FAHLI

Chapter 1

Time

    

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“Hurry!” Elliot bellowed as they bound through the slippery mud and rocky pools baiting them to fall. Trees creaked against the jagged thunderclaps stinging the air. The wind hammered the rain sideways.

But they were close.

 

Elliot and his adventurer raced through the foreboding forest of the Tahlen, teeth gnashing at their heels. Beyond the tangled undergrowth, the giant steps of Gideon rose into clouds glowing with warm shades of pink and amber. Elliot panicked—dawn had reached the horizon and snuck to the shores of Iyanwa far too quickly. 

 

“Get off!” Elliot kicked a jaw full of sharp teeth off his ankle.

 

There was no time to stop. Before entering the Tahlen (a forest suffocating in the grim, rotten stench of decay, demise, and the curse of the Aygar), Elliot and his adventurer had settled it: she would sprint through, he would draw the distraction. They’d reunite at the steps of Gideon. 

 

“Ah!” Elliot groaned, eyes watering. Every stomp through the spiny undergrowth caused immense pain underfoot, but he had no time to dwell—more teeth gnashed at his ankles. He looped the same words in his mind: Nearly there and she’ll be at Gideon waiting for me. Nearly there and she’ll be at Gideon waiting for me … and she’ll be at Gideon waiting for me … she’ll be waiting …

 

“Keep going!” Elliot called to his adventurer. He roared ahead and burst out of the trees and into the open.

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A sliver of dawn light swept through the clouds and bounced off the ocean surface, spotlighting the thick wall of spiked trees that veiled the forest. The hissing and snapping of jaws stopped. He looked over his shoulder. The cursed mob chasing him halted in the shadows. 

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“Go, go, go!” Elliot trumpeted onward. “I’m right behind you!”

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The wet clay underfoot soon turned to thick, tall grasses. Sprouts of purple flowers exploded like fireworks as Elliot burst through. The farther he ran, the taller and thicker the grass stood. Soon it was brushing his shoulders. He squinted, hoping to see the girl. He realized he was farther behind than he had thought, when he screeched to a halt.

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A sheer cliff face appeared in front of him. By his toes, a small, crumpled footprint dusted the cliff edge.

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There was no trace of the girl, his companion, his adventurer. On the opposite side, too wide to jump, was a clear path leading upward to the great steps of Gideon.

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He peered down from the cliff edge. Swirling sea mist blanketed the distant sound of waves crashing far below. His ears dropped.

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“Where are you?” he shouted as daybreak burst beyond the horizon. “I’m here! Let’s go! We can still make it!”

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Small, unstable rocks fell down the sharp cliff side, echoing as they ricocheted into the mist.

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“Where did you go?” he bellowed.

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He squinted at the opposite side of the cliff face, hoping for a sign of the girl’s footprints. But there was nothing. She must be waiting for me down there. She must’ve found another way, he thought. There were two options for finding her: jump off the cliff or run back through the dense, sharp trees of the Tahlen forest to the shoreline.

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He sucked up a lungful of air, gritted his teeth, and puffed out his chest.

“We’re not done yet,” he said. “I’m coming!”

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He hunched his shoulders and galloped back into the shadows of the Tahlen. It was like running into a lion’s den. In no time, the monsters roared back at him. 

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“Maybe not,” Elliot conceded, and made a wild U-turn, racing back toward the cliff edge.

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Except this time, under the shadows of the cliff, the animals didn’t retreat.

He sped through the grass closing in on the drop. His toes felt the cliff edge, and he sprung high into the air. The cool breeze whipped through the tiny hairs across his body. Mid-flight, he glanced back. Ravenous animals, all cursed by the Aygar, poured over the sheer drop, snarling and yapping, hoping to snatch his feet.

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Then, a vicious pain sent shockwaves through his body.

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Dangling wickedly, a ratty hyena had locked onto his ankle and was staring back at him. Its eyes were black as caves. Cursed. But there was no time to think. Elliot smashed against the sheer cliff face, catching his trunk in a tangle of vines.

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“Get off!” Elliot snarled, kicking his leg. 

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The hyena smashed into the sharp rocks and whined as it dropped, falling into the ocean waves hiding beyond the thick mist. 

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Seething on the lip of the cliff, a tank of a polar bear with long, milky hair, claws sharp as blades, and eyes that flickered deathly black and red stood breathing deeply, cursing at the distance between himself and Elliot. Other rabid animals continued to pour off the cliffside, frenzied, trying to steal a slice of him. All raging. All cursed. 

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His stomach turned and turned. Had he failed? Where was his adventurer? He was quickly losing all remaining hope of reaching Gideon. Just a moment ago, he was with her, discussing their future beyond the precipice, staring in awe at the steps of Gideon. But now, as the dawn poured across the horizon, all he felt was despair. 

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“Throw me to him!” a squeaky voice snarled.

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The polar bear stood up on its hind legs and lifted its front paw like it was about to throw a javelin. In its paw, a tiny armadillo with a hard, pink shell and maleficent eyes sat poised, ready to be launched toward Elliot. Just as the tiny armadillo squeaked some sort of direction, the vines snapped and Elliot fell to the crashing waves below.

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As swiftly as the sea mist had swallowed him, he burst out from under it, plunging into the cold, angry waves. The icy water prickled his skin, but he didn’t feel the cold. He felt numb. He floated for a moment, trying every which way to understand what just happened, when a peculiar round nose thrust him to the shoreline. He coughed up globs of salty water, peeled his wobbling body from the wet sand, and staggered to his feet.

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He panted, out of breath, staring out at the ocean, as light burst above the horizon. Dawn had arrived. He could still feel the cold from the wet nose that had nudged him to the shallows. But somewhere beneath the exhaustion, something screamed at him to keep going. He looked up at the giant cliff face he had fallen from and yelled, “I can still get you there!” His voice rang up the rock, his eyes squinting at the fierce brightness of the morning light. “I don’t care about the dawn! I’ll do whatever it takes! I can still get you to Gideon!”