The Forgotten Land of Myria

SAFIRA

“What are you doing here?”

Angus flinched upon hearing my voice. He spun around embarrassed.

“Oh...well, I’ve only just found a boat...” he pointed at the station tower over the harbor. “Stayed up all night trying to sneak past those guards, so...”

“You know what I mean,” I replied. He simply raised an eyebrow in false curiosity, but after a minute of silence, responded.

“I--can’t stay here,” he said slowly. “All I’ve done here is make a mess of things.”

“That’s no reason to--”

“It is all the reason.” Angus cut me off in a whisper that sounded like a blob of guilt was still stuck in his throat. “You were there.”

“Why two boats?” I asked in an attempt to change the subject upon noticing a smaller canoe bobbing on the water. It held a single white porcelain vase, decorated with yellow flowers.

“For--for Eulisses,” Angus said. “I’m going to release it in the water on my way out.”

“What did you put in the vase?”

“Ashes,” he croaked. “They were scattered on my arm when I woke up.”

As he gently rolled up his sleeves to untie the rope, I caught a glimpse of his burnt arm. It dangled lifelessly to his side, making him wince every time it moved.

“You know,” I started slowly. You didn’t kill Eulisses.”

Those words seemed to have no impact on Angus, who stared blankly at the ground. I sighed. I hated people who felt sorry for themselves instead of facing their pathetic problems.

“I’ve killed thirty-six people throughout my life,” I then said. It instantly caught his attention and he was looking me straight in the eye this time. “Humans, that is. Not counting the other numerous creatures I’ve slain--and not all of them were exactly against me...No one is ever fully prepared for their first battle. Still, you don’t see me gathering up thirty-six boats to float out into the open sea. I simply accept that things like this happen--and I move on. You only had two weeks of training. There’s no reason to mope around.”

After a few seconds, Angus responded.

“Are you proud of this?”

“What?” I asked.

“You killed thirty-six people--and you say it like you’re proud of what you’ve done.”

I opened my mouth to respond but he didn’t allow it.

“And yes, if I killed thirty-six people I would do just the same as I’m doing now. It wouldn’t matter whether it was some evil man in Theon’s army who’d killed my entire family, or whether it was an accident. They’re both humans--it would look the same to me. And being a human myself, the least I would do would be to pull out thirty-six boats and send them off.”

I gritted my teeth and simply watched Angus toss his bag into the boat and grab one of the oars that lay at its side.

“You don’t even know the way out,” I said, in one final attempt to contest him.

“That would be why you’re here, I’m guessing?”

My lips pursed. I hated being taken for a fool. “I’m not telling you that,” I spat.

“Very well,” he responded indifferently, and turned to get on the boat.

“Besides, you’re injured,” I pointed out. “And you’re alone. You’re all alone, with only one useful arm, and you have no idea where you’re going. You will die out there.”

Angus thought about it for a moment then calmly replied, “And that you’ll have to expect. So why are you moping around?”

Without thinking, I did something I had only done to someone once before--I slapped him in the face.

“Honestly!” I blurted out, in full rage. “Why do you insist on acting like you don’t care about anything! You keep trying to sound wise, and smart, and impenetrable, when really you’re just a problematic--ungrateful--winy little--TWERK!”

Panting, I watched him rub his face...indifferently. In fact, he almost had a slight, dumb grin on his face. I clenched my fists.

“Sorry, it’s just…that word means something else in the Commonland.”

It was useless. I could stand there, slap him a thousand times, and the stubborn idiot would still act indifferent.

“I don’t belong here, Safira,” he whispered.

Idiot. You idiot!

As I held myself from hitting him again, a more useful thought crossed my mind. Why was I even wasting my time on him? Why was I even insisting that he stayed?

Remember the Prophecy, a voice echoed in my head. Oh, how I despised that voice.

All of a sudden, I didn’t want him around anymore.

“Steer east, towards the Potterswoods,” I said bitterly. “Once you’ve gone by it, you will pick up a current. The one we use to get to Blanche Rock. Keep true to it, and a few miles past Blanche Rock you should find a smaller island. There’ll be a water serpent—”

“Fern,” Angus finished.

“It’ll get you to the Commonland in no time.”

Angus nodded sternly, as if playing the instructions through in his mind. “Thank you,” he said when he was through. Without waiting another second, I turned and rushed up the stairs until I heard him call.

“Oh, I almost forgot.” He climbed the steps after me and reached into the scruff of his robes. “Here.”

My heart dropped, heavy and cold, like a block of steel. In his dry hand, he held the medallion. It was scratched and some of the engravings had faded. But nonetheless, it was recognizable.

“I’ve had this since I was a kid,” he said.

Believe me, I know, I thought.

“When I arrived here, I knew it would serve some sort of purpose...still, I don’t know how it--I mean, it--connected with that stone and turned into a sword...anyway--Eleazar gave it back to me a few hours ago. I guess he knew I was leaving.”

I stared out into the ocean to avoid his glance.

“It seems it wasn’t destroyed along with the sword, since Alice was holding it in her hand when Eleazar got it,” he continued. “Still, I--I can’t keep it anymore. It’ll just be another albatross. So, as long as you’re here, you can have it.”

The sun, now beaming over the horizon, reflected a red glow on the medallion, as it carefully rolled from Angus’ hand to mine. My fingers curled around it, and with it came the emotions that I’d worked so hard to suppress. My head tilted up and met Angus’ eyes, looking straight into mine.

“Goodbye, Safira.”

He turned, walked down the steps, hopped onto the boat, and steered without looking back. Once again, I was left alone holding yet another relic of bitter memories in my hand. Part of me wanted to scream at him to come back. Tell him all about how he did in fact belong here. There was still time. He wasn’t too far out yet.

Say something! Anything! said a part of me.

No. Remember the Prophecy the other part responded.

I said nothing. I did nothing. Simply watched him disappear into the horizon. And for the third time in the span of two months, I saw a single tear roll down my cheek...

“He’ll be back,” I heard Eleazar’s voice call out about an hour later. He had been sitting cross-legged on a stone by the steps of the harbor for Yihwa knows how long.

“What makes you think that?” I replied in an acid tone.

“Because whether he likes it or not, he doesn’t exactly have a choice.”

I frowned. Eleazar sat up, brushed the dirt off his cloak and smiled.

“The one thing one can never run away from is oneself, because oneself is the one thing one can truly be.”

As he said this, he turned, limped up the stone steps and vanished into the forest...