Kastori Restorations (The Kastori Chronicles Book 4) (9 page)

“We are Kastori.”

“Kastori? Kast… What’s that?”

“We used magic.”

“Magic. Magic?”

He looked between the two of them, now creepily locking eyes with them. Celeste felt uncomfortable as she watched Novus examine them.

“What is this magic?” he said, his voice suddenly rising. “You just come here without any warning? What’s going on?!?”

“Novus, it’s OK, we want to help—”

“What tricks are you throwing my way, Vostoka?!?” he cried out, his hands slamming on the wall. “Tell me! Tell me!”

Cyrus backed up to Celeste, placing his arm in front of her. The two watched as Novus seemed to lose whatever bit of sanity he had left, slamming his hands on the ground as he crouched in frustration.

Then, just as quickly, he stopped. He stood up, and now locked eyes with them with shocking ease.

“Can you help me use this magic to get home? To see the Orthrans?”

“I—”

“Yes,” Cyrus said, cutting off Celeste. “Once we can obtain the power of the planet.”

“The power?”

“We need to find the coldest spot in Vostoka. We believe it can help us defeat a great evil.”

Novus looked between the two, and then maniacally started laughing. Nothing could quiet the man, not even the annoyed gazes of the Orthran siblings.

“You’re insane,” Novus said. “Insane. Insane. You’ve lost your mind, Orthrans! No one can ever get there. No one. No one! Hahahaha! An other tried to get closer, and we never saw him again! The Orthrans will be no more if you go there! No more!”

He cackled some more, and Celeste gulped.

“All the others are gone. Gone. Just gone. It’s just me. Only me. Yes, only me. If you go there, you will vanish. You will be gone. It’ll be just me again. Don’t go. Please do not go.”

“Novus, we have no choice,” Celeste said, her voice betraying a slight tremble. “We are trying to rescue someone who, if we do not help them, will deliver pain far worse than freezing to death.”

“Freezing to death. Oh, no, no, child, that is not—”

But strangely, Novus stopped himself before continuing further. He paused, took a deep breath, and resumed speaking, albeit with the bouncing eyes once more.

“If… if you insist, Orthran, then by all means. The day is still long, yes, yes. But when it gets dark, you will die! Die! Night brings death to all who wander outside. Don’t stay outside.”

“Then I guess we better get going,” Cyrus said, grabbing Celeste and pulling her toward the outside. He paused at the door. “But do you have any more clothing we can borrow?”

Novus laughed again.

“Underdressed, you both are. Yes, very underdressed. You need more clothing.”

“See?” Cyrus whispered to Celeste. “Told you!”

Celeste rolled her eyes but made sure she always kept Novus in her sight as he brought them more clothing for their long, perilous journey ahead.

13

Cyrus and Celeste departed the complex as quickly as Novus had given them their clothing, throwing the clothes on as they walked out the entrance. The wind gusted across the planet with such a chill that it felt like knives slicing their exposed skin. Celeste closed her eyes and sensed an entrance to a cave containing an enormous amount of magic about thirty miles north.
Going to be tough. We might have to spend the night outside.

“I’m pretty sure that dude killed everyone who was with him,” Cyrus said. “When you get that magic, we’re out of here.”

“You’re just going to leave him behind?”

“You’re just going to take on another murderer into your circle?”

“Big difference between Typhos and Novus.”

“Not as much as you would think. Both are delusional, you know. I’d be willing to bet anything both have killed people.”

There he goes again. Talking about things in black and white terms.

“Cyrus, we don’t know anything about him. Remember how you said isolation made you insane? Well, same idea.”

“Maybe,” he said as a large aviant screeched overhead. Celeste gazed up at the majestic creature, far larger than anything on Monda or Anatolus. Its white wings glistened in the sky as it rose.

“There are worst places to lose your mind, though,” Celeste said as she watched the creature fly off. “With creatures like that, at least you have a sense of kinship with the planet.”

Cyrus chuckled, and Celeste knew he didn’t agree at all. Fortunately, he unusually kept his mouth shut, and the two continued trudging through the snow north.

The dreaded evening came, and the winds seemed to pick up. What had once felt like knives cutting soon turned into a feeling of scythes abrasively slashing their skin. The chill reached unbearable temperatures, and it threatened to only get worse. Celeste unsheathed her sword and gave it a fire spell, which helped some—but not nearly enough. Cyrus did the same, but the heat only reached his own body, not both of them.

They looked around for any shelter, but Vostoka resembled Nubia all too well, except with snow instead of sand. They could see for miles and miles, a sight both beautiful and depressing at the same time.

“We should have listened to the old man,” Cyrus lamented. “Should’ve waited until sunrise.”

“And then on the return trip we would have suffered the same,” Celeste said. “We just have to suck it up. I can teleport us some, but I don’t know that it’ll work that well. We’ll only be able to teleport as far as I can see, and then I’ll need time to recover before going into the cave.”

Celeste grabbed Cyrus’ arm as they teleported forward, but they only gained an additional five miles before Celeste needed rest, leaving them ten miles out with the darkness of the sky nearing.

And then Celeste saw what she hoped was her salvation.

“Cyrus, I think I have an idea to at least keep us warm temporarily, but you’re not going to like it.”

An ursus meandered about a hundred yards to the east of them. Though Celeste had never gotten comfortable with hunting—even as she ate meat—her desire for survival in the harsh winter environment took over. She quickly put the creature to sleep, the better so that it would not die painfully, and used her red magic to carry it back to Cyrus. She laid the creature in front of him.

“So… I love a good meal as much as anyone, but—”

But then Celeste shocked him when she sliced its belly open, causing much of its guts to spill out. The smell was nauseating, and Cyrus vomited to the side after about two seconds. Celeste reached down and placed her hand near the spilled intestines and organs.

“It’s the warmest place we’re going to find on this planet,” she said.

“Oh man, Crystil is not going to want to be near me after this,” Cyrus mumbled.

The two, groaning and holding their nose at the smell, curled up near the exposed creature. The heat was almost too much, as Celeste felt like removing a layer of clothing, but she gladly embraced the warmth of the creature’s guts. The warmth ran over her body, starting from her face, fogging up her goggles, and then reaching down to her chest, stomach, and legs. The smell never quite went away, but it at least became tolerable enough that she was able to shut her eyes and focus on resting.

“Man, Crystil really isn’t going to want to see me after this,” Cyrus said with a moan.

“I think she can look past—or should I say, smell past—this,” Celeste said. “When are you going to make a move, anyways?”

“Well, someone suggested doing it before Nubia, and I thought that was a great idea, but then we returned and someone thought it was an emergency to get over to Vostoka, so next thing you know, I’m out here with my sister, sleeping with the appendix of an ursus on my face, wondering where I went wrong.”

The continuous speech from Cyrus brought an unexpected degree of laughter from Celeste.

“You went wrong when you decided to try and help me,” she said with a playful elbow. “Or maybe even when you decided to rescue Crystil and I that one night.”

Cyrus snorted and gave a short chuckle.

“I guess I did make a difference here, huh?”

Celeste sat up and looked at Cyrus. She laughed when she saw the creature’s organs laid exactly as Cyrus had described them.

“You made a difference in making sure I smell better,” she said. “But seriously, yes. Don’t ever doubt it, Cyrus. The most powerful of us are sometimes the most shackled as well. Don’t feel like what you do doesn’t matter.”

Cyrus didn’t respond with words, but his genuine smile gave away how he felt. He stretched out and groaned before saying, “OK, first one to sleep wins.”

To Celeste’s surprise, even with the freezing temperatures and still-grotesque smell, she passed out before she could even cycle through her thoughts of all the things Cyrus had done for her in the last six months, let alone her lifetime.

14

Celeste woke up starving, her stomach growling as loudly as a hunting ursus.

But she was alive, and she did not shiver as she had the night before.

She slowly rolled over and came to her knees, dusting off the snow that had accumulated on her overnight. She looked at Cyrus, still asleep, breathing comfortably. The ursus had lost most of its heat, but what heat it had given had sufficed for survival. Up above, the sun had just crested the horizon, giving them a full day to work.
We can’t wait. Not if we want to return to the outpost before sunset.

She reached down and shook Cyrus’ shoulders.

“…Crystil, what? What? Huh?”

“Cyrus, come on. We gotta go. New day. Time to move before it gets much colder.”

“Aww,” he said as he slowly sat up. He accepted Celeste’s hand as she lifted him off the ground. “I was having such a good dream, too.”

Don’t tell me. Let’s just get going.

She made sure she had her supplies, and once Cyrus confirmed he had his as well, the two marched once more through the wintry plains, aware of but not observing the wildlife that surrounded them.

As Celeste got closer to the cave, she could sense an exponential increase in the power. What had started out as a faint glimmer turned into a bright power and soon became almost too intense for Celeste to concentrate on. But just as Celeste searched for the power, something about the magic in the planet seemed to call for her. It gleamed brighter whenever she turned her attention to it as if shining a distress light her way.

“Do you feel it, Cyrus?” she asked.

“What? The weather? Oh, you best believe I feel it.”

He doesn’t. It’s calling to me directly.

After another half hour of walking, she saw it.

The ground sloped gently into a short cliff, and at the wall of the cliff, the symbol of magic awaited her. She took a few steps forward but stopped when Cyrus did not follow her.

“Every time I take a step forward, it’s like I’ve hit an arctic blast worse than last night,” he said. “Celeste, I think you are meant to go there alone.”

Celeste turned back to the cave. She could now see light green energy waves pulsing around the entrance as if sneaking out for a glimpse before rushing back in. The energy advanced in her direction before abruptly heading back into the cave.

“Yeah, it’s definitely you alone,” Cyrus said.

“It looks that way. You can head back to the outpost if you want. I don’t know how long this will take.”

“You want me to go hang out with Novus? Are you mad?” Cyrus said with a smirk. “No way. I’m waiting for you here. If this process weakens you, you’re going to need a hero to bring you back.”

“How delightful,” Celeste said, turning back to the cave.

As she approached the cave, the outside world seemed to fade away. The sky became darker much faster than it should have—by the time she reached the entrance of the cave, it looked like nighttime all over again—and when she turned to face Cyrus, he said something she could no longer hear. The green waves of energy coalesced around her, gently guiding her toward an area underneath the magical symbol. When she looked up and back, she saw the world as if underwater—everything was blurry, undefined, and shaking.

Celeste glanced at the symbol, and the cave opened up. A flight of stairs appeared before her, guiding her down to an area which she could not see from her vantage point. She descended about thirty steps and saw a small platform ahead about twenty feet. The green energy left her and formed a circle around the platform as if inviting her to come and stand on it. She took one last glance up toward the entrance, but it was pitch black.
At least I have experience in these kinds of spots
, she thought.

Slowly, she approached the platform, just large enough to hold one person. In the middle, the symbol of magic appeared once more. She placed one foot on, and nothing happened. She placed her second foot on, and she heard a click.

The platform dropped.

Her stomach flipped, not prepared for the sudden drop, but her body quickly got used to it as it became apparent the fall was controlled. Around her, ice crystals formed, displaying her reflection. She saw a woman much stronger and with greater fortitude than she remembered seeing.
I am not the little girl who left Anatolus. I’m not even the woman who survived Typhos and his anger.