IRON GOD | 2: Empyrean

[14] Azvalath: Tell Me Why

It seemed eternity came and went before anything in the world moved.

    Kolo's small hands clung to him. Azvalath lay there and tried to shield her, even though he knew they were both already shattered. He felt as if he'd failed even though they'd slain their mark. He'd dealt with terror and agony and defeat far beyond this, but this still felt worse, if for no other reason than his sister under the Iron God getting caught up in his living nightmare.

    Even if he deserved all of this, she didn't. She couldn't possibly. It wasn't fair. His mind wailed those words like a hurt child. It's not fair, it's not fair...

    It must have been shortly before dawn when Jai-Lag's heavy paw prodded at his head. Her claws raked through his tangled hair. The sensation startled him enough to bring a second wind. He sat up. She nuzzled her head into his chest. Then she pushed her face into Kolo's side. When she sat up, Azvalath choked up at the look in her eyes.

    She looked empty. Like a doll. Like a corpse that couldn't stop breathing.

    Somehow, she still stood up before he did. Azvalath shook his head. If she could get up and walk now, he certainly had to as well. He forced himself to his feet and made eye contact, wondering if he looked as hellish as she did.

    Jai-Lag circled around them once and then blazed ahead. He and Kolo followed the sabretooth cat. If she felt anything at all, it was mercifully invisible. Azvalath tried to focus on one step at a time. He stared at his feet for the most part. His boots dug their prints into the snow with barely any input from his tired mind.

    At some point, a harsh cold wind blasted salt mist into their faces. Azvalath's dark hair whipped back. The snow mixed in with swirls of coarse sand. A wave crashed against the shore, surging up to mere inches from his aching feet and nearly soaking his toes. He barely managed to flinch back.

    Kolo crouched in the sand and picked up a handful. The grains flowed through her shaky fingers and scattered with the wind.  Azvalath stared up at the gray sky, then out at the gray water. The world seemed so colorless.

    He sat down with Kolo. "Do you really think there are fish as big as houses out there?"

    She barely even seemed to notice he'd spoken.

    Then he looked over and saw Jai-Lag batting at a large crab like a kitten with a ball. It waved its claws and tried to fend her off. She chirped and flipped it onto its back. Its legs flailed in the air. Then she flipped it back over. It scuttled into the water. She leaped after it. Azvalath couldn't help but smile.

"I want to go home!"

Kolo's sudden plea startled Azvalath. He turned and saw her drawing something in the sand. Her finger moved with frantic speed, sweeping a trail in the shape of her eagle.

"We'll go home," Azvalath reassured, more for himself than for her. "We'll make it back and we'll be safe."

Kolo kept talking as if she hadn't heard him. "Mother Swiftfang, I'd say I'm sorry, but I'm not. I'm not your miracle and I don't regret it." She moved her hand off to the side and sketched a jagged-looking wolf or dog, he wasn't certain. "Linn, I command thee – kill, devour!"

Kolo's tears dripped tiny craters into the sand. She gave the dog's image a hideous grin. Then she clutched at the lightningfisher tooth on her necklace.

Azvalath blinked. Was she trying to tell him her story, in whatever way she could right here and now? She had to be. His heart raced. Fond as he'd grown of Kolo in their time together, he still didn't even truly know who or what she was. Only how the masters had been direly clear – she must come to Styzia alive.