River’s End ch 33: Plot Convenience isn’t a Force of Nature

Water dripped. Its high-pitched echo trilled on forever like the ripples beneath my feet. I sat, arms wrapped around my knees and face buried in the cocoon of my curved position, hovering over a bottomless lake.

“Breathe.” The voice was itself a breath, filling me. “In. Out. Breathe.”

I looked up, but mist obscured my view and stung my eyes. It ran down my cheeks like tears. “Who are you?”

“Inhale. Feel the trees of your synapses blossom. Exhale. Watch those leafy ideas shiver and fall, twirling in the breeze you send out to the world.”

“That’s very poetic and all, but who are you?”

“Listen to me, Rose of the River Guardian Menyaza and the royal house Mellecallii.”

I stood, blinked, and squinted, but I saw nothing except fog and water. “You know my name?”

“You know your name, and I am within your mind.”

Well, that didn’t sound like insanity at all.

Mist swirled around me as I crossed my arms, a hand supporting either elbow. “Where are you?”

“Did I not just say I am within your mind? We are within your mind.”

Scowling, I looked around. “My mind is experiencing disagreeable weather. Let’s meet elsewhere.”

A laugh cut through the echoes, two sharp bursts, trilling and feminine as the mist formed an image. It floated, incomplete and transparent. Wavy hair the light purple of taro root framed a woman’s face, eyes slightly bluer and very angled. She drifted with the wavering mist, an arm or leg visible for only a moment. She seemed gaunt and torn, as if much of her was missing.

I stepped toward her, and though my toes did not penetrate the lake’s surface, it rippled as if they had. “What are you?”

“I am a vedia.”

My heart leapt, and squeaky, desperate words burst from my throat. “Tell my sister where I am! Grenswa was attacked. The capital was in chaos before I was taken. They abducted the Opal prince, too, and—”

“I am not one of your sister’s vedia.”

More words waited behind my parted lips, jammed, impatient, and now irrelevant. A swift, cold breeze lifted the hair sticking to my face, and the mist dispersed for a moment, then coalesced again behind me. Goosebumps appeared on my skin.

A vedia would form a mental bond with a genetic royal, much like a mykta. While either could act as the eyes and ears of those with whom they were linked, mykta took energy. They served as swords, and vedia were shields, giving all they had and asking nothing in return.

Vedia were precious but mysterious, and the list of those to whom she could belong was incredibly short.

“Whose vedia are you?”

She floated with the mist, slowly sliding back in front of me. “I am unbonded, a satellite with nothing to orbit, a world with no sun, cold and dying. But you could be the star I have lost.”

I squinted. “You want to bond with me?”

She smiled and reached toward me, an apparition no more corporeal than a moonbeam, yet warmth radiated from her. An desire to help her washed through me.

My hand rose, stretching toward hers, but as our fingers touched, fire flashed. It carried all the panic and horror of Fredo’s nightmare and added a ravenous darkness. Its fangs snapped at me.

I stumbled back, hand retreating to cover my racing heart.

“Fredo!” I reached for him instead, to the place where he belonged in my mind. Somewhere far above me, it was still an amoeba-like void, but it was infinitely brighter than the darkness contained in this vedia.

Her thin lips formed a v like a gliding bird in the distance. “Who is Fredo?”

“My mykta.”

The void was too high, but this was my mind. Could I fly?

I jumped. The world jumped with me, and I got nowhere. The void hung further above than before, and the lake’s surface wrinkled against my heels.

“Ah, I see,” the vedia cooed. Her wispy, half-formed arm rose. “Mykta keep us safe.”

The void fell into her palm and shrunk. Her mouth was too small for the kind of bright smile she tried to put on as she offered me the pillow-sized cloud. Her teeth were Shlykrii-na sharp.

I snatched the void, both arms wrapping it. My hands were tied to a train racing away while my feet were glued to the ground, all my joints pulled asunder, about to rip free.

“Fredo, please, don’t push me away,” I sobbed into it, falling to my knees.

The vedia’s head listed to the left. “You do not know the way of your own mind.”

“Yes, so I don’t know why you would want to bond with me. I’m useless.”

“You are perfect.”

She sunk closer, a head and shoulders only, arms unseen, vague impressions I sort of felt around me. The mist that formed her face tickled my nose, and I frowned, trying not to sneeze.

“A vedia’s bond is stronger than a mykta’s. Closer. Here among the Shlykrii-nas, you will want one. You will need me.”

I exhaled slowly. Wind swirled, warmer than before, whipping my hair and pushing the vedia back.

“I don’t need you.” I held my head high. “I have Fredo.”

“He is a failure,” she hissed.

“Yet, I trust him more than I trust you.”

The vedia’s too-pinched features narrowed, and lightning crackled through the fog. As frigid as a glacier, the wind that I had thought was my ally came at me from all directions. It formed a myriad of serrated blades, hacking and sawing. I hid my face in my arms, skin torn and drenched in my purple blood.

“You cannot escape,” the wind howled.

I curled tighter in on myself, shielding my head with my arms and knees. Could I push her out of my mind? I had no idea how, but I had to try before she killed me in here. Was that even possible? What would happen then?

I had heard tales of vedia using the closeness of their bond to possess the body of their royal partner—their neqhol, their sea. Would she try to become me? Was her goal to crush my consciousness and parade around with my identity?

What good would that do her? Last I knew, I was in the middle of a battlefield on Grenswa, and I had likely been captured by Shlykrii-nas. She had said I was among them, that I would need her help.

“You will choose me,” the wind screeched.

Jealousy. This was jealousy. It was darker than Grenswa’s night, edges sharper than a shattered jar. She was broken and desperate.

Terror filled me, and I fled through the corridors of my psyche, screaming.

Could anybody hear me? Could anybody help me?

The wind vanished, and I shot up, no longer in the dream but still screaming. Tangled in vines, I rolled over the edge of a platform.

Soft carpet met my stomach after a drop less than the height of my knees. A blur of orange streaked away with a squeak before returning to stand behind my head. Its shadow blended with mine over the floor’s woven motif of white flowers.

“[You finally wake up, and then you try to smash Togdy. What kind of monster are you?]”

I was a monster. I was supposed to save Grenswa. Instead, I dawdled in delivering my message, leaving us no time to discover it was worthless anyway. With time to properly comb through the information, we would have spotted its flaws. We could have predicted alternatives and countermeasures and concocted defenses to deal with whatever situation arose. Instead…

Wae’s face flashed in my mind. Her Pearl companions. The Ruby who had shared his drink with me. The king.

So many people are dead, and it’s my fault.

Was Niiq okay? Timqé? What about the Onyx lordling? The medical ward must have also come under attack, and Lordling Joqshon wasn’t in a condition to put up a fight.

And Fredo…

A choked moan escaped as tears spilled down my cheeks.

“[Hey, come on. Togdy came all this way to see the Seallaii-ku they brought on board, and you turn out to be leaky?]” The voice had a grainy, growl-like quality, and I sniffled, turning over to look at its owner.

My heart leapt into my throat.

If a canine has ever stood over you, chin just above your nose, tips of their large fangs peeking beneath their whiskered jowls, then you know how scary a sight it can be.

“You’re a Dossea-na.”

He tilted his head, one floppy, spade-shaped ear dipping lower than the other.

Despite my realization manifesting aloud in Sishgil, he responded in Laysis, complete with its proper third-person references to himself. “[Mightily observant, yes, though we usually prefer Dossie because it’s easier to say, or you can call Togdy by Togdy’s name. Togdy’s age is twenty standard years. Why are you leaky?]”

Rubbing my eyes with my arm, I noted it was not cut up as it had been within my mind. Still, a thin bandage covered the patch of burned skin near my elbow from when I tried to drug Yol awake so he could answer my questions…

That sounded bad. Let me try again.

…from when I failed to awaken Yol so he could be useful for once.

I sat up. My side tingled. Another black bandage around my waist concealed the sword slice above my right hip. My feet were also swathed in healing cloth, sticky as I wiggled my toes. I still wore the fiery festival dress Niiq had made for me, and someone had cleaned it. No trace of mud remained, but they hadn’t managed to erase all the Pearl blood.

“[I really am a monster!]” I wailed and threw my face into my hands.

“[Togdy’s sure you’re not really as much of a monster as you think you are.]” His paw landed in the bend of my elbow. “[Even if you do snore like one.]”

I peeked at him. “[Seallaii-kus do not snore.]”

With a snort, he sat, fluffy tail curving around his haunches. A grin shone in his eyes and on his long muzzle. “[They do when they’ve had cake. True fact. Look it up.]”

“[I don’t have to. I’m living proof. We do not snore, cake or no.]” I flipped onto my hands and knees. We were about the same size this way, though his canine frame was leaner. It was hard to tell how much body he had beneath all that golden-orange fur.

His amber eyes slid thoughtfully to the ceiling. “[Maybe it has to be a certain kind of cake, like nexok cream cake.]”

I blinked, imagining the Shlykrii-na bovine called a nexok doing the backstroke in a pale pink pastry.

“[I’ve never had that kind of cake, but it sounds like it’s made with nexok milk, which is barely approved for Seallaii-ku consumption. It usually gives us indigestion.]”

“[Right, and your tummy snores.]”

“[It growls.]” I balanced on my knees so I could cross my arms. This room sure was cold. My skin prickled.

“[Well, Togdy’s not intimidated by your tummy at all. Unless it’s going to smash Togdy.]”

I quirked an eyebrow at him. “[You’re rude.]”

“[As if you’ve never been rude.]”

I opened my mouth to deny it, then recalled myself questioning Hent as to his race. I bit my lip instead, eyes darting about the room for any kind of distraction.

The bed I had rolled off was Seallaii-na—thin sod with pale purple yewn flowers. I extricated my calves from the vines and noted the blossoms’ disappointed droop. I was not their usual occupant, the one they wanted.

This recalled the vedia’s jealousy at my rejection, and I shoved the thought aside, shooting to my feet.

I fell. Several thuds highlighted my gracefulness, and the Dossie snickered.

“[You didn’t see that.]” I hauled myself into a standing position again. My heart hammered, blood whooshing in my ears. My vision fled for a moment. This was not Grenswa’s gravity.

“[It would be the polite thing for Togdy to ignore that hilarious flop on the ground.]” He stretched his chest in a bow. His pocket-riddled vest scrunched over his shoulders and straightened out when he shook. “[But politeness and propriety often make the universe more complicated than it has to be. You know, whole worlds are held together for plot convenience.]”

“[What?]” Almost falling again, I grabbed one of the silk tapestries that covered the walls. They rippled in a frigid breeze, suggesting that passages could hide anywhere. I didn’t see a door.

Togdy decided to explain his random claim. “[Grenswa’s an example. Its gravity is so wacky, it should fall apart, but if that world didn’t exist, think of all the wonderful tales and music we wouldn’t have. Like the love story of Jixon and Zaqhara or the brave ballad of Queen Mizazzki, though that one’s a tragedy. The whole royal family dies. Just goes to show the world doesn’t revolve around them, I guess.]”

Peeking behind the nearest tapestry, I gulped at the memory of an unconscious Hent carried away by Shlykrii-na soldiers.

When the Shlykrii-nas attacked Grenswa the first time, they took Queen Mizazzki. She died on their ship. It was her loss that drove the world into enough of a rage that they could fight off their enemies.

Is history repeating itself? Will Hent be the one to die this time?

“[Plot convenience isn’t a force of nature.]” I frowned at the Dossie. “[If Grenswa didn’t exist, we wouldn’t notice those stories were missing, or they would take place elsewhere.]”

“[Like your homeworld? Or Togdy’s?]” His tail waved. “[Togdy wouldn’t mind some of those epochs being part of our own cultural history, except some are tragic, as we already said. You can have those ones.]”

I looked behind another tapestry and found more plain silver wall. “[Why would I want an old, sad story that I could do nothing to change? It would just remind me of how helpless I am.]”

“[So grumbly. Togdy would say you woke up on the wrong side of the bed but already saw you fall off it, so…]” He moved his shoulders in a poor imitation of a shrug. “[What are you looking for?]”

“[The door. There’s way out of here, right?]”

“[That depends on your definition of out of here. You want out of this room? There’s a sliding hatch behind the tapestry that smells like yesterday’s roast fish.]”

Great directions, Dossie.

I sniffed one of the cloths. Only the yewn blossoms’ crisp scent caught my attention.

“[You want off this ship?]” he continued. “[You’ll have to take one of the shuttles, but from what we’ve seen so far, Togdy doubts you can fly one and also doubts you’d make it to one before they caught you and brought you back anyway.]”

I frowned at the walls. A tapestry in the corner seemed a little more crooked and wrinkled than the others. I rushed to it and swiped the glittery white silk aside.

Yes! A folding hatch made up this corner, seam sealed with extra thick rubber. Hairline cracks revealed where the panels would slide away into the walls.

It didn’t move, even as I pushed on it. I didn’t see any button, latch, knob, or sensor.

“[It won’t open.]”

“[Oh, it’s locked.]”

I sighed, forehead against the door. “[I love your explanations, Togdy. They are so useful.]”

“[Really? Because Togdy thinks Togdy would annoy Togdy.]”

I turned to him with a tight-lipped smile. “[Why are we locked in this room?]”

He lay against a pile of pillows in the opposite corner, front paws crossed. “[You are here because you’re Lady Alaysq’s new pet. Togdy is here because we were waiting for you to wake up, which you took forever to do, so Togdy napped a while. Then you rudely interrupted that nap.]”

Was he a pet, too, then? Not that I would submit to being a pet, whoever this Lady Alaysq was. The broken vedia perhaps?

I certainly wasn’t going to be her pet.

I didn’t expect a Dossie to like the idea of being a pet either, though. They were a headstrong breed, their planet beautiful and difficult to approach. It was said that every structure on Dossea was made of precious metals or gemstones. Only the wisest minds, bravest souls, and swiftest adventurers could navigate the explosive asteroid maze protecting their land.

I hadn’t studied them much, but that same maze stunted their progress in space technology. They didn’t have ships to fly among the stars. So, why was this Dossie here with the Shlykrii-nas who had attacked Grenswa?

“[You staring at Togdy with that incredibly fake smile is creeping Togdy out.]” His head lowered, and his tail fidgeted.

I padded across the room and knelt in front of him. “[Togdy, why are you on this ship?]”

He yawned, large canines flashing in the dim strips of light from above. “[That’s an awfully personal question to ask someone to whom you haven’t even introduced yourself.]”

“[Oh, right.]” I scratched the back of my head beneath my fancy bun. “[I’m Rose.]”

“[And…]”

“[And what? You want my life story?]”

“[You’re rather stupid for a Seallaii-ku.]” He sighed, and the look of patient disappointment he trained on me was a million knives driving into my chest. “[When you introduce yourself, you’re supposed to say how old you are. Age is very important. It determines a lot of things, and it’s especially hard to tell how old Seallaii-kus are.]”

Ah, a cultural quirk.

I made a mental note to look up a lot more about Dossea as soon as I could. “[I’m about eighteen.]”

“[A child Seallaii-ku. Awesome!]” He leapt, and his tail waved like a flag in a hurricane. “[Togdy’s older, so Togdy’s in charge. Want to go on patrol together?]”

“[Um, does that mean we leave this room?]”

“[It would be boring if we didn’t,]” he said through a canine version of a smirk as he trotted past me.

As he approached, the door opened.

“[I thought you said it was locked.]”

He stood in the doorway. “[Oh, Togdy rigged all the doors so they’re never locked for Togdy.]”

I cautiously ventured past him, worried the door would see me and slam. Such worry was in vain, though, and I stepped into a trapezoidal hallway undeterred.

Continued in chapter 34: Monsters We Have Vowed to Eliminate

Thank you for Reading!

Quick note: This is the second volume of River’s End. Find volume I here: https://theprose.com/book/1667/river-s-end-vol-i