Anansi's Web

We traveled to the town after an hour, waiting for the griffins to get some rest. It turns out that Ember didn’t have to hex them again; it was like a long term spell. Ember called it a curse, which made me shiver. I thought about what curse meant to me all of these years, but this didn’t seem to be the bad kind of curse, it was just a long term hex for a greater good.

We rode our griffins like horses, following beside the nearly empty road to the town. The cars that did pass by were amazed to see people riding griffins. We got a good few stares, but we just kept moving.

“I wonder what’s in this town.” Cara said.

“Food, hotels, and new clothes…Well, if we have the money.”

“We do.” Ember said quickly. “I brought enough in case something like this happened. I’ve got it controlled.”

“Aww man,” Cara groaned.

“What?”

“I left the bag of sweets in the mountains. This is horrible.”

“I just told you we have the money for food, and stuff. Don’t worry. Those things were getting stale anyway.”

Cara sighed, and rested her head on the thick ruff of feathers that rested on her griffin’s neck. “Are we almost there yet?”

I squinted ahead and saw some buildings farther forward. “I can see some buildings.” I said.

Cara groaned again. “I wanna take a nap.”

“We all do, but first we have to get to the place where the bed is.” Ember said.

Just before we got into the town, we stopped in the woods to hide out griffins so no one gave us any more attention than we needed. Our ragged clothes made us look strange enough.

The town was full of stores, fast food places, cars, and libraries. I felt kind of at home here, but it wasn’t like Othal, Othal was a kingdom, you can’t walk down a block without a dozen people at every corner, but Othal, unlike Sraff, was quiet, and homey.

As we walked I talked to Ember in a low voice. “Do you think the general is here?”

“It’s possible, but not likely. He may just catch onto us though. Fervan has spies everywhere.” She whispered back.

“I think we should be gone by tomorrow, and lead him on some kind of fake trial. If he finds out we’re going to Neptia we should get there before he does.”

“We’ll aren’t you a strategist?” Ember teased.

“Well, I learned some stuff from my dad. I…” I stopped, because I remembered how badly I really wanted to see my parents again.

“You’ll see them soon. I promise.” Ember said. I wondered if she actually read my mind, or if she just sensed what I was thinking.

“Thanks.” I said, giving her a half enthusiastic smile.

It was the middle of the afternoon, and the sky felt bigger after flying through it. The orange tinted yellow light splashed onto the dull grey pavement, spilling light across the faces of ordinary people, jogging, walking, talking, and doing normal stuff. I wanted to be like them. I wanted to be stable, but so much happened already.

“Hey, do you guys want to stop here and get something to eat?” Ember asked.

I nodded, and we went inside of a fast food place eat. I got a chicken sandwich with some zucchini fries, and I was the first done eating, so I sat and looked out of a window as Ember, and Cara finished. I took a sip of my lemonade and remembered how my mom always joked that she made lemonade extra bitter for my dad. I never liked lemonade until my dad gave me his at a restaurant because it was too sweet for him. I remember how surprised I was that it tasted so good. Thinking about it made me ache inside.

When everyone was full, we went to a nearby hotel. It wasn’t the best of the best, but it wasn’t bad. The place smelled like a fresh furniture polish, and clean clothes right out of the dryer. We got a room on the second floor, taking the elevator to get there. As we went up I wondered what the guy at the counter thought about our appearances. Are they allowed to throw people out?

We all took showers, smelling considerably better than before, seeming a little more acceptable to the public. Our clothes were still torn up, but that could be fixed tomorrow. I always loved the feeling of a hotel; it was somewhere different, but it still felt like home. I sunk into the soft mattress smelling like sweet soap, and steaming water. The sheets were thick, and fluffy, covering me in a big green cloud. This was a huge improvement over the mountains to say the least. The last thing I knew was the cool air conditioner buzzing to life, and the warm fuzzy glow of the golden walls as I drifted away.

I tossed in the bed. Soon I realized that I was conscious, and I couldn’t force my brain to go back to sleep. I heard a faint noise ringing in my head, like a memory of a loud bang, almost like cannon fire, or a hammer. I rubbed my eyes, and saw the fiery red afternoon light seeping through the slit in the thick green curtains. It might have been my imagination, or it could have been the air conditioner doing something weird.

Bang!

I sat up, and looked around. There it was, but louder. Like, like a gunshot. The noise had come from outside, and when I listened carefully I could hear voices, multiple voices, but I couldn’t make out what they were saying. I was scared that I was right about the gun shots, so I buried myself in the covers, crossing my fingers, hoping that I was wrong, that it was just some kind of construction work, or something. I bit my lip, as I got out from the covers, and walked slowly over to the window.

I opened the blinds quickly, and the blazing afternoon light engulfed me. I looked down at the streets below with sore eyes.

At the front of the hotel was a man, standing in the center of a circle of S-MOD . He was standing on a bench, with a leather satchel thrown over his shoulder. He reached into the bag, and pulled out a handful of large silver beads.

Bang!

One of the cops shot at him, but he raised his hand, and the bullet fell harmlessly to the ground. He must have been using magic. Bystanders watched, nervous to see the outcome.

I heard the other bed stir, and I turned to see Ember, and Cara getting up slowly. “Guys, get over here, look at this.”

They groggily followed my orders, and soon they were watching this scene unfold beside me. Cara gasped, but Ember was silent.

An old man ran up to the guy on the bench, trying to talk to him, but the guy threw one of the silver stones at the man, and in a puff of silvery blue smoke, the old man was passed out on the pavement.

“Hypnostone, it makes the person hit go to sleep.” Cara murmured so she didn’t disturb the drama unfolding before us.

“Could we go, and help?” I asked Ember.

She shook her head. “If we do we might make ourselves targets.”

I almost thought of an objection, but the truth was I was too frightened to go out anyway.

Two cops got hit by the Hypnostone’s but dozens more took their place. Time forced its way slowly through the thick tragedy. I watched the man on the bench, who looked fairly young when I first saw him, age more and more each time he protected himself from a bullet. His hair turned grey, and his skin became loose, and wrinkled. I furrowed my brow. “What?” I whispered.

The guy was sitting on the bench now, looking older than the man he had put to sleep beside him. His breathing was slow, I watched his chest rise, and fall. He tried to lift his hand, but he moved stiffly, like a rusted machine.

Bang!

I looked away when I heard the noise. Cara squeaked, but Ember stood stoic.

“It’s done.” She said.

“What just happened?” I asked.

“Something I’ve only read about.” Ember began in a flat voice. “Magic Levis, it’s a disease that makes you grow older and older the more you use magic. It happens naturally, but in extreme cases you can get it from things like depression, anxiety, and other mental illnesses.”

“Why?” I asked.

“Magic is directly linked to emotion. The more controlled you are the more stable your magic is, but some things slowly deteriorate your energy, giving you all types of problems.”

“Can you tell if someone has it?”

“They would feel pain each time they used magic.” Ember said, turning to face Cara and me, closing the curtains.

“He was an alchemist’s apprentice. I saw if on his apron, and only apprentices get bags like his.” Cara said.

“It’s sad.” I said.

“I want to talk to the old man later, give him some comfort. He probably owns an alchemy shop; he had the same apron on. That was probably his son.” Cara said.

I wondered how she would do this, but I didn’t feel like talking right now.

“This is a lesson, life is as simple, or complicated as we make it. The past can make you stronger, or it can control you.” Ember said. I really wasn’t in the mood for some inspirational speech though.

Things went quiet for a while. We didn’t talk about anything other than how crazy it was that we just saw that happen. The only noise was the air conditioner, unaware that something had happened, running on schedule, without a care.

In what seemed like minutes the light from the curtains dimmed, and became dusk. We were watching the news cover the story with just as little information as we had. I felt helpless and inhuman not doing something about what I saw happen in front of me, but what were the options? I curled up in the warm bed, turning into an armadillo, sinking away from the world.

Cara was staring at the wall, away from us. This must have hit home for her, being an alchemist apprentice herself.

I wondered where the general was during this. Did he even know where we were? It didn’t seem like it, but you can’t be too careful. I wonder if he’s in Sraff, expecting us to return, or watching the campers at the sight of the train attack. I wish I knew, so I could know what to do, but for all I know he could be gone, but remembering the time he attacked me reminded me that he didn’t want us spreading the word that he was here…If there even was a secret war in the first place, and he wasn’t just a common thief.

I sighed, drifting off to sleep, emptying my mind of what happened while the news played footage of the latest cute flying dog video. I silently wished that I would never get that magic levis, though I knew it was probably likely.

I woke up, swallowed by the darkness. I closed my tired eyes trying to get more sleep, but I couldn’t. I remembered having two dreams. One of them was the same dream that I had two times before with the woman’s silhouette, and the gems, but the other dream was darker. There were three voices, all of them spoke together. There were no faces, or bodies, just darkness. In the distance, a huge blue fire burned, soaking in the black atmosphere, growing bigger, and bigger. Even now that I was awake I could still feel the intense heat. The voices told me to walk into the fire, to embrace it, but there was no way I was walking into fire, especially with extremely hot blue flames.

The door opened. Stunned, I closed my eyes halfway, and pulled the covers up to my nose. Dim yellow light from the hallway filled the room, but then the door closed. I recognized Cara walking in, holding a soda that must have been from a vending machine outside.

“Hey,” I whispered.

Cara looked over, “What are you doing up?” She asked. She sounded like she was trying hard to sound like her normal perky self.

“I had a bad dream.”

“Oh, I was just gettin’ some soda.” She said, sitting down at the foot of the bed, with her back to me. “It feels weird that Ember is asleep. I feel like she’s always alert, like she never rests.”

I smiled, “Yeah.”

“So what was your dream about?”

“Well, there were three voices, and a blue fire. It was dark…Why are you awake?”

Cara sighed, “Couldn’t sleep, at all. I’ve been using some spare change I have to get soda and chips. Over, and over…Want some?”

“I’m not hungry.”

Cara took a sip of her soda. “So… do you, want to be anything, when you grow up?”

“I don’t like thinking about it much. I might want to be an MOD member. Why do you ask?”

“I was just thinking about what I want to be. I mean, I want to be an alchemist, but really I’m not even qualified to be an apprentice, but I am.”

“Why aren’t you qualified?”

“Too young, I haven’t been studying long enough is what the first order told me. Apparently they denied me the right to be an alchemist at all until I turn eighteen. They signed a paper and everything. If I ever want to be a real Alchemist I’ll have to restart when I turn eighteen.”

“Oh. That sucks.”

“So why don’t you like thinking about the future?” Cara said.

“It’s just kind of scary. I mean, I know what sounds interesting to me, but I don’t like thinking about tests, and applications.”

“I get that.”

We were quiet for a while until I spoke. “What happened today must have been difficult for you huh?”

“It’s difficult for anyone who sees that.”

“Yeah, but he was an alchemist. Is that what’s really been keeping you awake?”

“Not my problem he wanted to commit a crime.”

“I think it was more than that Cara…I think he knew he was going to die.”

Cara ruffled her long, tangled hair with a sigh. “This is what’s been keeping me up. I’m tired, I should try and rest.”

“Hey Cara,” I said, stopping her before she reached her bed.

“What is it?” Cara asked. I could only see her shape and eyes in the dark.

I bit the inside of my lip, wondering if now was the time to ask this question, but I stopped myself from asking about her parents. “Goodnight.”

“See ya in the morning.” She said.

I lay on my back, wondering where the moon was tonight. The curtains were cracked at least. I still wanted to know about Cara, and her parents, but that was for another day.

I woke up like I never went to sleep in the first place, but I guess I dozed off dome time last night. I looked over, and saw that Ember was waking Cara up, but she just tossed, and turned, groaning. I frowned, remembering how distant she seemed last night.

I got up, and tried to look for clothes to change into, but I remembered that I didn’t pack anything. I wiped the tired look from my eyes, but really I wasn’t that tired. The voices from my dream had melted away, but I still want to know what it meant.

“Alright Angelo, I made a plan.” Ember said as she put her earrings back on.

“What is it?”

“You and I are going to go to the woods near the entrance to the town and practice magic near the griffins, so I can check up on them. Cara is going to go to the alchemists shop because she wanted to, and we meet her at the entrance when she’s done. Sound good?”

“Yeah, sounds great. Um, when do you think we can get some new clothes?”

“When we get to Neptia, or maybe the next town, it depends on the money you know? Hopefully soon, don’t worry.”

Out of the window, people moved below as the sun pushed itself into the sky. I looked at the bench where the man had died yesterday, and I saw that it was covered up with S-MOD tape. There were some faint dark red spots on the bench, and the pavement that made me shiver. They shot him while he was sitting there, fighting to breathe because he was so old. I turned from the window, and watched the news until everyone was ready to go. I couldn’t handle looking at that bench again.

We got outside, and instead of following Embers plan completely, I asked her if I could go inside of the alchemists shop with Cara for a while. She agreed, and decided to wait outside while we walked in.

The inside was really different from the alchemists shop in Sraff. The floor was tiled with white panels, reflecting the bright lights above. It smelled like chemicals, and cinnamon. There were rows of shelves with small plastic pill bottles of alchemical stuff. It felt like a pharmacy.

At the front counter a man stood with his face buried in his hands. He was the same old man who was put to sleep when he tried to reason with the other guy. They must have had a close relationship. Next to him there was a black cat, sitting on the counter brushing its head against the man’s cheek trying to comfort him.

Cara walked up, and started to talk to the guy. I walked around the store, looking at all the stuff. There was a back door labeled: Apprentice only. There was a candle lit on the floor in front of the door, surrounded by colorful roses. I felt a sudden rush of sadness wash over me, but I tried my best to fight it by walking away from the door. It was strange how Ember didn’t want to come inside; it’s cooler in here than outside.

I walked past the front desk where Cara was talking to the man, who was grunting at every other word.

“I’ll go outside with Ember; we’ll meet you at the front of the city.” I said quietly from the door.

Cara shook her head. “Come here.”

I reluctantly walked over, and came in close. The man at the counter was so depressed that he didn’t seem to mind that we just stood there.

“Angelo, don’t you have something you want to say?” She whispered, although I was positive that he could hear her.

“I’m very sorry for what happened.” I told the man at the desk. It made me feel a little strange for some reason, but I also felt like I was helping him.

He sniffled, and wiped a tear away. “Thank you.”

As I started to walk away I heard Cara say, “You know I’m Nage Drason’s apprentice.”

“You’re a Nage’s apprentice?” The man asked. He sounded a bit perked up now. “I’m only a Master. What is he like?”

I was surprised that there wasn’t more people here to give him sympathy, but I guess that’s just the way the world is, isn’t it? I wondered why he was at work after what happened, but I would ask Cara about that later.

I walked out into the hot sun, not a single breeze stirred. Ember was leaning against a wall, looking stoic as she stood straight. “Are you ready to go?”

I nodded, and we started walking. It didn’t feel so strange anymore, being with Ember. Don’t get me wrong it was still weird, but not nearly as uncomfortable as it was before.

“Why didn’t you go inside?” I asked.

“I didn’t feel like it. I don’t like being around people when they get like that.”

“But you won’t even comfort them?”

“I didn’t say that it was good to avoid them. I just can’t bear it.”

“Why not?” I asked.

“I just can’t be around it, I can’t go back.”

I wanted to say something, but my thoughts were busy with what Ember just said.

“You and only you control where your life goes.” She said.

“What did you mean, when you said you can’t go back?”

Ember was silent for a bit. Then she sighed. “My parents were always stressed. Even if they had good reason, I didn’t like it. Things got bad with my mom, so I ran away when I was thirteen. After a few months I lived with a nice old couple, but the wife died. I tried my best to make the man feel better, but in the end I knew I had to leave again. After that…Well, I think you got the answer you wanted already.”

And I thought my parents were bad. “You can’t even be around sad people though?”

“Is that bad?” She asked, sounding concerned. “It’s just not good for me. Maybe I’m acting stupid. I just feel helpless. I’ve tried hexing people to make them happy before, but it’s just creepy.”

“I don’t think it’s bad, just a bit…I don’t know. I’m sure you’re not a bad person. I feel the same way sometimes, but it feels good to help them, or at least try.” I didn’t like seeing Ember so vulnerable. Maybe she feels the same way I do, but worse.

I thought about my friends back in Othal. I remembered a time when Cain lost his father, and I was there for him. I felt guilty for how eager I was to comfort him, but how distant I was with the old man. It was probably because I knew Cain better. Now I wanted to go back and help the old man more. I couldn’t imagine what it might be like for him, all alone like that. A strange emotion filled me up, making me feel heavier as I walked.

When I looked around I realized that we were in the woods right where the griffins were being kept. I guess I was so interested in the story that I forgot that we were walking.

When we got to the griffins it smelled like rotten meat, but I ignored it, and pet the griffin that I remembered riding on the head. He was one of the guys that were fighting when we found him. He had natural red streaks to his feathers, making him look cool.

“I think they already ate some squirrels. If you can, try not to look down Angelo.”

I looked down for a second and I looked right back up when I saw the skeletons of squirrels with hunks of pink flesh torn off of them. That was the rotten meat smell. I swallowed to keep myself from throwing up, and I bit the inside of my lip.

“Well, I guess they are good for now. No need to stay here longer than we need to, let’s go wait at the entrance for Cara.”

I nodded. We left the griffins alone in their spot as we left to the gate of the town to wait for Cara. As we walked to the front I thought about the general, and if he actually is following us. I mean, I’ve been through a lot trying to escape him it’d almost be a relief to see him to know this isn’t for nothing.

A shadow seemed to lie over the sun, blocking out the light, chilling my skin. I turned around, and saw a huge magic shield of black energy surround us. It had to be the general. I wonder if he knew when I was thinking about him, but now wasn’t the time for pondering, I had to find out what was happening.

A hole tore open in the huge shield, and the general walked through…but, it couldn’t be the general because this guy had lighter skin than I remember. He wore a nice grey suit, with a blue tie, and he had rough sandy hair.

I took a half step back, but I stopped myself because I wanted to stand my ground. The man walked forward. “On behalf of the director of Fervan, you two will be taken captives. This could be simple, or it could be difficult. What would you prefer?”

I thought about the villains in movies where the villain asked if the hero wanted it the easy way, or the hard way. I wasn’t just going to go with him. Cara would be all alone, and I might die... All I had to do was try and use magic.

Ember shot purple energy at the man, which he deflected, and shot a bolt of black energy back. Eventually there was a kind of magic battle going on where there didn’t seem to be a winner. I watched, wondering what I should do. Black and purple flew between them, some spells missed, while others evaporated in the air.

I raised my hand at the man, trying to surround him in my aura, and control him. I made myself feel angry, and waited until I felt it bubble up inside of me. I remembered what it felt like when Vince was irritating me, and I felt the magic rise up. I imagined my energy surrounding him, and in a flash, the man was frozen mid spell.

Ember looked over at me with amazement, but she got herself together quickly.

I raised the man into the sky, and knocked him against his own shield a few times, but I wasn’t sure if I was actually hurting him or not.

Meanwhile, Ember summoned her goat, and somehow the griffins rose above the treetops, and began to fly towards us.

All I had to do was keep this guy under control, but to my surprise, shadowy energy exploded around him, breaking my magic. He began to fall to the ground, when he caught himself midair like I did and he glided to the ground.

He watched Ember and me cautiously. “Not good enough.” He said as he took out a small gun.

The goat ran forward, and attacked the man, but he moved aside. The goat smashed into the black shield, but it managed to stay standing. The man summoned his own goat in a flash of blue light. The goat looked just like Ember’s goat, but it had glowing black eyes.

The man’s goat ran forward to attack Ember, but it was intercepted by Ember’s goat. I stood there, and I would have laughed at the idea of watching two glowing magical goats fight if my life wasn’t in danger.

Ember barely dodged one or two bullets, which looked like some kind of bronze metal. I wondered why she couldn’t just shield against it. Then, when the man waited for a moment to aim, she snapped, and the gun flew from his hands. He reacted just as fast, waving his hand, making a hole appear right beneath Ember. She managed to dive to one side before falling through. In a second she was up again, firing purple spells.

What could I do? Catch him in my magic again? Would that buy Ember time or something?

I focused again, trying to use magic when Ember said, “Angelo, direct your magic at the shield. Imagine it breaking, and it should break.” She said, breathless with effort. The air around the fight was filled with static noises.

I turned, and imagined the shield breaking as I let my magic go. My energy just bounced off the shield, dissipating pathetically into the magic filled air.

“It didn’t work.” I said.

Ember stopped for one second, and began to speak, but the man caught her off guard, and she went as still as a statue, still positioned to defend herself from another spell.

My eyes went wide as my brain flooded with sudden terror. I was all alone, and the guy standing across from me was looking at me like dirt he was about to vacuum up.

He shot some magic at me, but I dodged, and it evaporated after bouncing on the black field behind me. Maybe I could get him to break the shield himself. It just might work with some luck.

He shot more and more magic at me, but I kept dodging, hoping that one of his spells would break the field behind me. He was sweating, and I wondered if using all that magic was wearing him out. Ember did say magic was like a muscle, and it could be overused.

This almost reminded me of a soccer game, but I was trying to avoid the ball, instead of stop it from reaching the goal, although I would usually be the one kicking the ball.

The man paused longer than usual, and I figured he was worn out when he shot at me again, but when I dodged it didn’t go straight for the wall, the energy followed me, and I realized this just in time to dodge, but no matter what I did I couldn’t get away. I had several close calls. The man fell to his knees, breathing heavily like he couldn’t go on. Now all I had to do was outlast this thing, and then I could try to break the shield again. Meanwhile the goats were still fighting, and the griffins were flapping overhead, awaiting orders from Ember that wouldn’t come.

After a few minutes I was getting tired of running, and I stumbled over a rock, and the magic caught me. I felt my entire body come alive with static, and eventually I froze, unable to move. My muscles wouldn’t listen to me. I fell on my face, still in a tripping position with my hands above my head.

I looked around with my eyes, but I could hardly see anything but dirt. I could hear the man getting up though. He was shuffling towards me, breathing heavily. I fought the magic, but no matter what I did I couldn’t get free.

I was grabbed by my stomach, and leaned against the black field of energy, which was warming my body somehow. I watched the man move Ember, and put her next to me. He then grabbed Ember’s goat, and it dissolved back into blue light.

Was this it? Were we going to be taken to Fervan prison, and Cara would be left all alone?

BWOOOMM!

For a second I thought I heard electro music, but it was just the field collapsing. The guy looked around confused, and tired while the wall that was holding me up crumbled and I was left flat on my back, staring at the sky. I would groan if I had the ability to.

I heard some people rush in, and Cara’s face knelt over me, picking me up, and leaning me against Ember’s side.

What are you doing here? I tried to say, but my mouth was frozen in mid scream from the fall.

Cara was stifling a laugh, as she turned, and walked over to…the pirates who tried to capture us earlier?

Cara had a leather satchel over her shoulder, and pulled out a few colorful stones, that she tossed at the man, who was too tired to dodge them. He fell down with a cloud of misty silver vapor dancing around his head.

The pirates all looked at each other relieved. There was the girl, and the two guys who wore pretty much the same thing they did in Sraff. They sat down, talking, looking at the man.

Cara walked up to Ember, and I, pulling out a leather shrunken head by the wiry black hair. She smacked it against my face, and I felt the grip of the magic melt away, from my head down. She did the same thing to Ember, and soon both of us were free. I ignored the fact that I just got smacked by a shrunken head because I was so grateful that Cara was here.

I walked up, and hugged her off guard. She shrieked, and I laughed. “What great timing.” I said.

“I guess so; I could have been here earlier if I hadn’t just stood at the entrance to the town for fifteen minutes.”

“That doesn’t matter Cara, the fact is that you’re here, and you did a good job.” Ember said, but everything that just happened was practically visible on her face.

Cara smiled, and we walked in front of a large tree to talk while the pirates stayed where they were. I wondered if they had given up on catching us. I couldn’t wait for Cara to tell me the story.