Zayr stayed in bed til nearly noon, not even noticing the cheery sunlight streaming through his curtains. A bed had never felt so comfortable, especially after a week and a half out at the campsite near the fragment of the fourth wall. Zayr let out a soft, contented sigh, letting his body continue to rid itself of his exhaustion.
Then the earthquake started, rattling the walls of the house and sending something in the kitchens below crashing. Zayr sat upright, grabbing for the sword on his nightstand, although his brain belatedly acknowledged that there was little a sword could do against an earthquake. Before he could get to the door, though, the ground had decided to finish its shivering and settle down, and everything was still again for a moment before the noises of daily activity started up again.
Zayr grumbled, wondering if there was anything to these earthquakes as he fetched some fresh clothing, deciding to take advantage of the baths first (which were thankfully rather lacking in dead deer.) The soak completed his transformation from exhausted half-dead corpse to once again living person, and Zayr's spirits were considerably lifted by the cleansing, watching the dirt and grime float away from his body. Toweling himself dry, he left his hair a little damp as he moved downstairs to have breakfast.
Leil was the first one to find him. "Daddy!" he exclaimed, running over and giving his father a hug. "You came back!"
"Of course I did," Zayr said with a genuine smile, picking the boy up and giving him a tight hug. "Were you worried?"
He nodded, thought about it, and then shook his head. "Mr. Nikado was with you. And so was Uncle Pablo and Uncle Tobias and Aunt Eris. I knew you would be safe."
The last one named approached around a corner at that point, munching on a bit of cheese in one hand and a persimmon in the other. "Don't call me aunt, kid," she corrected Leil around a mouthful, giving him a gentle flick in the head. "I'm not old enough for that."
He responded with a return flick to her arm. "Don't talk with your mouth full," he told her with all the sternness of a five year old who has been corrected on the same subject.
Zayr rolled his eyes as he set Leil down. The boy gave Eris a quick hug before running off. "How are you feeling this morning, Eris?"
"Oh, I slept like the dead," she commented, waving the piece of fruit in one hand. "I feel fine. You?"
"Much better, thank you," he said honestly. "Are the others up?"
"Pablo and Tobias are having lunch," Eris told him. "Or trying, anyway. Tobias didn't take too well to the meat and started throwing up again. Now they're all talking magicky things and it's boring."
"Tobias isn't feeling well?" Zayr asked with a frown.
She shrugged. "He seemed okay with the bread. Pablo told him to avoid meat for a while while he figures out what the hey's going on with the fuckup that witchy chick did on his zombie spell."
Zayr let out a sigh, smiling at her. "Well, that's good that he's doing better, then. What about Nikado, have you seen him?"
"Still in bed, as far as I know." She popped the rest of the fruit into her mouth.
"Hm, that so?" Zayr shrugged it off. "Better let him rest. It wasn't an easy thing he went through. He deserves some rest."
"I bet," Eris said sympathetically.
Zayr gave her a pat on the shoulder as he moved toward the dining area. "You did well, Eris."
The large dining room was fairly empty, a few servants taking a late lunch here and there on the heavy wooden tables, simply carved. Over in a corner under one of the sconces Pablo and Tobias had occupied a table, a couple of half-empty dishes pushed aside in favor of Pablo's notes. "Hello, you two," Zayr greeted, walking over and taking a seat at the small round table. "How are you feeling?"
"Better, thanks," Pablo told him, absently writing something with one hand. "Yourself?"
"Back to being normal, I think," he replied, looking to Tobias.
The boy looked at Zayr around a large slice of bread, then hastily swallowed the bite in his mouth. "Um. I'm doing better, I guess. I'm still a little tired and weak but I hope that'll pass."
"Eris mentioned you had a tough time with the meat," Zayr stated, tone concerned.
The younger man ducked his head, a bit embarrassed. "Yeah. It wasn't very pleasant. Sorry about that."
"As far as I can tell for the moment, he'll be okay," Pablo told Zayr. "If he avoids meat, anyway."
"It's not really something to worry about," Tobias reassured Zayr. "I can live without slabs of goat for a while and it doesn't seem like I'm going to keel over any time soon otherwise. More importantly, we should go back to worrying about the tear. How are you coming on that, Pablo?"
The mage munched on a leek absently, tapping a page with a finger. "Actually, I've got the basic frame, I think. It still assumes a lot, but I've actually been able to support some of the lesser theories. It's just a matter of finishing putting in the smaller numbers. Tobias has been pretty helpful with that."
"I don't get all of it," the other mage admitted modestly. "I'm too right-brained for all of this."
"That's great," Zayr said in surprise. "How long will you need?"
The mathmatician waved a hand in an uncertain gesture. "End of the day, perhaps? We could head over tomorrow."
Zayr smiled. "I shall go and make some preparations for us to leave in the next few days, then. Take your time, Pablo, it wouldn't do to rush." He stood to leave.
The boy gave the landowner a thumbs up. "Don't worry, I double-check everything. It'll be good to go soon, I promise."
Tobias pulled him back toward his chair. "You should eat something first. I bet you haven't eaten yet."
Zayr opened his mouth to protest, but his stomach got a word in first. "Perhaps a quick breakfast," he admitted slowly as Tobias passed him the loaf.
He passed the next hour at that table, conversing with the two younger men about nothing in particular, merely enjoying the relaxing morning. It occured to him in some corner of his mind that he hadn't really been at ease since Naimi disappeared. No, he thought to himself, it had been longer than that. He hadn't been really at ease in a long time. Not since the last time he had been together with his friends before their assault on the Web. Perhaps it was just the result of complete exhaustion after the battle with Mariah, but it was just what he needed to recover. He wondered if Nikado felt the same way.
Nikado. He must really have been exhausted after all of that. Zayr's mind couldn't help but drift to the other man, and yet, now that he was in his own home with all of the weight of his obligations on him, it was impossible to focus on the matter. His mind had become rather evil toward him as of late, preferring to think about Nikado's lips and the touch of his hands than his words and the possibility of any serious relationship. Deciding to push it aside for the moment, Zayr took his mug of coffee and wandered outside, hoping for word of his search team sent to retrieve the pack mule.
As usual, his group was efficient, and he suspect they might have left the night before, because they had already returned, pack mule in tow. It was with a little relief that Zayr was handed Nikado's precious book and spectacles, easily the most valuable things on the mule. After a moment of thought, the landowner decided to take them to Nikado's room so that he would see them when he woke up and know they were safe and sound.
And THAT, of course, brought his mind back around full circle to thinking about Nikado. Was he really attracted to another man? As strange as the idea seemed, Zayr couldn't deny that his own body had had a definite response to Nikado's seduction, whether he liked it or not, and that Trallia had never gotten that sort of reaction from him. Oh, he had gone through the proper motions, but perhaps the problem had been with him all along, that he was... strange.
The more he thought about it, the more some little spark of anger welled up in some part of him. So what if he was? He had done his duty and provided a heir. Wasn't that good enough? No, a part of his mind replied, he still had responsibility for the homestead and his family. Even if Trallia followed her own dreams and desires, not something he could really blame her for, at least someone had to make sure Leil was raised in a traditionally supportive and normal environment.
Leil. His son. The most precious thing to him. How could he harm his son's well-being for his own desires? He had to tell Nikado no, he thought to himself. It wouldn't be easy, he knew. Already there was a corner of his mind regretting the decision, and no doubt Nikado would be upset as well. But Nikado cared for the little boy almost as much as Zayr did. He would understand that.
His train of thought was interrupted as he heard noise coming from Nikado's room. Frowning to himself, he opened the door slowly. "Nikado?" he called to the older man quietly.
The man was laying on his bed, thrashing about in the tangled, damp sheets, gripped by some sort of nightmare. His olive complexion was an unnatural ashen gray, breath coming in short gasps as he tossed about in pain. Zayr stared in shock for a moment, then hastily put the book and spectacles on Nikado's nightstand, running over to him and grabbing him by the shoulder. "Nikado. Wake up."
His skin was hot to the touch, and the scholar jerked at the touch, but his eyes remained closed. Zayr gripped his shoulder with both hands, giving him a hard shake. "Nikado! Wake up!"
Still no response. "Daddy?" Leil's voice came from the door. "Is Mista Nikado having a bad dream?"
He jerked at his son's voice, taking a moment to compose his expression before turning to the young boy. "Nikado is a little sick. Can you tell Mr. Pablo and Mr. Tobias to come up here, please?"
The boy nodded seriously. "Okay, Daddy." With that he tore off like a shot with all the energy of a five year old, leaving Zayr with Nikado.
Zayr continued to shake Nikado by the shoulders, this time more forcefully, even though a lump in his stomach said that his efforts might not work. A few minutes later, Leil returned, leading Pablo by the hand with Tobias and Eris following. "Another nightmare?" Pablo asked in concern, letting Tobias take a look first.
Zayr eyed his son, then turned to Eris. "Eris, could you entertain him for a while?"
She looked over at Nikado, then nodded to him. "Sure, I'll mind him for a little while. Take care of Pops, okay?" With that, she turned a cheery expression to Leil. "Hey, kid, ever thrown a boomerang? Wanna see how?"
He beamed up at her, giving Zayr just long enough to reflect on the wisdom of handing his son over to Eris before the girl led him out of the room, chattering away. Suppressing a sigh, he turned to Tobias. "Can you do something?"
"I'm trying. It's a lot stronger than Eris's nightmare." Tobias bit his lip, drawing a bit of blood as he put his fingers to Nikado's temples. The younger man closed his eyes, brow furrowing as he concentrated, and then he removed his hands, frowning. "He's so deep. I'm not sure how to reach him."
Pablo paced around a bit, looking unusually frustrated. "I don't understand psionics. Is there something I could do? Perhaps I could bring my father?"
"I don't know that there's time," Tobias replied seriously, watching as Nikado's body spasmed again. "This is really bad.... I'll try again."
As Tobias put his hands against Nikado's temples again, he gave another jerk and lay abnormally still. "Zayr," Tobias said softly, a note of panic in his voice. "He... He's slipping. I don't know what to do. I think he might...."
"Oh no you don't, you bastard," Zayr growled, grabbing Nikado's face in his hands. "Don't even think of it, you selfish ass."
Tobias paused, then grabbed for Zayr's hands, placing them over Nikado's temples and laying his own on top. "Try calling for him, Zayr. Maybe you can reach him."
The landowner looked at Tobias, expression unsure, and then he closed his eyes as Tobias had done, focusing on the other man. He wasn't sure what the mage was seeing, but for him, it was like the sensation of looking into a deep pit, trying to retrieve something from the infinite blackness below. "Nikado," he called, and he wasn't sure if the name was spoken aloud or just in his head. "You're not allowed to leave. Come back to the rest of us." And he reached into the darkness.
Nikado's body jerked again, face pressing into Zayr's chest, and then his hands slowly moved to the landowner's shoulders, holding him at arm's length as the scholar studied Zayr's face with a wild light in his eyes. "...You're not Aizaem," he said at last, speaking slowly.
Zayr's expression softened in sympathy. "No, I am not," he replied gently, putting a hand on Nikado's arm. "You had a nightmare."
"A very bad nightmare," Tobias told the scholar. "Are you all right now, Nika--"
The scholar had taken Zayr's face in his hands, then pulled the landowner close, placing a kiss on the other's lips. Tobias froze where he was, blinking in surprise. "....Uh."
Pablo looked equally stunned. Nikado was prone to inappropriate displays of affection, but not quite this bad. "Well."
"Oh," came a third voice from the doorway, but this one wasn't surprised, but rather filled with an icy tone. "I see how it is."
Zayr jerked at that, turning with surprise and pushing Nikado away as he met the cool gaze of the woman he was married to. Trallia's expression was stony, barely concealing a cold rage. Out of the corner of his eye, he noted with a little twinge of satisfaction that Nikado's expression was equally surprised and guilty. Struggling with something to meet her silence, Zayr could only come up with a weak "It's not what you think."
"Oh, I'm sure," she sneered, turning on her heel and walking away with head high, as if she didn't care what Zayr had just done or even about who he was.
Zayr couldn't help but sigh. Why couldn't life ever be simple? "Trallia," he began, standing up to follow her.
It was Tobias that caught his sleeve. "You should leave her be for the moment, Zayr," the younger man said softly. "She wouldn't listen to you right now no matter what you said."
"You're probably right," Zayr admitted with another sigh, sitting back down.
Pablo shot Tobias a look tinged with 'I don't know what to do!!'. The older boy hopped off the head of the bed. "Nikado, how are you feeling?"
"I..." The scholar tugged on his ponytail, obviously agitated. "Shit. I don't know...."
"You're probably quite hungry," Tobias said reasonably. "When was the last time you had a good meal? Don't answer that." The older boy turned to Pablo. "Come on, let's go raid the kitchens. Zayr, you stay with Nikado and make sure he doesn't move around too much."
"Me?" the landowner replied in surprise.
"No, the other you. You should probably stay out of Trallia's way, anyway." Tobias ushered the younger mage out of the room swiftly, shutting the door behind them, leaving the two older men alone.
"Shit," Nikado said again, tugging on his ponytail with more force. "Zayr, I'm sorry. I didn't mean that. I don't know what came over me."
The landowner let out another sigh, pulling off his shoes so he could sit more comfortably on top of the bed. "You had just come out of a very strong nightmare, Nikado. You were frightened and not yet rational."
"I didn't mean it," he mumbled apologetically, leaning back against the wall. "Shit. I'm so sorry, Zayr. Now I've gone and made Trallia mad at you and it wasn't even like that."
He tilted his head, thinking about the situation as one hand rubbed at the pommel of his sword. "I will have to have a long talk with her. I would have had to talk with her concerning the other man, as well, anyway, so perhaps she will not feel as wronged."
Nikado looked at him for a long moment, an upset expression in his midnight blue eyes. "Are you mad at me, Zayr?"
Zayr regarded him with eyebrows raised. "Do you want me to be?"
"No," he whimpered, shrinking back a little. "I don't want that, but you have a reason to be."
Zayr shook his head, thinking for a long moment before he finally spoke again. "No, I should thank you. You made me think about and confront some things I would have permanently avoided if left to my own devices. I would have never been able to talk with Trallia rationally about this before. Hell, I wouldn't have ever admitted it to myself no matter how obvious the evidence was. Now, though, I feel I understand why she has acted this way. It was not from spite. More importantly, I think I can finally acknowledge the choice between my duty and my desires instead of pretending that both are always the same."
"Zayr...." Nikado lowered his head. "Even if I've screwed things up between us, can I still have your friendship still? Of everything, that is the thing I would least like to lose."
"Of course," the younger man replied easily. "You are discouraged far too easily, Nikado. Was it not you who told me happiness does not come so easily?" Zayr hopped off the bed, putting his boots back on. "I cannot give you an answer as concerns us right now. I will need to speak with Trallia, and then I will have to give the subject a great deal of thought. I will not say that the answer will positively be a yes, but I will not say that it will positively be a no, either. That is the answer you will have to understand for this immediate moment if you wish to continue this course. Is that something you can accept?"
Nikado jumped off the bed, pulling Zayr into a tight hug. Unlike before, there was no fluttering of his heart, no sense of being trapped, just an ache of sympathy for a man who could truly not live without others. "Nikado," he said gently, patting the other man's shoulder. "It's all right. You are fine now. We are all here for you."
"I know. I know that," Nikado replied in a soft voice, and slowly loosened his grip on the other man.
"Do you want to talk about your nightmare?" Zayr offered. "You are not the type to keep something like that bottled up so well, I think."
Nikado shook his head in response to the question, but after a while he spoke anyway, looking out the window. "I don't really remember all of it. It was cold, and dark. You were there. So were the others. And Aizaem was too. But in the end everyone left, and I was alone."
"Nikado...." Zayr watched his back for a moment, and then the sound of footsteps in the hall drew the attention of both men to the door.
"Nikado," Tobias called cheerily as he entered the room with a tray of bread and drinks. "Look what we brought! The cooks said this was all your favorites!"
"I had to bring the other tray," Pablo added from behind, setting it down on Nikado's table. "Tobias started looking a little queasy at all the meat. Perhaps he's just going to have to become a vegetarian."
"A vegetarian?" Nikado laughed, and the cheerful spark was back in his eyes as he walked over to take a seat. "How horrible, it's the end of your carefree existance! You should have known better than to trust a woman."
"I heard that, pops," came another voice from outside the hall as Eris stepped in, helping herself to an extra chair. "And I'll still kick your ass for it, you watch me." Bringing a flask out from behind her back, she set it down in front of him with a thunk.
"You can try, my dear," he chuckled as he began to eat, then he blinked as she set down the flask. "What's that?"
"Tea," she told him factually, shoving it into his hands. "I made it. Drink it."
He eyed it warily. "Is this going to kill me?"
"Shut up and drink your goddamn tea."
He eyed the flask again, then took a drink. "Ooh, that's pretty nice." Eris beamed as he began eating again. "Oh god alive, I'm going to need a nice bath after this. I've got dried blood and the filth of god knows how long on me."
"Well, I wasn't going to point it out, but since you already noticed..." Eris replied innocently.
Tobias chuckled as he took the last chair, glancing over at Pablo. "Something wrong, Pablo?"
The mathmatician was leaning against the wall, expression serious as he thought. "I suppose you could say that. With Nikado's little adventure a little while ago, that's been three nightmares since this started."
"Four," Eris corrected.
He looked over at her, but it was Tobias that answered. "I had one before we left for the forest. It wasn't as bad as the others, though."
Pablo digested this information. "So, one for each of us. And they've been getting worse in intensity."
Nikado paused with his fork halfway to his mouth, then lowered it. "One dream per person, excepting one of us."
Pablo nodded, looking at Zayr. "It could be something you might not wake from."
Zayr took in the mage's words seriously, rubbing at the pommel of his sword again. "It is a chance I will have to take when it comes, I suppose. Unless we can find out what's causing them."
"I have a theory on that, actually," Eris spoke up, idly toying with her boomerang between her fingers. "Could it be related to the fourth wall?"
Zayr looked at her, surprised by the observation. "Why do you say that?"
"Well, why wouldn't it be?" she countered, tilting her head. "I mean, everything else weird that's happened has seemed to be tied to it. The fragment. The crazy woman. Naimi's poofing. Why would this be any different?"
"I think she might be right," Tobias added slowly. "I don't know about the rest of you, but my dream was anachronistic as all get out. I think it might have been a weird crossover or Alternate universe or something. Just the type of thing to be tied back to the author's realm."
Pablo shuddered, trying not to think about his own dream. "Anachronistic would be a very good way of putting it."
"It could be tied in with the author," Zayr theorized. "We're not the first story the author's written, after all. It could be bits from other stories filtering into our subconsciousness."
"Then how come they all end in death?" Eris asked sourly.
Zayr shrugged. "They're stories that aren't meant to happen? Things we're not supposed to see?"
Nikado took another bite, twirling the fork around like he was gathering invisible spaghetti in the air. "So we fix the fourth wall and everything should be okay. Am I right?"
"Let's hope that fixes everything," Pablo said quietly. "The last thing we need is another psycho character coming into our world."
"Let's try to do it today," Nikado said seriously, working on clearing off the plate at a surprising rate. "Can you finish those numbers today, Pablo?"
He frowned, not answering right away. "It can wait until tomorrow," Zayr reassured him. "We can head out tomorrow morning or afternoon."
"We shouldn't wait that long," Eris said with a frown. "What if the nightmare came tonight? It's not like there's been a lot of space between them. We could lose you, Zayr."
"I'll have to take that chance," he replied seriously. "It won't do me or anyone any good if the numbers are botched due to haste or tiredness. Everyone should just focus on getting that done today so we can depart tomorrow."
Nikado looked at him with concern, and he tried for a smile. "I have been in danger before, have I not? We all have. I will take the same risks as the rest of you have endured. You will have to trust me in return to be all right."
There was silence for a long moment, and then Eris stood up. "Zayr's right," she said decisively, "and I trust him. Come on, Pablo, it's time you got to work. Stop slacking around. Tobias, you get to help and double-check numbers. Nikado," she said, pointing to him, "you focus on getting your strength back. Zayr will make the preparations for some horses and whatever else we need to get out there tomorrow."
Nikado raised an eyebrow, amused by her sudden authority. "And what are you going to do?"
She made a face, but answered with equal decisiveness. "Babysit."
Nikado laughed at that. "Then go forth, oh grand sitter of small children, and sit with all your might! I, too, shall endeavor to follow your words!"
She chuckled and swatted at the back of his head. Zayr made his way for the door. "Well, you heard our commander. Let's get going, you lot."
As promised, Pablo had completed his formulas by day's end, he and Tobias both checking them over to make sure everything was in order. The day had slowly slipped away, and Zayr had been swift to urge everyone to bed in order to get an early start the next day, but his own bed had been approached with a small amount of hesitation. Though he had put on a strong front to the rest of the group, the idea of a nightmare from which he couldn't awaken was a little daunting, to say the least. He took his time changing into pajamas, laying his sword on his nightstand before he sat down on the bed, resting his arms on his knees as he stared at the floor, not willing to lay down yet.
A soft knock came at his door. Sitting up, Zayr responded softly, "Who's there?"
"Nikado," came the scholar's voice. "Are you having trouble sleeping?"
He sighed, but there didn't seem to be much point in denying it. "A bit, I suppose. Come on in."
"I brought you something to help you sleep," Nikado said as he opened the door. The scholar led Leil into the room by the hand, the young pajamad boy rubbing at his eyes as he tottered into the room.
Zayr sighed in exasperation, regarding Nikado with a look. "Tell me you did not wake my son."
Nikado stuck out his tongue before answering. "No, he's just ready for bed. I thought you could use a pillow. Or something."
"Daddy," the boy mumbled sleepily with a smile as he stumbled over to Zayr's bed, crawling onto it and giving his father a hug. "Mista 'kado says I have to protect you from the monsters under the bed. Don' worry, Leil is a brave boy."
Zayr stroked his son's hair, similar in color to his own. "Yes, I'll feel much safer with you here, thank you, Leil."
Nikado stood by the door, smiling at the scene for a moment. "Rest well, Zayr," he said softly, turning to go.
"Nikado." The landowner's voice made him pause. Zayr looked down at the boy already nodding off in his lap. "Thank you. You rest well, too."
"I will, as long as you do," he replied softly, smiling slightly. "Good night, you two."
Morning the next day was foggy, a fine mist hovering over the homestead and dimming the sun's light. Zayr had elected to travel light, packing only dried rations for a few days. Hopefully it wouldn't take more than a day, but with a spell of this magnitude, stepping into so much unknown territory, it was hard to say. The pack mule with the remaining supplies had been sent back to Cantercor with thanks, minus a few flasks of the amateur tea that Eris had insisted on keeping.
If Pablo was anxious about testing the spell, he didn't show it. A lot of his calculations rode on what was a pretty far-fetched assumption. And even with the double-checking, there was always the possibility of something going wrong in the execution.
It was deep into the swing of autumn, red and orange leaves of differing shapes descending in swirling patterns all around in a heavy storm, covering the air in spots before falling into a thick carpet that muffled the steps of their horses' hooves. The falling leaves seemed to have come much earlier than usual, Zayr reflected to himself as he watched one drift by his face. How odd. Unfortunately, the muffling properties of the leaves had no effect on Nikado's voice; the scholar apparently wished to make it very clear that the author had done a rather poor design of horses and that they should have been built far more comfortably for riding. After a while, Eris turned around far enough to give him a whack and tell him to shut the hell up.
"What a dismal day," Tobias commented from in front of the landowner, placed in front of the taller man, watching the whirlwind of leaves. "The leaves are nice, though."
"I suppose so--" Zayr's words were cut off as the ground began to move again, this time growing with intensity, the ground crumbling and buckling under the horses' feet. His own horse began to panic, rearing back, and the landowner pushed Tobias down onto the horse's neck. "Stay down!"
The one under Nikado and Eris reared up in panic, throwing the scholar off easily. Nikado winced as he turned the fall into a roll, shoulder taking most of the impact. "Eris!" he called to her as the horse began bucking, trying to get her off.
"Pops!" she called back in a panic, getting shaken around by the horse's movement. "Help!"
Zayr's horse decided that Tobias and Zayr weren't coming off his back, and bolted, beginning to run through the woods with wild abandon, branches and twigs snapping at the two riders. "Just stay down," Zayr instructed, pressing against the younger man.
Pablo's horse as well began to panic as well, throwing him around. Pablo quickly cleared the horse, throwing out his hands in an instinctive gesture as he let out a quick set of numbers, catching him in midair with a hastily cast defiance against gravity. The horse, freed of his weight, bolted back in the direction of the homestead.
"Shit!" Nikado exclaimed as he saw the horse bolt, before turning back to Eris. "Hold on, Eris!" The ground shaking around wasn't helping him keep his own footing, either.
"I can't!" she screamed, just before a violent motion of the horse threw her off.
Nikado dove for the girl, the pair tumbling into the underbrush which rather scratchily cushioned their fall. "Oof," he mumbled, giving her a quick pat on the head. "You okay?" "Yeah. Dumb horse. I hate horses." The sounds of footsteps were retreating into the distance as the shaking finally settled down again.
"Me too," he told her as he helped her up before pulling himself out of the underbrush, dusting off his clothes. "Pablo? Zayr?"
"I'm here," the mathmatician replied, lowering himself to the ground. "Zayr and Tobias are still on their horse. It took off."
Nikado muttered something under his breath that sounded close to 'useless dumb beasts'. "Okay, let's try and find them."
As the horse ran in panic, Tobias clung to its mane with one hand, the other slowly sliding up towards its head. Calm, he thought to himself, and a little power swirled out from his fingertips. The horse jerked its head as the spell started, but then its pace slowed until it was back down to a trot and then a walk, finally stopping to nibble at a bit of grass.
Zayr sighed, giving the mage a pat on the shoulder. "Good job, Tobias. Did we lose the others?"
"Seems like it." Tobias moved to dismount, no longer wanting to be on a horse's back. "That was an awful earthquake. What's been up with them lately?"
Zayr shrugged. It might have been another result of the fragment's displacement, but Zayr didn't want to pin another strange happening on the fragment; it seemed like everything so far had been the result of it. "Let's find the others."
Tobias nodded, taking a look around. Their trail wasn't that hard to follow. "Did you sleep well last night?" the younger man asked slowly, looking up at Zayr.
"Quite well, thank you," Zayr replied, meeting Tobias's gaze from his perch on the horse. "And yourself?"
"Pretty well. I was worried about you a bit, though." Tobias brushed at a stray branch in their haphazard path.
The older man smiled slightly. "I am not the one we should be worried about, I think. What of yourself? Have you been well since last night?"
"As long as I avoid meat." Tobias rubbed at his wrist. "I'm not sure. It's hard to think that the spell is really done. It still doesn't feel exactly the same as being human, but... it's a little hard to remember what being human felt like."
Zayr rode in silence for a moment, keeping the pace slow so Tobias wouldn't be left behind, but his expression was sympathetic. "How long ago was it?" he asked slowly, curiosity getting the better of his usual tendency not to ask questions.
Tobias considered the question. "A few months before we met? Not that long. I was still trying to deal with the change. Not that well." He was quiet for a long moment, then began speaking again without prompting. "It was while I was in school at Cantercor. I wanted to be a healer. That's mostly my specialty, though it's not all I can do. I don't even know why... he singled me out. I wasn't even that good a student or anything." Tobias put a hand to his mouth, suppressing a sense of nausea as the memories of that particular night came back. "I... don't really remember that well how it happened."
"I'm sorry," Zayr said gently. "That you had to go through that."
"It gets easier to talk about it as time goes on," the younger man told him. "Well, I doubt it will ever stop affecting me, but I don't want to be running from it forever." He rubbed at his pinkie finger. "When we started this story, Zayr, you know, all I wanted was a quick, easy fix. A happy ending. Then when I met all of you, I found an even better ending. I didn't need to be 'fixed' to find some kind of purpose to being around. Then that woman tried to fix me, and I'm really not sure I'm happy about it." He laughed a bit, brushing back his short dark hair. "Isn't that strange?"
"Not at all," Zayr replied with a smile. "Happiness is not so simple."
Tobias smiled up at the older man. "Zayr!" Nikado's voice shouted at them from the path. "Are you two okay?"
"We're fine, Nikado," Zayr replied, looking around after he noticed Eris and Pablo safely with him. "Where are the horses?"
"They ran off because they suck." Nikado nodded wisely at his declaration.
Zayr groaned and put a hand to his face. "I've taught you nothing. Was anything we needed lost?"
"No, thankfully," Pablo replied as Zayr and Tobias rejoined the group. "I keep all my notes on me."
"We're not far off the path," Eris told them. "Just this way, around the bend."
Zayr finally dismounted the horse, leading the contented beast loosely by the reins as he walked with the rest of the group. The light pouring from the tear, as usual, was visible from a distance. Zayr couldn't help but feel a little apprehension as they approached, Pablo pulling out a couple of pages of simplified formulas. Nikado seemed to sense Zayr's unease, and looked to the younger man. "Nervous?" he asked with a cocky grin.
"Not particularly," Pablo asked, unaware the question wasn't addressed at him.
"Want some help?" Tobias offered.
"Sure. Hold this." Pablo handed him a page.
"I feel a little useless," Eris complained.
Nikado gave her a pat on the shoulder. "Don't fret, my dear. We're here for moral support."
"That's right," Pablo replied seriously as he straightened the paper in his hands. "I don't think I'd have the courage to do this alone."
Zayr put a hand on the young mage's shoulder, keenly aware of how much was riding on him alone. "You're a very courageous young man, Pablo. Is there anything else we can do to help?"
He shook his head. "I've committed them to memory, I just have to call on the assigned variables. Everyone should stand back a bit. I know what should happen, but just in case. Chaos theory and all that." As the four stepped back into the edges of the clearing, Pablo planted his feet, throwing his arms apart. "Alpha."
A wave of pressure rolled back from the clearing, ghostly numbers and symbols springing into the air as Pablo kept his eyes on the tear in reality. "Beta."
A wire sphere made of green light sprang into place around the tear, encasing it as if it was a circular cage. The air was pricking with power now, the full abilities of the Zenzizenzizenzic bloodline coming to bear. "Gamma!"
Bands of various colors, each with intriciate patterns, began to circle the wire sphere at various distances, somewhat resembling a midair gyro of energy and light. "You may not want to watch this next part," he said to them in a quiet voice. "It's a little weird." After a pause, he proceeded with the next word. "Delta!"
As he predicted, things did get a little weird. Space around the tear began to warp, twisting the bands into moebius strips. The wire cage also warped, flipping itself into what might have been a fourth-dimension cube if three dimensions were really capable of displaying such a twisting of space fully. Even Pablo avoided looking at it, closing his eyes as he recalled to mind the final formulas that would push the fragment back to the fourth wall and seal it away, closing the hole between worlds and ending the instabilities of the world. Then he said the final word.
"Omega."
He was floating, and it wasn't even so much a sense of floating just as not having ground under his feet. Zayr opened his eyes, wondering where he was.
Before him, what seemed to be an endless expanse of wall stretched, something like ice or crystal or perhaps just glass.It was unmarred by anything, except a figure with her back turned to him, seeming to appear miniscule in comparison to the endless wall. "Uncle Zayr!" Naimi spoke to him from within the wall, and her voice seemed to be both inside and outside his head. The fifteen year old's voice sounded upset, as if she was holding back a sob. "You're here!"
"Naimi?!" He ran over to the wall despite the fact that he didn't seem to be touching anything, placing his hands against the wall. "Don't worry, I'll get you out." Even though he had no idea how. Where were the others? It seemed like he was alone in this empty space, wherever it was.
"No!" and a shot of panic went through her tone. "Don't move me!"
He paused at the tone of her voice. "Naimi, where is this? Why are you here?"
"It's the fourth wall," she replied quietly, remaining completely unmoving in the wall, as if frozen in ice, even though he could hear her voice perfectly. "Uncle Zayr, you've got to help me. The author's trying to destroy our world!"
Zayr became very still, an imitation of her own frozen state. "What?"
"The author doesn't want any more stories with us," she told him with tears in her voice. "The author wanted to make our world go away. I tried to stop it by coming here, but I think I just made everything worse."
"No," he reassured her, "there have been some earthquakes and a few little problems leaking through, but we're all still in one piece." It all made sense. Everything really had been caused by the fourth wall. "Are you okay? Why didn't you tell us what was happening?"
"I'm sorry," she mumbled apologetically. "It was all so fast when I found out, and...."
"Nevermind that," he reassured her. "You did well. Why does the author want to destroy our world?"
"Because I don't really like you," came another voice, echoing around the empty space, although it seemed to come from behind the wall. Zayr squinted, and could just make out a vague human shape, several times his size. "You lot were amusing for a lark, but I really don't do fantasy. It was my editor's idea to try out the genre. You really weren't ever that interesting to me. I mean, come on," the voice continued in a tired, ranting tone. "I busted my ass off for a month and produced that lousy manuscript. My editor ate me up one side and down the other for it. I'm not going through that again."
"I see," Zayr said slowly, feeling a cold rage inside that he couldn't quite describe. "So because of your inadequacies as an author, you are abandoning us."
"You are characters," the author pointed out.
"Perhaps so, but we are good characters," Zayr replied firmly, wishing the others were here with him. "We've come a long way, with or without your guidance."
"I'm so thrilled for you," the voice replied dryly. "That doesn't change the fact that I don't want another fantasy save the world deal. What am I supposed to write about characters that already saved the world?"
"Plenty!" the landowner replied, as if it should have been obvious. "Maybe you haven't been paying attention, but we just went through hell thanks to you trying to destroy our world. And it's changed us. None of us are perfect, matured people like the creature you sent into our world. We all have flaws. We have our conflicts. We don't have to be saving the world to still have our stories to tell."
"Wow, you're ballsy for a made-up character," the author commented. "Okay, even assuming I wanted to write with you guys again, I'm a plot-oriented writer. You gonna pull out a plot for me, too?"
"What, do I have to do everything myself?" Zayr replied in exasperation.
"You really are ballsy." The author's tone seemed amused.
"Actually," Naimi began slowly, "I have an idea. But it's not very good or anything."
The author almost seemed to be folding their arms. "Okay, let's hear it."
"Zayr! God, Zayr, wake up!"
His light green eyes slid open slowly. Nikado was peering into his face, the scholar looking about two seconds from crying. "Oh, thank god," he mumbled, voice holding a wealth of relief as he pulled Zayr against his chest, hugging him tightly. "He's alive. He's awake."
"Oof," Zayr mumbled, looking around in confusion. He wasn't at the wall anymore. "Wh- Where... What happened?"
"You passed out after Pablo finished the sealing spell," Eris told him, putting a hand on his head to make sure he was really all right. "You wouldn't wake up. We thought it was the nightmare."
"I'm fine," he reassured them all, pushing Nikado away so he could stand. "The fragment? What became of it?"
"The spell went off without a hitch," Pablo replied. "Well, except for you. But it's sealed away properly."
Zayr nodded thoughtfully, dusting himself off. "Then everything is as it should be. The nightmares and the earthquakes should stop."
"Everything's not okay," Tobias said slowly. "We still don't know where Naimi is."
"Don't worry about her," Zayr reassured him. "I think I know where to find her."
"You do?" Nikado asked excitedly. "Where is she?"
Zayr smiled slightly, as he usually did, but this time it seemed directed at some person outside of his friends. "You'll have to wait and find out in book two."
