Preludes: Goldfire

     Anyway, the heat never was the worst part of Goldrun for me. No, the worst part was how out of the way it was. Sheriff Thadd said that it was all that’d saved us from Sloth. I agreed with him, of course. It was true. We all knew our history, especially that of Sloth’s takeover. The name of Shenkuu alone reminded us all of that. But that’s not the point, is it?

     Point is, I never liked being cooped up in Goldrun. Always wanted to come out into the world, see more than scrub desert and the occasional rocket flying overhead.

     Never quite knew how I was going to do that. Not until a white Zafara wandered into town one summer, saying he was looking for a Kyrii with a mane of fire and eyes as dark as coals. I perked up at that, of course, and went to find him. He stood out, since everyone born here wore clothes the color of dust. But the Zafara? Oh, he wore pretty things. All white and blue and silver, and he had a cloak, of all things. Cloaks just weren’t used in Goldrun. Goldrun’s too hot to wear one for warmth, and doesn’t have the sun of the Desert to need one for protection.

     Anyway, I went up to the Zafara, and tapped him on one white shoulder. “Excuse me, sir,” I said, “but they say you’re looking for someone, and I thought it might be me.”

     He turned and looked at me, and I got to see those giant eyes of his for the first time. So blue, they were, that perfect blue of a clear summer sky, or a lake undisturbed by swimmers. “Yes,” he said. “I was looking for you. Who are you?”

     It was a weird thing to say, to me. I mean, how can you be looking for someone you don’t know? But I answered him without voicing those thoughts. Not polite to say things like that, after all. “My name’s Sayang,” I said, bowing slightly. “Who might you be?”

     He smiled a bit. “Keben Cian. Would you mind taking me back to your home, so that I may talk to you in relative comfort?” He scowled up at the sun. “It’s warmer here than I’m used to.”

     I hid a smile at what he thought of the sun. I got kicks watching others melt in it, honestly. It was afternoon, though, so he has some right to be bothered by it. I nodded to him, turning and winding through the scattered wooden houses that made up Goldrun. I could hear his footsteps behind me, telling me that he followed. I grinned, increasing my pace. I wasn’t taking the most direct path, oh no, I was taking the maze route a couple of the other kids and I had figured out. It just meant finding a route between two places that went past every notable building exactly once.

     I’d gotten good at it, after a few tries. I had one of the best memories of all the kids, and prided myself on it. As I ran, I kept waiting for the Zafara to ask me why we were almost going in circles, but he didn’t. I was almost disappointed, but when I stopped in front of my house, it didn’t matter. Ma was there, sitting on our porch. She smiled when she saw me, lifting her hat up so that I could see her pretty amber face. Red hair, a match for mine, spilled down her back, waving as she rose. “A visitor?” she said. “How lovely!”

     I glanced back at Keben. The Zafara bowed elegantly. “I came to this charming little town in search of Sayang, who must be your daughter. She looks so much like you.” He smiled at Ma. I stuck my tongue out at him, and he just winked at me, still smiling. “Would you allow me to enter your home and speak to Sayang? I would much appreciate getting out of the heat.”

     “Oh, of course!” Ma said, getting up. “Wouldn’t think of keeping you out of the shade and cool. Come, come!” She gestured to Keben, who was already walking across the porch. I followed behind him, glaring at his deep blue cloak and white fur. He was pretty, with pretty manners to match. And Ma liked him because of that, I was sure. Ma opened the door, letting Keben go inside first. In the darkness, his fur practically glowed. I shook my head, stepping through the door behind him. It wasn’t right, for him to be so easily liked.

     “I really appreciate this, ma’am,” Keben was saying. “I’m here on a matter of great importance.”

     “It’s just Althea,” Ma said, opening some windows to let in light. “And what’s this matter of yours?”

     Keben leaned against the wall, arms crossed, and looked straight at me. I cringed a little under his gaze. “Sayang,” Keben said, “would you want to leave this place?”

     Ma gasped. I glanced down at the floor, biting my lip. For all that I wanted to leave, for all that the dusty town wasn’t where I wanted to live, the thought of really being able to leave and not come back... it wasn’t what I’d expected. “I don’t know,” I finally said. “Why’re you asking?”

     He hesitated, an expression flickering across his face too quickly to follow. “Do you believe in magic?”

     “Depends.” I looked back up at him, meeting his eyes. “What do you mean by magic?”

     He sighed, closing his eyes briefly. When he opened them again, he began to talk. “Magic. The force that Faeries personify. The force that explains the unexplainable. That weaves through the world, unseen. Do you believe in that?” he asked, stepping towards me. “Do you believe that someone could have magic running through their veins?”

     I stared into his bright blue eyes as he neared me. “Yes,” I said quietly. “I do.” I didn’t know why, but it felt right, as right as the words that were flowing from his mouth like water.

     “That magic is what brought me here,” he said, words as soft as rain. “I dreamed of you, and my dreams are truth. I dreamed that you were a warrior, and one that we need if we’re to force Sloth out of our world. So I ask you: Will you come with me? Will you fight our war?”

     “Yes,” I said. At the same time, Ma said, “Most certainly not!”

     Keben and I turned to her as one. “Why not?” I said, speaking quickly. “You’ve said so yourself, Ma, I don’t fit in here. I’ve got too much fire.”

     “That doesn’t mean you can up and leave with some stranger!” Ma’s arms were tightly crossed over her chest, and I thought I could see the glint of tears in her eyes. “You could just wait for a recruiter to come by and leave with them.”

     “Not an option,” Keben said sharply before I could say anything. “They barely realize you exist. Oh, they know your mines, but the town?” He shook his head, voice dropping to a harsh whisper. “You are nothing to them.”

     “And you’re better?” Ma turned away to face the window. Light streamed through it, touching each speck of dust that floated in the air. “Just because you came to talk? How do we know you aren’t a liar?”

     Keben swept up one arm, cloak flowing behind it. “Listen, Althea,” he said softly. I could hear the echoes of power in his voice, resonating within my body. “Listen, and hear what I say. I am a Dreamer, born to the remnants of magic in this world. What is not trapped with the Faeries chooses to resonate around me, and it gives me power. Listen, Althea. Can you hear the waves crashing against the sand? Can you hear the winds whisper through the trees? Do you hear the Airax call, high and lonely? This is power, Althea, and I am born to it, just as your daughter is.”

     I watched Keben, eyes wide. His voice did echo with the things he’d named. I’d never heard the ocean and only once heard an Airax, but they were in his voice. I glanced at Ma. She was still turned away, unmoving. “Please,” I whispered. My voice sounded feeble, after everything Keben had said and done, but it was all I had.

     “Power,” Ma said, her voice choked. “You have power, Keben. How do you know Sayang does, though?”

     “Have you ever dreamed?” Keben asked, stepping forward to the table and placing his hands on the polished wooden surface. “Dreamed true, that is? Most people call it déjà vu, because they don’t remember their dreams without the trigger of the event actually happening. That’s all there is to it, in the end.” He glanced back at me, smiling. “A trick of the mind to let you see the magic, hear the songs, remember dreams. It all comes naturally, after that.”

     The room was silent. I looked at the floor, tracing the patterns in the wood-grain to avoid Keben’s knowing gaze. Dust drifted and spun in the light wind that came through the window with the sunlight, each speck glittering like silver or gold. The soft sounds of breathing and cloth sliding against smooth fur, the creak of the wooden floor – those were the loudest noises I could hear. It was eerie. I couldn’t remember a time during the day when there weren’t kids shouting and laughing as they played, or the train rumbling into town or out to the mountains where we mined.

     Keben had said that Sloth and his minions didn’t know we existed. It seemed impossible, and yet... if they knew we were here, why didn’t they land their ships by the town? Each month, one of the giant spaceships flew over and landed at the mines. It was a fact of life. Nobody questioned it. Of course, nobody questioned why they never came to town. I bit my lip, thinking about that. Keben was probably right, I was forced to admit. Not that I’d tell him that.

     Footsteps on the porch shattered the silence. I looked up, smiling. Da was coming home. Ma turned back around, facing Keben. “You’re staying,” she said. “Tell Sinar about this, and then we’ll decide whether or not you can take Sayang.”

     “I don’t get a say?” I said, irritated.

     Ma glanced at me. “You had it already. I know your answer.”

     Before I could reply, the door opened and Da came in. He looked around, looking completely calm. He took off his hat, running a hand through his golden hair to displace the dust. “We have a visitor, I see.”

     Keben bowed. “Keben Cian. You’re Sayang’s father?”

     “That I am,” Da said. I could almost see him processing everything. Me, standing in the corner, not really looking at anything. Ma with her arms crossed over by the sink, looking half angry and half in tears. And Keben, grinning and shining like a light in the middle of the room. “What’re you here for, Keben?”

     “Sayang.” Keben held up a hand. “Please, hear me out. I’ve already explained most of this to your wife and daughter. I am from the Traitor Republic. Perhaps you’ve heard of us?”

     Da nodded slightly. I looked at him, confused. I didn’t know what the Traitor Republic was. How could Da know about it and not have told me? And Ma seemed a lot more at ease now that Keben had said that.

     Keben smiled. “Good. That makes this easier. I’m also a dreamer. Do you know what that is?”

     “Can’t say I do.” Da frowned. “I’d guess it has to do with magic, though.”

     “Yes.” Keben tapped his fingers on the table. “The specifics don’t matter. Suffice to say that when I dream, I dream truth. And I dreamed that Sayang is one of the keys to the Republic’s success. So I came here to ask you to let me take her back to Central and the Republics headquarters. Will you let me?”

     “Althea?” Da said, looking at Ma. “What d’you think?”

     I held my breath, heartbeat speeding up. Ma looked down. Her hair fell in front of her face, hiding it from view. “I don’t know,” she said quietly. “The Republic is a good place, Keben, but do you really think—?”

     “I do.” Keben sighed. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know that you knew what the Republic was, Althea. I didn’t think that this town knew much about the world in general.”

     Da stepped forward, placing a hand on Keben’s shoulder. “Few do.”

     Before I could stop myself, I spoke. “So can I go?”

     All three of them looked at me. Ma and Da with something almost like shock on their faces, Keben with amusement. Slowly, Ma said, “I think you can.” She looked over at Keben. “Provided he has some way to take you back other than walking.”

     “Hey!” Keben protested. “I’m smarter than that.”

     Da laughed, deep and rumbling. “Never said you weren’t. Take good care of our girl,” he said, clapping Keben on the back.

     The Zafara lurched forward a step before catching his balance. “I will,” he said, smiling. “Mind if I stay the night and leave tomorrow?”

     “Wouldn’t think of having you do anything else,” Da said cheerfully. “Sayang, go and clean out the spare room. Althea and I will talk to this boy.”

     I was grinning too hard to reply, and as I passed by Da, I hugged him. “Thanks,” I whispered, letting go and rushing off to the spare room. Tomorrow was going to be a wonderful, wonderful day. I got to leave the dust and go claim adventure as my right. I could barely grasp it. Each time I blinked, it seemed like I was going to wake up and realize that I’d been asleep and this was all just a dream. Unfolding the bedsheets, I laughed. It was a dream, after all. A dream that Zafara had had and was giving to us.

     As I spread the sheets out on the bed, I heard Ma, Da, and Keben talking and their laughter echoing through the house. Giving the spare room a brief dusting, I glanced around to make sure there wasn’t anything else Da expected me to do. It wasn’t like there was much. Keben was probably used to more than just wood and metal building materials, anyway, so it wouldn’t matter what I did to his room. Shrugging slightly, I turned to leave.

     A tapping on the window made me pause. I turned around, curious. A brown and cream Uni was standing outside, horn gently hitting the glass. It wasn’t anyone I recognized, but I had a suspicion that this was the way Keben had to take us back. Stepping over to the window, I opened it.

     “Keben’s in here, right?” the Uni said immediately. “Tell him that Connor and I would like to be part of this.”

     “Who are you?” I asked.

     The Uni shrugged. “I’m Cole. Connor and I are friends of Keben’s. We agreed to come so that Keb didn’t take forever to get here and back.” He looked more closely at me. “You’re the one he’s after, aren’t you?”

     “Yes, she is.” Keben’s soft voice came from behind me. I started to turn, but his hands fell onto my shoulders, holding me in place. “And she’s coming back with us. We leave tomorrow, unless you need more time here.”

     Cole grinned. “Taken a liking to her already, Keb?”

     “Shut up, or I’ll tell Connor—”

     Laughing, Cole shook his head, cutting Keben off. “Gotcha, boss.”

     “Don’t call me that,” Keben said, sounding annoyed. “It’s not right.”

     “Whatever you say.” Cole shrugged. “I’ll go back to that inn of yours. Why does this town even have one? You’re too out of the way to get visitors.”

     I bristled at his tone. “We used to,” I said. “Back in Sheriff Ellie’s time. Then Sloth bombed everything and the visitors stopped coming. We keep the inn around because it’s part of the town.”

     “If you say so.” Glancing at Keben, Cole grinned for a moment before turning and cantering out of sight.

     Keben’s hands slipped off my shoulders and he started muttering curses on ‘brown Unis who know far too much’, or something like that. I turned around, crossing my arms defensively. We were the only ones in the room. “Why’d you come in here like that?”

     He looked up, that slight smile back on his face. “Instinct, partially. Your parents told me to come look at it, anyway. It was just good timing.”

     I didn’t quite believe him, but it wasn’t like I had a choice. “I’m going to go start packing,” I said, slipping past him. I was out of the room before he said anything, and when I got to my room, I closed the door firmly behind me. The Sloth Recruitment posters tacked to my walls were looking straight at me, proclaiming that I could leave and have adventures in places as remote as the Lost Desert, Terror Mountain, Mystery Island, the Space Station, and even the moon.

     It had never been the idea of joining Sloth that I’d liked. As I’d told Cole, his coming had brought an end to the visitors. It’d been the idea of leaving this place and seeing new places that’d attracted me. The model spaceships I’d put together out of scraps hung overhead, twisting slowly on their strings. Books about all the other countries of Neopia shared space with adventure stories on my shelves, and as I looked around, it was like I was seeing my room for the first time.

     I was really going to leave. It hit me then, as heavy as a bale of hay. I was going to go to Central and join some sort of organization that probably opposed Sloth. I felt like I was going to cry, and I couldn’t tell if it was from joy or because I wanted to stay, to hold onto the past. I took two steps forward, falling onto my bed and looking up at the ceiling. Tears began to trace paths down my face, and I didn’t try to stop them. My entire life was going to change, just because of that white Zafara.

     It was going to be an awesome adventure no matter what, though, and I smiled even as I cried. No matter what, I vowed, I was going to just keep looking forward. Goldrun could become part of my past, fading away into the dust of time until we’d beaten Sloth. Then, and only then, could I let myself come back and make Goldrun back into what it was in Ellie’s time. I grinned, tears drying up. I was going to be a hero, and nothing would keep me from that goal. Nothing.

     * * *

     The next day dawned bright, and I was up with the sun. Ma and Da were up at least as early, if not earlier. When I walked into the kitchen, my bag of traveling gear over my shoulder, Ma glanced at me and told me to wake Keben up. I dropped my bag and turned back, heading to the guest room. The dawn light was just as bright in there as it had been in my room, lighting the Zafara’s body perfectly. I sighed. I didn’t quite get how he could sleep, once light touched his eyes.

     Moving closer, I saw that his face was covered. In which case, his ability to sleep made some amount of sense. Grabbing his shoulder, I shook him roughly. “Time to get up,” I announced cheerfully. He groaned, and I let go, backing up. I’d been hit by people waking up before, and just because I doubted Keben had that sort of reflexes didn’t mean I wouldn’t be cautious.

     Keben just looked up at me, eyes bleary. “It’s too early for sensible people to be awake.”

     “It is not,” I said. “It’s dawn. Do you want to melt in midday heat, or would you actually like to be able to go a reasonable distance today?” I grinned. “And Da stayed up just as late as you did. He’s already awake and alert.”

     “As I said, too early for sensible people.” He sighed. “Go on. I’ll get up.”

     I rolled my eyes, but I left without further argument. In the kitchen, Ma was cooking up breakfast and Da was filling bags with nuts, dried fruit, and jerky. I went over to join him, and the noise of bags filling and depleting merged with the sputtering of Ma’s cooking in its pans. Keben came in about the time we finished filling the bags, still not looking completely awake. When Ma set a plate of eggs, fried meat, and freshly sliced fruit in front of him, however, he perked up, and as he ate I could almost see him becoming alert.

     His chatter about Central and the Republic filled the kitchen as we ate. I asked occasional questions, but mostly he was just talking, half the time not even stopping as he ate. I half wondered how he managed it, especially since he finished before the rest of us. As soon as we’d finished, Da rose. “Time to go,” he said, deep voice cutting through Keben’s chatter. The Zafara shut up, nodding slightly. Da grinned, picking up the bags of trail mix.

     I hugged Ma, my red hair mixing with hers as we pulled apart. “I’ll miss you,” I said.

     “So will I,” she said, and though she smiled, I could see her tears. “Safe travels.”

     “Thanks,” I said, picking up my bag. I followed Keben out the door, looking back to wave at Ma one last time. She seemed so fragile, standing in the doorway, one hand raised to say goodbye. Kyrii weren’t supposed to be fragile. We were strong, flexible. Those were Da’s words, not mine, but they still held true. Turning away from Ma, I did my best to fill myself with the resolve I’d built up yesterday. I could do this.

     We reached the inn where the Unis were staying. Two Unis, identical except for one being darker brown, were standing outside, waiting. The darker of the two called out a greeting, and Keben answered it. The lighter one was Connor, the darker one, Cole. And they were twins, which explained why they looked so similar. Keben and Da put saddles on them, the Unis directing them. I handed things to the men, feeling only slightly useless. Once everything was in place, we loaded everything up.

     I looked at Da. He looked back, awkwardness in his expression for the first time I could remember. Running his hands through blond hair, he sighed. “I’ll miss you, girl. Do us proud.”

     I smiled. “I’ll do my best, Da.”

     “Let’s get going,” Keben said, looking down from his seat on Cole’s back. “As you said, we don’t want to melt in the midday heat.”

     Laughing, I pulled myself onto Connor’s back with a final wave to Da. Cole and Connor began to walk, taking us out of Goldrun and towards the rising sun and my new life with the Traitor Republic.

The End