Dertrik said pointedly. “I havesomething to ask you.”

“Go ahead.”

“What if I said that I decided not togive you your present tonight?”

Reniko glared at him. “I would saythat’s pretty mean thing to do and you would be breaking a promise.”

“Touché.”

“So what of it?”

“Come along, I’ll give it to you.”

“You don’t have it with you?”

“It’s too big.”

“Oh bother. I’ve missed enough of theparty already. We’ll just have to wait until tomorrow.”

“Are you sure Reniko?”

“Now who’s the impatient one?” Renikoasked, cocking her head and grinning at Dertrik.

“Come on, your mother has been lookingeverywhere for you,” Dertrik said grabbing Reniko’s hand and pulling her deeperinto the crowd.

Soit was that Malik came to replace Reniko kneeling on the floor, eyes closed andvery far away from her present surroundings. Upon seeing this, he stumbled backto the doorway and turned to leave.

“I’mglad you’re back,” Reniko said loudly, halting Malik in his steps.

“I’msorry. I didn’t mean to disturb you.”

“Youdidn’t. Like I said, I’m glad you’re back.” Reniko said, standing to join Malikat the door.

“Whatwere you doing?” Malik asked as Reniko led him into the dining area.

“Waitingfor you. So, what’s going on up there?” she asked, stopping and tapping Maliklightly on the temple.

“Oh,well –” Malik hesitated.

“Doyou need more time?” Reniko asked.

“It’sjust…I need to know something.”

“Whatis it?”

“Ineed you to tell me, do you really care about what happens to us, to those ofus who live here? Because I can’t do any of this if I know all you want is togo home.”

Renikograbbed Malik by the shoulders and stared straight into his eyes. “Malik, Ipromise you that I will not leave this planet until we have found some way toliberate Vespen. You have my word. I could never turn my back on everyone here,not when there is a chance I can do something to help.”

“Iguess that means we should be planning our next move,” Malik said giving Renikoa weak smile.

“You’remade of tempered steel Malik, stronger than me,” Reniko said patting his armlightly and turning to the table that stood in front of them.

Maliksmiled, keeping his thoughts unsaid as he followed Reniko to the table. I’monly strong because of you.

Malikafter eating his meal had gone to his belongings and pulled out an array ofmaps. The first one was of Edonal Eclith, both more and less accurate thanReniko’s own copy of the map. Malik’s map had recent markings of his ownmaking, with the shale cliffs that surrounded the area of Reflaydun, as well asa few markings near the latter half of the map where cities were marked that nolonger stood. Reniko’s, however, was the only one bearing the location ofReflaydun. The next one was worn and well used, of the continent that Malik wasborn on, Mo’an Delar. Reniko marked the location of Tordaskar behind Ocean’sWall before Malik covered the map with the last one, that of Raet Serac.

“Ifigure it would be best if we headed next to Fharlasina. The easiest way to getthere would be to travel southeast to Trenasa; from there the town of Roz isjust a short flight east over the ocean. We can gather more supplies therebefore we head to Fharlasina, which is only sixteen or seventeen days away ifwe take a short cut across the plains here,” Malik said, pointing to a routethat took the group south of East Fearmon River which bordered the forestsurrounding Fharlasina.

“Malik,I think we should go south, to Tordaskar,” Reniko said.

Malikstopped his calculations and looked up at Reniko with a frown. “There is noreason for us to go there.”

“Thereis if we wish to go to Sentralon.”

“Butthat’s not our wish. Fharlasina will have more than enough information for uson the Rük. We don’t need to replace this capital city.”

“Wedo if I want to go home. Malik, it is the only place on Vespen that may stillhold a way for me to get back to Earth.”

“Ithought you said you were going to stay on Vespen? I thought you said that thisjourney wasn’t just about you getting home?”

“Itisn’t just about me getting home. I’ll keep my promise to help you liberateVespen, but I never said I was going to stay here forever. I need to get home.Going to both Tordaskar and Fharlasina is my only way of doing that.”

“Comewith me to Fharlasina. Once we replace out what we can there we’ll decide about goingto Tordaskar.”

“Ihave an idea. Since you don’t want to go to Tordaskar, why not let me go therealone. You go to Fharlasina with Orric and I’ll go to Tordaskar with Penumbra.”

“Firstof all Penumbra cannot fly, so you would never even get close to Tordaskar, andsecond, I couldn’t let you go there alone. You don’t know anything about how itis in Tordaskar, they would eat you alive worse than if I was there to helpyou.”

“Soyou’ll come?”

“Whydo you want to go there so badly? Fharlasina is much closer and I don’t have tobe thrown into doing something I don’t want to.”

“Look,I have an obligation. I promised Reflaydun that I would help it re-establishits connection with Tordaskar. I can’t do that unless we go there.”

“There’smore to it than that, I can tell.”

“Fine,if you want to know I’ll tell you. Milla and Ima talked about Tordaskarfrequently, and your talk of it has only heightened my curiosity. There is aresistance there and I want to see if we can motivate them into action. Thereis a whole city behind Ocean’s Wall, tens of thousands of people all untaintedby the hand of the Rük. I’m sure if we go there and tell them what is going onout here, they’ll want to help. We could use their help, Malik.”

“It’snot worth your time. Trust me, they won’t listen, they never will. We are onour own here.”

“Youhaven’t been back there for what? Four years now?”

“Five.”

“Five,then. A lot could have changed. Did you ever go back and at least tell themwhat was happening?”

“No.I couldn’t.”

“Wecould try telling them. If they don’t know anything about the world, no wonderthey aren’t helping.”

“It’snot that easy, Reniko.”

“Idon’t expect it would be. We don’t know anything until we try. I’m going to gowith or without you.”

“Whyare you so stubborn about this?”

“Orricwill take me there so you don’t have to go back if you don’t want to. He livedthere too, so I suspect he can protect me as well as you could.”

Malikstood up from his seat with frustration. She was impossible. Nothing he saidwould persuade her to leave Tordaskar alone.

“Wedon’t have to go there right away, Reniko. Come with me to Fharlasina and we’llgo to Tordaskar.”

“Wouldn’tyou rather get the unpleasantness over and done with first? Dertrik always toldme that it was best to suck the poison from your life right away rather thanlet it fester and corrupt.”

“Sothis is about me is it?”

“Somethingabout that place is eating at your soul, Malik. Face it and maybe you could behappy for a change,” Reniko said. She stood up and walked over to Malik whoseback was now turned to Reniko. She placed her hands on his shoulders and turnedhim to meet her face.

“You’retesting my endurance, Reniko. So much has already changed since we came here,isn’t that enough for you?”

“Thisisn’t about me, Malik, it’s about you. How long can you go on living with thathatred you bear? It’s bleeding you dry.”

Malikremained silent as he brushed past Reniko to take a seat by the map strewntable.

“Whenwe were in Mistfall, Rimca tried to persuade you to go back. She said that theRük were close to Tordaskar. Aren’t you at least a little worried about yourfamily?” Reniko pleaded. “What about your sister, Shayrah? What if somethinghappens to her? Don’t you want to be there to protect her?”

“I’llgo,” Malik whispered, halting Reniko’s questions.

Renikotook her seat next to Malik and pushed aside the maps. “Don’t do it for me, doit for you.”

Malikshook his head. “My reasons are my own.”

“Well,south it is. What’s the best way to get there?” Reniko asked pulling the map ofEdonal Eclith from the pile and smoothing it out on top.

Renikoemerged into the tree shrouded garden just as the sunlight hit the hillssurrounding the ancient city. After discussing their route to Tordaskar, Malikhad decided to refresh his mind after the chaos it had been thrown into thatday. Not having the same problem, Reniko instead sought out Orric, whom shefound nestled snuggly in the roots of the thousand-year-old tree. He opened hiseyes as she stepped near sensing her presence even though she had come instealth.

“Nosneaking up on a Teoko, is there?” Reniko teased as she sat on a nearby root.

“Thereare other ways to hear someone than what you humans use,” Orric said with agrin. “What brings this evening visit?”

“Malikand I have decided where we are going. I wanted to ask if you would come alongwith us,” Reniko spoke.

“Itravel with Malik. It doesn’t matter where we go, as long as he is there.”

“Ijust thought you should have a say in the matter as well. He seems so adamantabout avoiding the place and I wanted to know if you felt the same way.”

Orric’shead shot up in surprise. “You can’t possibly be telling me that we are headingto Tordaskar.”

“Doesthat mean you don’t want to go?”

“Justthe opposite, Lyss. I have been trying to get Malik to go back to Tordaskar forthree years now. You have done something far beyond my ability. I commend you.”

“Istill don’t understand why the thought of returning hurts him so much. Won’tyou tell me?” Reniko asked hoping to shed some light on her travelingcompanion.

“Itis not for me to say. You will replace out in due time,” Orric said lying his headback down onto his arms.

Renikoturned her gaze from the midnight creature and watched the last of the sun’srays fade into twilight. “I hope I’m doing the right thing.”

“Donot worry about the future so, Lyss. Just take each moment as it comes. For nowit feels right and that is all we can know. We cannot know the future, so whyspend your feelings needlessly on it?”

“Isthat how you live, one moment to the next?”

“Itis how we all live. Humans just try to fool themselves into thinking they canlive another way.”

“Areyou ever going to tell me why you call me Lyss?”

“Nomore questions tonight. We travel tomorrow and for that I need rest tonight.”

“Iguess that’s goodnight,” Reniko said leaning over the root and gently kissingOrric’s muzzle. “See you tomorrow, friend.”

Orricshifted self-consciously as Reniko lightly glided away down into the depths ofthe ancient city. As she disappeared into the lift, he opened his closed eyesand watched her retreating form. She is so much more than she believes, Orricthought as she disappeared with the last of the day’s light.

Thenext morning Reniko rose early. Up before even the sun, she made her waysilently to the tower garden where Orric slept soundly. This time she had theair of surprise and startled Orric out of his sleep.

“Whatbrings you up here before the dawn?” he asked stretching his limbs.

“Iwas wondering if you could take me to see Penumbra. I want to tell himgoodbye.”

“Thecity has not forsaken your unicorn friend. Although he resides outside the citywalls, he has been privy to our conversations, just as I was.”

“Thatdoesn’t matter. I still need to say goodbye.”

“I’lltake you. Climb onto my back,” Orric said. Reniko did as he commanded andslipped between the bony ridges in the position that Malik usually assumed.When she was comfortable, Orric took off into the air, the jolting sensationcausing Reniko a moment of disorientation. Once in the air, her heart felt atease. The wind washing over her skin sent ripples of pleasure along her spine,reminding her of her love of the air and Dertrik her mentor. Below, the cityreflected the starlight and moonlight that could still be seen up above,Orric’s shadow cast a void in this glimmering sea, and Reniko watched with aweas they swept over the sleeping city. From this height, she could see the veryedge of Reflaydun where the valley walls became the end to the sparklingreflection. Farther away, she could see the foreboding clouds that surroundedthe city: the cause of the never-ending winter storm.

Flyingon top of Orric, the trip to Penumbra was only minutes instead of the hours ithad taken them to walk so far into the city. When Orric set down beside Penumbra,the sun was no closer to rising than before they had left.

Penumbra,who had been sleeping peacefully next to Blaze, woke suddenly as the groundshook with Orric’s weight as he dropped from the air.

Suchan early morning visit my friend. What urgency brings you to me at this hour?Penumbra asked as Reniko jumped from Orric’s back.

“Ididn’t want to leave without saying goodbye,” Reniko said, halting her stepsbefore she wandered too far from Orric’s side.

Soit’s as I suspected. You are going to Mo’an Delar and by Teoko no less.

“Iwish you could come,” Reniko said softly.

Itmight be better this way. While you’re off trying to solve the mysteries thatwe have found here, I can explain all that has transpired to the resistancehere, on Edonal Eclith. When the time comes, everyone will be ready.

“Ready?”

Readyfor your and Malik’s plan.

Renikosmiled, walked over to Penumbra and hugged him tightly.

“I’mgoing to miss you so much. Thank you for everything.”

Itis I that must thank you. If we had never met, I may be dead, or worse, stilloblivious to what is going on in this world. I’ll always be here for you,Reniko. If you call I will come without question.

“Imay never see you again,” Reniko said, her voice muffled as she buried her facein Penumbra’s neck.

Ithink we will. Our paths are only leaving each other for a short while. Ibelieve they will intersect again.

“Ihope so,” Reniko said releasing her companion from her embrace.

Youbetter go, Reniko, before light enters the day. You have a long trip ahead ofyou.Reniko nodded and slowly walked back to Orric’s side. However, before climbingonto him, she turned back to her friend.

“Untilwe meet again.”

Penumbranodded. Tell Malik I’ll take good care of Blaze.

Renikosmiled. “I will.” She climbed deftly onto Orric’s back and the pair of themagain took to the air and back to the tower garden.