Chapter 12C: A Past which Plunders the Present

I smiled and prepared some words with which to reassure her of our love or console her for the history she suffered, but then I realized that her words had practically drained her of the little energy she had left. The sweat on her skin shimmered in the fiery light of the approaching lava, but I recognized then that her skin was stained only with dried blood. Her gashes had healed long ago, but I had never seen her so exhausted in my life. Aeliana, who had swum in the steaming sea for several days, could now hardly mutter a few sentences without losing her breath. She stared out at the island with her hand over her mouth, and she winced while watching the lava pour into the ocean. The fiery glow set every strand of her hair alight. I opened my mouth to reply as I pushed our ship through the waves, but then I saw a tall silhouette standing on the shore. A towering woman waited for us with a long weapon held limply in her hands. She stood just a short distance from the flowing lava, and sparks danced beside her in the darkness.

“If we find ourselves in battle, I want you to stand back,” I whispered to Aeliana as I prepared to go on the attack.

But even when we closed in on the steaming shore of the volcanic island, the towering woman did not make a move. I had steadied myself to draw my sword and summon the strength I stole from Elijah, but the island’s protector showed no interest in repelling us. Even after our ship scraped upon the rocky shore of the lava-lit land, the spearwoman merely walked calmly to the place where we had docked. I disembarked from the ship with a splash which sent shimmering droplets into the steamy air. Aeliana hesitated for a moment, but eventually she climbed into the rocky shallows with my assistance. Together we pulled the small ship onto shore and stared toward the spear-wielding guard as she made her gradual approach.

The towering woman said to us with a smirk on her face, “I heard your whole conversation, though I know it isn’t my place. You came to the right island if you want a place to hide away and prepare your next move… though I advise against starting an onslaught against the kind people who live here. This is a quiet island that offers refuge to people who are otherwise unwelcomed in the lands they left behind. The people here work together against the volcano itself instead of fighting with another. It’s a nice waystation for monsters like us to wait out our next move.”

Aeliana then asked her with a spark of curiosity, “Is this the island where you achieved your own monstrosity?”

The woman laughed and answered as she shook her head, “On the island I come from, everyone else is dead. They died by my spear or in a burst of black fire. I sailed once to the mainland, but I quickly found myself outclassed. I didn’t have the strength I needed to recommence my onslaught, so I came here instead to hone my skills.”

I couldn’t help but find myself befuddled by her unguarded admission. She had practically confessed that she dreamed to create carnage and commit indiscriminate murder, but then I realized that we could not even possibly pretend to play the role of morally superior. She had overheard us speak of our plans to crush the people of this world and use them as ingredients for our perfect future. We were two villains passing in the night, uninterested in impeding the other in their goal. Aeliana, on the other hand, seemed to find our interloper fascinating.

Aeliana covered her face with her hand and asked, “Are you killing them all for some specific task?”

But the woman answered with a breath that came deep from her chest, “I suppose you could say I have no reason for this quest. I consider carnage as intrinsic to my being as flight is to a bird. You can ask a fish why it spends its whole life swimming, but you cannot change that it does. It’s the same for me. I am a warlord before anything else, even without my own army to lead. I am Panasoria, the sole survivor of Sadina. I am the warlord who will one day conquer the mainland under my name.”

“That’s a fascinating goal, but what is it for?” Aeliana asked as she envisioned her war.

Panasoria rolled her eyes and tried to explain, “Some would say to themselves that it’s a quest without gain. I aim to become the most powerful warlord in this world, and one day I will infect other worlds with this same campaign. Some would call it murder just for murder’s sake, but we both know that the reasoning of the weak makes no difference in reality. From what I can gather, we are both strong, and therefore we decide the boundary between right and wrong. This will remain true unless someone even stronger than us comes along and decides differently.”

“Why do you think it is that we’re compelled to derive our power from other worlds?” I asked Panasoria as she spun her spear through six twirls.

“Everyone knows this world is worthless and wasting away,” answered Panasoria as if she were counting down the days.

I heard a clamor that sounded at first like Aeliana wanted to answer, but when I glanced at her I saw that she had fallen to her knees. The fall had torn the fabric from her pants and scraped her knees upon the rocks. I sheathed my sword and ran over to her side, but when I touched her skin, I realized that she felt hotter than ever before. Whenever I had felt her skin in the past, she felt colder to the touch than anyone else I had ever known. But now as her fever swelled in my hands, I realized the true reason why she had succumbed to exhaustion ever since we left shore. She shook as she struggled to take a breath, but then she coughed four times before sealing her lips with her hand.

“Aeliana! Are you alright?” I asked as my whole body fell victim to fright.

But Aeliana shook her head slowly and confessed, “I think this is a sickness I could not keep suppressed. I am so sorry, Asivario. I truly wanted to defeat it without causing any concern. We had so many obstacles to escape in Bones City, and… I couldn’t admit to myself that there was another. I can feel it in my muscles; I can feel it in my bones. I’m so sorry! I can fight my way through it, but I need more time. Between Hayatama and this, it seems… that we truly have been cursed by the stars.”

I wrapped Aeliana in my arms and asked the woman with the spear, “Do you know if there is a doctor anywhere near here?”

Panasoria could sense the urgency in my voice. For reasons I did not entirely understand, she nodded and sheathed her spear. She then took off running toward the glimmers of light emanating from distant houses elsewhere on the volcano. Perhaps it was because Aeliana had shown her a curious courtesy when we first met. Perhaps Panasoria simply felt a camaraderie as we were warlike villains set to slaughter cities and empower ourselves. Perhaps it was because on some level, Aeliana and I were the only people who could understand her without judgment or reproach. Regardless of the reason, she ran toward the village with her head over her shoulder. I nodded and lifted Aeliana into the air. Since it was my only hope to keep pace with Panasoria, I activated the power I had stolen from Elijah.

In that moment, my strength practically doubled, so I effortlessly carried Aeliana in my arms. At the same time, my speed doubled, so I raced across the land lit by the light of lava. Even my eyes doubled their acuity, so I navigated effortlessly through shadowed crevices and dashed over obstacles until I caught up with Panasoria. We raced along the edge of the volcano as it spewed scarlet sparks into the sky. Fiery light flashed upon our feet as we raced toward the distant homes, but I silently reassured Aeliana as I held her in my arms. I had promised her forever, but our forever had turned finite. I could hear her deliriously whisper that I could take my time, that she would somehow survive this sickness, but I could think of nothing other than the moment when I found Alyssa’s half-eaten corpse in the desert sand. We were crossed by the stars to keep us apart, but even the Bones City plague could not stand between us. If this doctor could not help her, I had already resolved that I would kill everyone I could find and steal their souls until I could pilfer a power which would save her.