Chapter 11
Late spring advanced into early autumn. The harvest was brought in, and Palsitore's markets had grain and vegetables piled high on the vendor's stands. Kendra patrolled the markets, checking the prices and calculating how much the city would need for winter.
Construction of Izzo's Wall neared completion, and the forty-foot high gray stone edifice, topped with a narrow walkway and crowned with eight towers, surrounded all but the west gate. Dakkel had spent countless hours at his forge, crafting the cannons, ammunition, and powder to outfit each tower with its own cannon and each soldier with his own gun.
Keith was charged with training Palsitore's new soldiers. When he wasn't hunting, he was drilling the recruits. He taught them to aim and fire their own weapons and the cannons and how to clean them, to be vigilant of their surroundings even with cannons firing, to obey orders from superior officers, and to stay alive. The plains and hills beyond Palsitore's new walls were littered with craters, and the faint smell of gunpowder wafted through Palsitore's streets.
Under Ty'mir's supervision, Kendra implemented a City Council, of which herself, Ty'mir, Keith, Dakkel, Lin, Hanek, and three others were a part of. They met in Ty'mir's home every month to present and resolve the city's problems. This month, however, presented the Council with its largest problem to date.
A large, circular stone table had been hastily carved and placed in Ty'mir's main room. Squat stone chairs of varying sizes sat around the table. Each member took their seat, and the City Council's third session began with an announcement.
"We're out of saltpeter," Dakkel said. "And without a new supply, I can't make more gunpowder."
"How much do we have at the moment?" Kendra asked.
"Sixty barrels," Keith answered. "The soldiers are done training, but they'll need regular drills to stay fit for combat. At the rate we use powder, we'll be out in a year, two at most."
"Couldn't we use other weapons?" merchant representative Siroe asked. He stroked his clammy blue skin and tapped his beak. "Those cannons are quite expensive, you know."
"We could try catapults," Keith answered, "but there's no guarantee they would work against another monster. It's worth a try, though, and we could always put them on top of the towers."
"I don't like that uncertainty," Kendra said with a flick of her hair. "We need a new source of saltpeter."
"There's nothing around here," Dakkel said. "We would have to journey many miles to find another source."
"Do you know of any such sources?" Ty'mir asked Keith. "Surely you've seen something on your hunting expedition."
"I wouldn't know," Keith answered, "but I do know of a very large source of saltpeter, one that would last for centuries."
"You refer to your old village, do you not?" Ty'mir asked.
"Yes. There's a mountain just outside the village. They used to mine it, but the Empire's arrival allowed them to trade for gunpowder, and the mine was abandoned."
"Are you proposing that we buy our saltpeter?" Siroe asked. "Do you have any idea how expensive that will be?"
"Very cheap, actually. My village, Konago, relies heavily on hunting goods to trade. I was their only hunter. By now, their supplies will be running low, and the Empire will turn a blind eye to their need. They'll need refined iron and gunpowder."
"And we make a tidy profit in the process," Siroe finished. "I approve of this plan."
"You agree to this without knowing all that it entails," Ty'mir pointed out. "For one, it's many miles away, and through the Old Forest as well."
"We'll also need wagons," Hanek said, "to carry the trade goods back and forth."
"And more iron. My smithy can't make enough iron for two settlements."
"I have a plan," Kendra declared. "We'll still need the wagons and iron, but we can shorten the trip and avoid the Old Forest entirely. I can make a Rift between our villages."
Ty'mir stood up and slammed his cane onto the table. "Absolutely not! Even with two psychics, it would be too dangerous! How would you even make the second Nexus?"
"With this." Kendra took an amethyst pendant out of her robes and placed it on the table. "I've been storing energy in this ever since you taught me how. With this, I could raise mountains and halt rivers. I can make the Rift."
"You still need a psychic at each nexus."
"You'll be the other psychic," Kendra said, "by using my pendant."
"I can't. It wasn't my psychic energy that has left me, but my ability to use it. Your plan will never work."
"We can't know that until we try. In any event, we can still walk there if need be. Let's prepare the wagons and trade goods. Any objections?"
"Yes," Keith said. "You've all overlooked something important." He waved a hand across the table. "The people of my village would kill pokemon on the spot, and if the Empire ever learned of this city's existence, they would wage war with us until there wasn't a single person left here. We need to keep the Empire ignorant of both your identities and the location of this city."
The Council debated the issue and agreed to set the Rift a few weeks away from the village, make everyone in the trading parties wear thick, loose fitting clothes for 'religious reasons', and keep the pokemon too big for the costume charade in chains. Keith voted along with Kendra, Siroe, and four others in favor of Kendra's final plan.
Over the winter, Dakkel expanded his forge and recruited apprentices. Together, they created farming implements, firearms, and iron ingots. Trees were chopped down, carved, and assembled into wagons. Keith drilled the soldiers in the snow, forcing them to wade and fire in snowbanks six feet thick, and he spent his remaining time working alongside the construction teams, holding up beams while they were nailed in place.
The trading expedition was ready once the snows melted. Everyone gathered outside of the city to watch the creation of the Rift. The wagons stood ready, loaded with iron, gunpowder, and a few boxes of dried meats and fruits sitting below a pile of empty boxes. The trading expedition had already donned their costumes and chains. There were fourteen costumes in total, each a colorful, round, oversized wicker masks accompanied by bulky black robes.
Verra had insisted on going, on the grounds that she was most used to the stifling attire, and had brought her own mask and robes. Keith could see little red circles where the bullet holes were mended together.
Keith had his own attire, but he argued against wearing a mask. After racking their brains, the Council decided to grant him exemption from all the fake rules on grounds of his contributions to the city. He wore a tighter-fitting version of the robes, fitted with iron plates along the chest and sleeves to resemble armor.
Kendra held out the amethyst pendant, and Ty'mir accepted it with a frown. He held the pendant in front of him and furrowed his brow.
"Nothing happened," he said.
"Then try again," Kendra insisted.
"Why do you insist on making a Rift? It's a waste of the power you spent years pouring into your mother's necklace."
"Give it here," Keith said. Ty'mir dropped the amethyst into his hand. "Kendra is right. The longer we're gone, the more likely we shall return to a smoking ruin. We should all try it, to see if one of us has a hidden gift."
"I already scoured the city for such gifts," Ty'mir retorted. "None here can wield psychic energy."
"Then one of us will have to prove you wrong. I'll go first."
As Keith held the pendant in his hand, he realized that he had no idea what to do. He thought over what he did well and decided to try to listen for the energy. He held the amethyst up to his ear and closed his eyes. The onlookers fell silent as Keith strained his sense of hearing. Then he heard a faint, high-pitched drone. A pulse of energy traveled up his hand, searing his nerves like a static shock. Another pulse followed, expanding the burning sensation to his wrist.
"It's happening!" Keith shouted. "Go!"
Kendra vanished with a flash of white light, and the crowd backed away. Keith looked at his hand and saw a web of purple lines digging through his flesh, spreading out from the amethyst like a root. Another pulse throbbed through his arm, and the roots surged towards his shoulder. The pulses grew quicker, searing his arm with the beating of his heart. The pain crawled up his shoulder, then through his chest and towards his other hand. He held his left hand forward, palm facing the east, as thin purple lines floated from his fingertips.
The threads hung in the air, dancing around as though blown by a breeze, then they jerked eastward, stretching five feet from his palm. The space at the ends of the threads turned cloudy purple disk, and blue sparks arced between the threads. The amethyst poured out power, creating a thick purple band that traveled up his arm, making it feel as though his arm were dipped in molten lead.
He tried to drop the pendant, but neither of his hands could move. He gritted his teeth as the band flowed through his chest, up his left arm, and out his hand. The purple power coalesced into a berry-sized sphere that shot like a bullet into the nebulous disk. The sphere and disk exploded outward and solidified into a paper-thin purple crystal doorway, a thick jagged semicircle buried in the earth. He could see Kendra passed out on the long, lush grass on the other side.
Once the power left him, Keith fell to his knees and vomited on the ground. The spices from breakfast burned his throat and tongue.
"Water," he gasped. He crawled back towards the city, his vision fading with each handful of dirt he grasped. He felt himself being picked up, but he couldn't see who carried him. A soft bed appeared beneath him a few minutes later, and he passed out seconds after his head sank into the pillow.
Chapter 12
Keith woke up in an unfamiliar room, staring up at a low wooden ceiling. He could still taste the spicy vomit at the back of his throat. The smell, a complex and nose-tingling mixture of herbal scents, told him it was Lin's apothecary. He could hear the old grovyle grinding herbs at her counter.
He shoved the sheets off himself when an idea struck him. The thought of another bout of crippling pain worried him, but he needed to know if he had psychic powers. He concentrated on the sheets, imagining the sensations he felt making the Rift. Though he focused his hearing to the point he could hear the blood swishing and sloshing through his body, he couldn't find a trace of psychic energy, and the sheets remained a limp and lifeless mass at his feet.
Lin walked into the room, carrying a jar in her hands. She set it down in a box and looked over towards his bed.
"Ah! You're awake! How do you feel?"
"Fine. Did the wagons leave?"
Lin chuckled. "They still haven't gotten the wagons through. You've only been asleep for an hour."
"I should go help." Keith stood up, but Lin held him down by the shoulders.
"For God's sake, just give yourself a moment! Besides, I have a favor to ask of you. I just don't know how to put it."
"You had an hour to think about it."
"Well, yes, but it isn't that easy. Ah, to hell with it, I'll be blunt. Are you familiar with the concept of going into heat?"
"Yes? Where is this going?"
"Verra's going to go into heat soon, probably within the next month. It will be her first time, so she may not realize what's happening until it is too late." Lin rummaged around her boxes and pulled out a cloth-wrapped bottle. "If you notice her acting strangely – especially if her headleaf sticks up – give her a bit of this. It'll help her sleep it off."
"Why me? Why not have Kendra, or someone else do it?"
"Kendra wouldn't allow her to go if she knew, and the others won't be around her enough. So, do you promise me you'll help her?"
Keith took the bottle and stored it in his pack. "I'll do what I can."
Lin gave him a quick hug and escorted him out of the store. Keith walked over to the wagons and spoke with the pokemon lifting the wagons through the Rift.
"Were my furs loaded onto a wagon? I didn't see them earlier."
"That was the first wagon through," the blue, muscular pokemon answered. "Kendra's waiting on the other side to talk to you. Be careful, though, crossing through is rough."
Keith stepped through the translucent purple gap in reality and emerged on the other side, his stomach heaving up the sticky, acidic residues left in his stomach. Someone handed him a basket, and he spat out some bile into it.
Kendra walked up to him, keeping a few feet away from the makeshift bucket. "I guess you're glad you got that out of the way earlier. I couldn't stop throwing up for five minutes."
Keith set down the box and held a hand over his queasy stomach. "Is it supposed to do that?"
"No, and it isn't supposed to be jagged either. You just need practice."
"Practice with what? My psychic powers? I don't have any."
"Of course you do," Kendra said. "How else did you make a Nexus?"
"If I'm a psychic, then why didn't Ty'mir sense it?"
"Because─"
"And how come I didn't pass out when the monster attacked?"
"Well, you─"
"And why can't I do anything now?" Keith asked. "I tried moving my bedsheets a few minutes ago, and nothing happened."
"You're not powerful enough, that's why."
"Maybe the amethyst acted on its own."
"It doesn't work like that," Kendra explained. She held up the pendant. "Its power has to be tapped by someone, or to be more precise, some psychic. Just take it and try again."
"I nearly died last time, and you want me to try again? Take a look at my memories and tell me it's a good idea."
"Fine, but if I disagree, then you'll practice." She placed her hand over Keith's forehead and closed her eyes. When she opened her eyes again, she teleported away. She returned twenty minutes later, as Keith was helping to haul the wagons through the Rift.
"You're right," she said, "you're not psychic. Father thinks this is because he reconstructed your arm, and the lingering traces of energy allowed the amulet's energy to flow through you. And since that could make your arm explode, I won't ask you to do it again."
"Oh, alright." But a shadow of doubt lingered in his mind. The theory didn't explain how the energy moved through his whole body, nor how he could hear the amulet. He debated pressing the issue and decided to stay silent.
Two hours later, the wagons were through and moving. Six blue, muscular pokemon, which Keith learned were called Machoke, wore thick leather collars around their necks and pulled the wagons. A man walked in front of each wagon, clearing thick patches of brush with long iron scythes, and the remaining eight rested in an empty wagon with Kendra. Keith and Verra held the rear. Keith watched the trees, listening for predators, while Verra watched the skies.
"How far are we?" she asked as they walked.
"About three weeks. We got lucky, the forest is thin in this area. We'll have to cross a river, though."
"How wide is it?"
"See for yourself," Keith replied. A few seconds later, a call came from the front.
"River ahead!"
Keith and Verra walked to the front of the convoy. Everyone had left the wagons and gathered around the river. The river sat at the bottom of a ravine six feet wide, and though it flowed quickly, it wasn't more than a foot deep. A few bright-red fish wriggled their way between the rocks, and plants clung to the rocky shores.
"Is there a way across?" Kendra asked.
"We better do it here. The ravine widens out and turns to marshlands in either direction. We can't get the wagons through that."
"I better build a bridge then." She held out her hand, and a glowing purple span eight feet wide stretched across the ravine.
"Wait," Keith said. "Make it look crude. It would seem suspicious if the bridge was elegantly designed."
The purple glow brightened, then it faded away, leaving behind two thick wooden planks, unevenly cut and splintering along their lengths. The planks were set wide apart enough to accommodate the wagons.
"Will this do?" Kendra asked.
"Yes. Let's get the wagons over."
Two machoke pulled each wagon over, leaving it on the other side. Once the wagons were over, everyone took turns crossing the bridge. Verra and Keith were the last two on the west side of the river. Keith approached the bridge and took a deep breath.
"Would you mind helping me over?" Verra asked. "I wouldn't want to fall into the river."
Keith was confused. They both knew he was the one afraid of rivers, not her. Then he realized what she was trying to do.
"Certainly," he said. He took Verra's hand and took the first step onto the bridge. Though the bridge was steady, his feet wobbled as he navigated the splintered surface, and he had to stop himself from running when they reached the end.
As the wagons rolled again, Keith held himself farther back from the wagons. Verra fell in step with him.
"When I was six, I fell into a river," he said. "It was early spring, and snowmelt from the mountain made the river deep, fast, and cold. The river was full of rocks. I couldn't swim; I couldn't even keep my head above water. Several of the villagers tried to rescue me, but they couldn't reach me, and none of them dared jump into the river."
"What about your parents?" Verra asked.
"They died when I was little."
"Oh. Then what happened?"
"Just when I thought I was going to die, Nolan dove in after me and dragged me out."
"Nolan?"
"He taught me everything about hunting." Keith took the notebook out of his backpack and handed it to her. "He gave me this before he left, and he never returned. That was twenty years ago. He left me his spare rifle too, and his home, and everything in it."
"So he's dead? I'm sorry to hear it."
They walked in silence until sunset. Everyone either slept in the wagons or beneath the stars. Keith settled in a tree, flipping through the book as the moons rose. As he reached the last page, he muttered to himself, "I know you're out there, somewhere."