Defender of Mirago

Chapter 9

Rayble woke to his body bouncing high above the ground. The noonday sun shone brightly in his face forcing him to turn his head to not be blinded by it. As he continued to look around he noticed metal cubes floating all around him. Further observation showed that he was lying across two men's shoulders. One had his hands on Rayble's ankles, the other balanced Rayble on his head, and held on to his shoulders. Rayble reacted by attempting to roll away, catching the blonde men off guard. But their quick reflexes saved Rayble from hitting the dry hard earth. They repositioned him on their shoulders and continued to walk, following the metal cubes that hovered above them.

A wide chested and narrow-waisted man with long hair to his mid-back approached them with a smile upon his face. "Welcome traveler to our pack! I am Hocho, leader of this group, and I welcome you with open arms. Our cubes redirected their course, leading us back to you. Therefore, your being on the path of the cubes makes you mighty important. Please, tell us your name."

"Great leader, I am Rayble, Defender of Mirago."

"Rayble, if it is your wish, join us on our path for as long as you'd like. We cannot provide you with food or drink, only our hospitality. The cubes are headed for the Ruins of Geran, and of course New Geran below it. If they lead us through, you can find what you require there."

Rayble had not heard of Geran and he didn't have much excitement for it, except only that it held the possibility of food and water which Rayble was dying for. As they made their way towards the town, Rayble shuffled through the pack, looking for Kessa.

It wasn't long before he saw her. In reality, she saw him before he saw her. Before he could call her name, she motioned with her hands for him to go away with a quick brush of her wrists. Rayble didn't understand. He stepped closer, but her waving only became more frantic. She looked at others near her and back at Rayble with a worried expression. Did she not want to be associated with him? Rayble thought their leader made it clear that he was welcome. Why didn't Kessa share the same sentiment?

He kept his distance from her, crowded by strangers as he continued to ask these questions in his head. Soon they reached the ruins. Large buildings were toppled over one another with giant angled rocks in between. What seemed to be once a thriving town, larger than Mirago was now deserted ruins. The cubes flew under rock pillars and through openings left in remnants of homes. The Marians carefully followed, crawling over sand-covered debris, shifted rock platforms, and deep cracks in the earth.

Some of the cracks were quite large and ran for long stretches forming narrow canyon-like pathways through the city. Hundreds of metal cubes descended one such canyon, and the pack slowly and carefully made their way down after them.

It was here, under the city, on cliff ledges and within shallow caves were homes and markets and a people similar in appearance to Rayble going about their day. Rayble, thankful he didn't spend his coins on a diamond, had plenty enough to purchase some food, and even more so after selling the Rakabu he caught. He ate some hot street food and then splurged on the rare, beautiful, delicious Gufu fruit for dessert. It felt good to eat and relax.

As he sat on a ledge, finishing up his fruit, Kessa came up to him. Rayble was surprised she had come to see him after clearly wanting him to go away earlier. Perhaps, he thought, she wanted him to leave and she came to tell him verbally.

"Hey, Rayble." She said softly.

"Hey." Rayble shrugged.

"I'm sorry about before. You see, it's my father, he's blaming you for the way my cube has been acting."

"Is it my fault?"

"No! Not at all. My cube was always all over the place, long before I met you. But my father still seems to think that you're making the cubes diverge off the path. That you're messing them up somehow."

"Do you believe that?"

She sat down next to Rayble.

"Never. I believe what Leader Hocho has said. That you didn't cause them to go astray, but that they went to you because you are someone special. You are part of the path, not a distraction from it." She smiled as she scooted closer to him. "There's something about you, I knew it at first glance."

"Oh! I have some things for you," said Rayble. He opened up his satchel and handed her the red umbrella. "I know you're in the sun a lot, traveling and whatnot, so I thought you might like this to keep you in the shade." He then handed her the telescope. "Sorry this one is so old, my grandpa gave this to me when I was a young boy. You can use it to look at all the things you pass by on your journey." Then he pulled out the diamond. "And this, I mined this myself for you."

Kessa's eyes sparkled as she looked at the gem. She held back her hands from accepting it for a moment, "But Rayble, what is all this for?"

"As soon as I saw you Kessa, I knew you were something special too. That night, after I had met you, I couldn't stop thinking about you, and I wanted to show you how much meeting you has meant to me. Your eyes are like beautiful diamonds, and to compliment them here is a real diamond."

She took the gifts and held them cheerfully to her chest. "Thank you Rayble."

Rayble felt a pressure slowly push against his back. A deep gruff voice behind him spoke, "Be gone boy before I make you disappear." He turned to see a Marian man stand tall above him, his boot against Rayble's back, slowly pushing him off the ledge.

"Father!" Kessa cried.

Kessa's father repeated himself, "I said be gone!"

Rayble grabbed his satchel and scrambled up and away from them. His head down. He peeked back once to see Kessa still clutching on to her gifts, teary-eyed, and her father with hard eyebrows and diamond eyes, sparkling with fire.