An Aftershock of Hope and Fear: Epilogue

               Interitus 3: Short Story #1: An Aftershock of Hope and Fear

Epilogue

 

“Pretty sure I’m in the right place… but I can’t say for certain. Can you let me through? I have an invitation from Abraham Tamatoa,” said the dark-haired woman as she unfolded the sweat-stained letter in her hand.

Two of the guards fixated on the spear which was sheathed on her back, but the third dismissed their concerns and inspected the letter. His eyes skimmed briefly across it, and after taking a deep breath, he gave a brief nod. After clearing his throat, the guard announced, “You are free to pass, Aracely Amato. I apologize for their distrust; the skirmishes on this island grow bloodier by the day. It is only natural that they are nervous.”

She glared at the guard at first, but then she dismissed her adversity and mumbled words of thanks. He motioned toward a tent in the small camp, so Aracely dropped her letter on the ground and trudged in that direction. The guards exchanged a glance and a shrug after she wandered off, but she ignored their confusion as she approached the tent. After pressing through the folds at the entrance, Aracely stepped into the space and saw the rumored conspirator sitting patiently behind a table with an open book in his hand. When his eyes flickered to meet hers, he closed the book and set it aside. Two candles danced on the ends of the table, illuminating a small chair on the other side of the tent. Aracely sighed and tilted her spear with her left elbow, allowing her to sit without knocking her weapon loose. On the other hand, Abraham did not display any weapons in his vicinity. Instead, he merely retracted his left hand from the table and revealed a luminous stone.

“It’s nice to meet you, Aracely Amato. Thank you for joining me in my camp,” he said politely.

With a listless stare, Aracely asked, “How did you know who I am? I’m sure you sent out many letters just like the one I received.”

“I only sent out three, the others of which went unanswered. The fact is that I could sense your identity before you ever stepped foot inside this space. Your impulse is compatible with the calcified heart of a vacuum Taenarius; this is not an ordinary feat. Do you have any questions so far?” asked Abraham.

It was now that Aracely noticed a change in the surrounding light. She glanced over her shoulder and saw that one of the guards folded a tent flap; they checked in on Abraham as if he were the leader of this mobile organization. This partly explained his confidence; he clearly had no qualms with meeting warriors while unarmed.

Aracely tilted her head slightly and asked, “Are the rumors true? I always wondered. This civil war started out of nowhere; the disagreements turned violent overnight. They say that the Kearhill archipelago is getting manipulated by some outside force. Someone gathered and armed the rebels from the shadows, and they say that that someone is you and your syndicate. We were the gas, and you were the spark. Is that true?”

“Would it change anything if the accusations were true?” Abraham responded.

As a listless stare overtook her curious gaze, Aracely shook her head and answered, “I suppose it wouldn’t. With whatever caused this war, what’s lost is already lost. I can’t turn back time and bring them back. Even if I killed you here and now, all I lost would still be gone. The only thing that matters now is preserving the little I have left.”

With a dark grimace, Abraham nodded slowly and said, “I suspected you might see it as such. There’s a certain simplicity in staying solution-oriented, I suppose. That is how I wound up here in the first place, and that is how you will be the one to end this hopeless war. Let me be clear. If you are willing to undergo a specific training regimen, I will bestow upon you the power constrained in this calcified heart. While you will not become a Taenarius yourself, you will be able to claim its power as your own and become a breathless scourge. You will have the ability to end this war and protect the little you have left, but the dark concomitant of this decision is that you will not care to celebrate your success. You will serve instead in my syndicate as a warrior of legendary renown.”

With a faint flicker in her gaze, Aracely retorted, “I don’t care for renown or riches. I don’t even care if I’m too emotionless to rejoice when this war ends. All that matters is that I can end the war you started, and then I suppose the victims can celebrate. It doesn’t matter if I’m not there to join them. I was never the kind to put myself first, and that isn’t about to change now.”

“Do you realize that you’re using selflessness to justify becoming a glorified murderer?” asked Abraham with a curious flash in his blue-green eyes.

As she shrugged and looked away, Aracely asked, “Isn’t that the way of the world? We sacrifice ourselves, all our wants and all our ideals, for the one thing that matters most. I may not be the most perceptive, but I can tell that you don’t want any part in the chaos you’ve created. You aren’t the bloodthirsty warlord that the rumors say. You’re here for the same reason as me. You sacrificed everything you believe in because you know it must be worth it.”

“Maybe so. I have paid the ultimate price for her, but that does not mean I am without regret. I lament everything that set me on this path, even though the decision was always mine.”

Aracely nodded and ascended from her chair. She adjusted the spear on her back just so that it would not fall unbalanced, but Abraham did not register any threat when her hand touched her weapon. He was adamantly unconcerned with the thought of anyone else posing a danger to him. She reached her hand toward the calcified heart on the table and then clenched it in her fingers, certain that this was a priceless artifact. Most people believed that Taenarii were merely the unreal monsters of urban legends. Not only did this calcified prove their existence and biology, but it was evidence that Abraham had slain at least one. He was even willing to give away its power to serve some unknown purpose.

“You said that my training will leave me emotionless, isn’t that right?” asked Aracely.

“We will try our best. You will lose all emotion if you are lucky, but for the crimes you must commit, you will be better off without a conscience or regret. This training will not necessarily erase your emotion, but instead it shall invalidate it. It will ensure that you are under my command regardless of any regrets or reservations you may have,” Abraham confessed with a pained stare.

“I suppose it makes sense. It’s a fair price to pay if I can protect my home and end this war. I accept your proposition. But before you do whatever it is that you’re going to do, I want to know. Why did you start a war in my archipelago? Why will you invariably spark more?” Aracely asked as she set the Taenarius heart back down onto the table.

There was a moment of deliberation in his blue-green eyes, almost as if he considered disregarding the question altogether. But in the end, Abraham simply sighed and explained, “It was many years ago. I met a girl who wanted to protect this world even though she was cursed to end it. We fought side-by-side for that common goal, and I fell in love with her as we fought monsters just like us. But in the end, she was forced to fulfill her curse; her body now serves as the vessel for a sorcerer with the strength to end this bloodstained world. I tried to free her from his clutches, but I was too weak at the time. I need more power if I am to slay the sorcerer and save Ophelia, and I’ve found that war itself cultivates the ingredients I need. As more people die in senseless wars, more people will return to our world as a Taenarius. The more I kill, the more I can supply their hearts to warriors like you to serve as my weapon. It won’t be easy, and I will bring war to countless lands until I have what I want.”

“And is this all to save the world from this sorcerer?” asked Aracely.

“I’ve given up on myself and even the world; it can all burn to ash for all I care. The only reason I’m still fighting is for the woman I fell in love with on the night that this all began.”