The Duelist 9, page 3
Much larger.
A fucking grizzly.
To his credit, Jenner did seem to be more or less holding his own against the enormous bear. I suspected his being so much smaller might actually be an advantage. He was quicker, and he was a smaller target, whereas I was still large enough in comparison that I wasn’t an awkwardly small size for a grizzly to try and hit.
No matter, I was still plenty quick enough to avoid its claws. And I’d have to be, if I was going to stop my friend from getting squished, because the grizzly was definitely still the more likely victor in this fight.
“Raaaaaagghhhhh!” I yelled, which caught the bear’s attention, as I’d hoped.
I leapt into the fray, literally, and brandished the sword Rylan had conjured for me. For a moment, I felt the urge to reach for a sword that wasn’t there, but I remembered at the last second that I didn’t have my dual swords, just this one, and I would have to make do.
The grizzly looked at me, and for a second he just seemed confused. Then he seemed to decide I was a much more interesting meal than Jenner, and one enormous clawed paw swiped toward me. I jumped back and out of the way, and I raised my sword defensively so if the bear’s paw came into contact with anything, it would be the razor edge of the blade.
The bear let out a frustrated growl and lumbered toward me. It reared back up on its hind legs and swiped for me again, but I dodged, darted forward, swung my sword out, and caught the beast across one of its front legs. It let out a low, pained whine, and I might have felt bad if it wasn’t some creeper demon bear haunting a nightmare forest. In that moment when I’d been close enough to slash at it, I’d seen its eyes. No real bear had eyes like that. They were too dark, too clouded, too aware.
Actually, the more I looked at it, the less it looked like a bear at all. I had to wonder if this was my mind acting on the Dark Realm or the Dark Realm acting on my mind. How could I have mistaken this thing for a bear? It looked… I could only describe it as not a bear. It was bear-shaped, but everything about it seemed more and more wrong the longer I looked. Its limbs were out of proportion, and the way it moved was unlike any natural animal I’d ever seen. The fangs in its mouth, because of their odd size and angle, looked more like they’d been placed there by some weird taxidermist instead of like they’d grown there naturally.
It was like in one of those horror movies where the teens think they’ve seen a weird deer only to realize it’s not a deer, at least not anymore.
Fucked-up deer. The pinnacle of horror cinema.
But right now I had to contend with this fucked-up not-a-bear.
Jenner was clinging to the not-bear’s back like a baby spider monkey to its mother, only he was also trying to rip into its thick fur. The not-bear didn’t even seem to notice this, even as great matted chunks of black fur fell off, like it was rotting away in front of my very eyes.
It let out another snarl, though, when Jenner evidently found flesh and clawed at it.
The beast shook itself in a clear attempt to shake Jenner off, and whatever Jenner was holding on to came away from the not-bear, because he fell to the ground with one hand clutching a bloody chunk of flesh. I swallowed hard at the sight of that, and I tried to visualize myself not having a stomach in this place. Or a gag reflex. Internal organs? Who needs them in a place like this? I certainly had no intention of sticking around long enough that I got hungry.
The not-bear twisted to claw at Jenner, but he was still too quick for it and still an awkwardly small target, so he jumped to his feet to dart out of the way while still snarling madly. However, he seemed to have enough sense in his head to recognize ‘the enemy of my enemy is my friend,’ so when he edged around toward me, he kept his gaze on the not-bear.
Maybe if we killed it together, his animal mind would see me as an ally, and he would remember I was his friend.
Either way, we needed to kill this not-bear before it killed us, because I could see the glitter in its eyes and knew that even if we turned tail and ran, it would follow us. This was no natural animal, and it wanted our blood.
Jenner pounced suddenly, and he leapt with greater speed or height than I would have expected from someone like him, but I went with it. As he landed on the not-bear’s head and began clawing for its eyes and muzzle, I went in low while it was distracted. I slashed the sword again and again, and I tried to cut through its thick fur and thicker flesh until I saw the gory red glimmer of blood.
The not-bear howled, sounding more enraged than pained, but I kept going. Then it let out a high-pitched shriek as Jenner managed to claw one of its eyes and began batting at the koala-man frantically, but the beast was so distracted by pain and frustration that it couldn’t get a proper grip, couldn’t throw him off.
I surged forward again and plunged my sword deep into its gut. There was the sensation of something popping, resistance, like a bubble, and then the sudden jolt forward as the surface yielded and let itself be pierced. The not-bear screamed, a horrible, jagged sound that burrowed inside my head and echoed in my skull. Maybe part of me was hearing it inside my head, because this was the Dark Realm and that was Just How It Worked.
The not-bear writhed and tipped backward before landing hard on its back, and I was sure I heard the crack of bones and joints popping and breaking. Jenner was still clawing at its face, and great red scratches had bloomed across the beast’s eyes and nose, which clouded its senses of sight and smell with its own blood. As I looked, I noticed it was a little too dark to be real blood. There were trails of something black and inky, and before I could think the better of it, I lunged forward, grabbed Jenner by the back of the collar, and pulled him away. I was sure if he swallowed some of that blood, he would go completely mad, or be trapped here forever, and I wasn’t going to let that happen if I could help it.
Jenner did not appreciate being manhandled, which I understood, and I held him at arm’s length before I set him down, returned my attention to the not-bear, and hoped the koala-man would understand. It seemed he did, because though he kept his hackles raised and his teeth bared, he did not go to attack me again and just watched as I approached the not-bear and sank my sword into its throat, down to the hilt.
The not-bear let out a pathetic, almost pitiful, whining noise. There was a soft gurgle, and then it was still.
“This place is so fucked up,” I muttered as I pulled the sword out of its corpse and saw more of those inky black streaks on the metal. I then turned my attention back to Jenner, who looked caught between attacking me and fleeing again.
It seemed the main concern in his head was that, if he attacked me, he knew he wouldn’t win. If he fled, he might get into another fight. So maybe I was a valuable ally.
“Jenner,” I said calmly. “Don’t you remember me? I’m Alex. We’re friends. I want to help you.”
I took a small step forward, and Jenner hissed at me, almost like Zoie, only I knew this wasn’t remotely playful. He was still not sure about whether to trust me, then.
Very slowly, very carefully, I raised the sword Rylan had conjured for me, and I saw Jenner’s eyes track it, my arm, me, with all the precision of a laser. Every line in his body was tense, like he was preparing to flee or fight. Then I tossed the sword aside, far out of my arm’s reach, and held up both my hands as if in surrender.
“I just want to help you, Jenner,” I said in a slow, even voice. “I’m your friend. I have no intention of hurting you.”
He wanted to run away, I could see it. The fight with the not-bear had wounded him, and he radiated the frantic, wild energy of an animal that felt vulnerable and just wanted a quiet place to go and lick his wounds. He would lash out if he felt threatened, so I had to come across as nonthreatening.
I remembered how I’d tipped my head back to bear my throat to Nova, to signify I wasn’t a danger, so I tried it now, while keeping my head raised and my hands up.
“Jenner, I’m your friend,” I said again.
Jenner began to slowly back away from me. His eyes seemed clouded, more animal and less sentient than normal, but I could still see the trepidation in his expression. He was wary, but not completely mistrustful. I dared to take a tiny step forward, and he didn’t turn tail and bolt away.
Slow and steady was the way to go.
“You were one of the first people I met in Aventoll, do you remember?” I asked him, and I kept speaking in that steady, calming voice. “I killed Dagmar, and Zoie became my wife, and she brought me to you. You called me a scrawny whelp.”
I couldn’t help but smile fondly at the memory.
Jenner blinked at me, but there was still no recognition in his eyes.
“You explained most of what this world was to me, too, do you remember that? I’d have been lost without you to help me. And Zoie.” Since she was Varthan, her knowledge of the intricacies of Asher politics, especially on Nata Isle, had been sparse before the koala-man had come along.
“You’ve dedicated your life to serving Ashers and bettering your knowledge,” I continued. “You’re a scholar, Jenner. You’ve got a mind unlike any other.”
Jenner was watching me intently now, and I could almost see the cogs beginning to turn in his brain again, like an old computer starting up for the first time in a while.
“I want to take you home, Jenner,” I told him. “I know you want to go back, too. To see Zoie, Shay, Rylan, and all the others. You’re part of our Crew, our family. We want you with us, Jenner.”
The koala-man looked at me for a long time. Throughout my little speech, he’d continued to take little steps away from me, and I’d continued to take little steps forward. I didn’t hurry to close the distance, since I was aware I could scare him off if I got too close, but he seemed more at ease with me now.
And then…
“Jen… ner…” He said it slowly, like he was tasting the word in his mouth, or like he wasn’t sure it was the right one.
“Yes! Jenner!” I nodded encouragingly. “You’re Cornelius Jenner. You come from Eng. Remember?”
“Eng…” he muttered. “My… home. The… Island of Eng…”
“Yes!” I said again, and I couldn’t keep the grin off my face. “But you live with us now, we call our home Ithaca. Remember that?”
“Ith… Ithaca…” Jenner said as his brow furrowed. “Yes, I… Alex?”
He sounded clear for the first time since he’d spoken in this place, and I wanted to jump forward and hug him, but he still looked pretty disorientated and continued to eye me with caution.
“Alex, yes!” I said eagerly. “You can remember, Jenner. You’re like the smartest guy I know. Come with me, and we can fix you and take you back home. Zoie and the others are waiting for you.”
“Zoie?”
“The cat-woman, remember? My first wife. You were one of the first people on Nata who was kind to her, she adores you. She wants to see you home safe as much as I do.”
“Zoie and… and Shay?” Jenner said carefully. “Your… wives? You… you’re an Asher.”
“I am! And you’re one of my most trusted allies. Come with me, Jenner. We can fix you up and take you home.”
I could tell he was tempted by this offer, that even if his memories were confused, his feelings weren’t, and he felt trust when he looked at me. I’d heard about something similar with Alzheimer’s patients, where they’d forget a person’s name but not how they felt about the person, because the disease affected their memory, but not their emotions.
“We can take the…” I hesitated, because this place was basically pure mental energy, and the curse was still very much in Jenner’s mind. “We can take you home. We can get you the help you need, I promise. You just need to trust me, okay?”
Jenner eyed me for a very long moment, but I held his gaze, sure and steady. I tried to exude as trustworthy an energy as possible, with an open expression and non-defensive body language.
And at last, he nodded. It was quick and furtive, but it was a nod.
I smiled warmly and felt a kernel of relief unfurl in my chest.
“You can trust me, Jenner,” I said gently, and I took a step back as I motioned for him to follow me, which he did.
He kept a distance from me, about the same as had been before us while I’d been following him, but eventually we made it back to the first clearing, where Rylan was still pacing.
At the sight of me, and Jenner behind me, his expression lit up.
“Mr. Jenner!” he cried out and made to rush toward the koala-man, but I intercepted him and half-tackled, half-hugged him. Rylan opened his mouth to protest, but then he clapped it shut when he saw Jenner looking at him with a nervous, wary expression. “Oh, right. Sorry, Mr. Jenner. I didn’t mean to scare you.”
“It’s… alright…” Jenner said slowly. “…Rylan?”
“Rylan, yeah,” I confirmed. “He’s a bit of a pain, but we love him.”
“Hey!” Rylan pouted at me, and I grinned and ruffled his hair.
“Don’t worry,” I said. “It makes things more interesting.”
Rylan grinned back at me then, and I let him go. He took a step back so I was standing closer to Jenner than he was, but there was no missing the sheer fascination on his face as he looked at our friend, who was caught part way between animal instinct and evolved reason.
“How are you feeling, Jenner?” I asked carefully. “Do you think Rylan and I could get a look inside your head?”
Jenner stared at us both, and his eyes widened with panic.
“In my head?” he asked.
“It’s totally safe, I promise,” I said, and I raised my hands again in a mollifying gesture. “There’s a… someone put something in your head. We brought you here so we could get it out. Because we care about you and… and it was hurting you.”
I reckoned that would be safe enough to tell him.
Cautiously, Jenner nodded.
“I… I don’t remember everything,” he muttered, but his speech was becoming more and more clear with every word. “But I know I can trust you both. You’re like family to me. I… I trust you.”
I grinned at him and then turned to Rylan.
“Ry, I need you to do your transfiguration thing,” I said. “You’re better at it than I am. I need you to imagine the curse in his head is a marble. Just a tiny marble. Then I’m gonna pull it out. Like I did with the pebble, okay?”
“If I do that… won’t it hurt him?” My son looked slightly uneasy. “Having a marble in his head?”
“Just make it a little one,” I said. “I’m gonna pull it right out, okay? The brain itself doesn’t actually have pain receptors. And this place is, well, it’s mental energy. It’s not Jenner’s real, actual brain, it’s a representation of it. So, if we tell him it won’t hurt… it shouldn’t.”
Rylan still looked a little unsure, but I knew he trusted me, so he nodded.
Then we slowly waved Jenner over, and he sat down between the two of us.
“You’re our friend, and we want to help you,” I said again. “But this next bit might be a bit uncomfortable. It won’t hurt, and if you stay still, it’ll be over quickly, I promise.”
Jenner nodded, but it was a tight, nervous gesture.
“I trust you, Alex, Rylan,” he promised. “My… mind… it’s clouded, but I remember that much.”
I wondered for a moment if the Dark Realm was in any way related to the cursed mist on Eng. Maybe this place had ‘sprung a leak,’ and the minds of people without Traveler Blood, those unsuited to the Dark Realm, had cracked under the pressure.
But there would be time enough for those questions when there wasn’t a time bomb in my friend’s head.
“Just a little marble, Rylan, remember?” I said as I laid a hand on the crown of Jenner’s fluffy head, right between his enormous koala ears. I felt him tense at the contact, but he didn’t flinch away.
“Marble, right,” Rylan muttered. He was looking at Jenner very intensely, with his face screwed up with concentration. There was silence for several seconds, and then he took a deep breath. “Okay, I think… I think I’ve got it.”
Jenner gasped when I sank my hand into his head. Luckily, he was facing away from me, so he didn’t actually see it, but it was no doubt a really weird sensation.
I understood why, too. Now that he was awake, and conscious, my being physically in his mind, rooting around in there, it was like I was stirring up sand from the bottom of a pool, only the sand was memories. I caught flashes in my mind’s eye of people I’d never met, places I’d never been, feelings I’d never felt. It was a tide that threatened to sweep me away.
Find the marble, I told myself. Find the curse.
Somehow, I just knew if I stayed in Jenner’s head too long, this could turn bad. I doubted this connection went both ways, since it was my hand in his head, but he was likely being forced to relive memories at random. I only hoped they were nice memories, because I had to push them aside and steady my focus as I searched.
Each flex of my fingers sent a new wave of recollection washing over me and the koala-man, until I finally felt my ring finger brush over something cool and solid. I closed my hand around it and slowly, slowly pulled it and my hand out of Jenner’s head.
He shuddered and gasped when I retracted my hand, and then he slumped forward. Luckily, Rylan was there to catch him, and I unfurled my fingers to look at the marble-version of the curse.
Lying in my palm was an angry orange marble, the same inflamed color as Jenner’s mind diamond had been, threaded through with little cracks that oozed scarlet light.
“Is that it?” Rylan asked me.
“That’s it,” I said. I could feel its influence just by touching it, and I knew holding it for too long wouldn’t result in anything good, so I dug out a small patch of earth and buried the marble in a shallow grave, where hopefully no one would ever find it.
Or at the very least, none of my Crew would ever find it.
I then turned my attention to Jenner, who wasn’t unconscious, but was definitely still dazed and disoriented.
“He’s going to need help getting back,” I said to Rylan. “Can you carry him out of here, do you reckon?”
