XI
Melody stared at the broken bar in the window, cold horror washing through her body. "This is all my fault…" She blinked hard as hot, painful tears flooded into her eyes. "I never should have told him how to use his star-energy."
She could hear Sylvia pacing the floor behind her. "No," Sylvia replied forcefully. "It's not your fault, it's mine. I never should have left him alone. I never should have let this happen. I knew he might try something like this." Her voice broke.
Melody turned to see her twisting the hat's brim in her hands, the tough Zbornak on the verge of tears herself.
"Sylvia, this isn't helping," she said, taking a deep breath. "We need to get the troop assembled and set off after the Dhraks as quickly as possible."
"Good idea," Sylvia said, wiping at her eyes and running a hand roughly down her comb. "Let's go."
They raced down the prison and wasted no time reaching the gathering hall, where most of the Wyrls were still recovering from the fright of the attack.
"Chief Nasaki!" Sylvia shouted, making her way straight to him. "Wander's gone! I think he used an orbal to sneak out of the village and turn himself over to the Dhraks. We've got to go after him immediately!"
"Are you sure of this?" Nasaki asked, eyes wide.
"Absolutely. He left a note." Melody handed it to him, reluctant to let go of it.
Nasaki's face grew somber as his eyes began moving over the words. "This is a noble thing the Star-born has done for us," he said upon finishing.
"Yeah, it was nice of him. But now we have to get out there and rescue him!" Sylvia said, tail sweeping from side to side impatiently.
"He does not want to be rescued," Nasaki said slowly, showing them the worded side of the paper to confirm his words.
Sylvia sputtered for a few moments, too shocked to get a word out. "Who flarpin' cares!" she cried at last. "They're going to kill him! Does that not bother you at all?"
Wyrls were gathering around them, murmuring in concern. Children started to cry, their parents ushering them out of the building hastily.
A wounded look crossed Nasaki's face. "Of course it does, Sylvia! But Wander gave up his life to keep us all safe, and we will throw away the precious safety he has given us if we go after him. We could barely hold off the army when we had the advantage of the wall…without it we will be much more vulnerable. And if we are destroyed then the whole village will be vulnerable to the Dhraks.
It is Wander's wish to keep us alive and well. We should honor that by letting him go."
"Are you kidding me?! Are you flarpin' fronkin' kidding me?!" Sylvia screamed, her cone standing on edge. "You're going to let him die?!" She looked around at the silent, grim Wyrl guards in the crowd around her. "All of you?!"
"It's what he wants, Sylvia," Ignaz spoke up bravely. "Like our chief, I respect the wishes of the Star-born Wander."
"Fine!" Sylvia huffed, blinking rapidly. "Then I'll go after him alone."
As she turned to leave, Melody spoke up. "I'm going with her, Father." She stood stiffly as Nasaki grabbed her shoulders and looked her in the eyes desperately.
"Please don't do this, Kaz. They'll be too much for you. You'll die, and none of us wants that."
"I let Ivon die," she said quietly.
"Don't say that…you couldn't even fight then."
"Well, I can fight now. And if there is even a pebble of a chance that my fighting could save Wander, then I'll do it. I can't be angry at you for not coming with us…your life is your own. But I'm not sitting around this time. Not again. I-I can't do it again. I can't." She broke down sobbing and Nasaki fell to his knees, wrapping his arms around her.
"Your heart will heal again, my child," he said. "You will see."
Melody pulled away so she could look him in the eyes. "Not this time, if I'm caught up in wondering whether I could have done something to save him."
She gently backed out of his embrace. "I love you Father, and everyone here. But I must go." She bowed, feeling the eyes of countless Wyrls upon her, many of whom she had watched grow up from infancy. They didn't want her to leave, she knew. But, just as they had let Wander go, they would let her go as well. She only hoped she would be alive to return to them when it was all over.
"Ready to go, Melody?" Sylvia was facing the door again.
She nodded. Sylvia knelt, leaning towards the ground.
"You…you want me to ride you?"
Though her face was still tense from stress, Sylvia smiled at her. "Yes. I would be honored."
Melody lightly climbed into the saddle and sat down. Other than the few claw holes in it, it was very comfortable. "Thank you. Now let's be off."
Sylvia rose and headed straight towards the rising platform. When they reached the ground and exited the gate, Melody ignored the Dhrak bodies around her and studied the forest for any sign of danger. "We'll need to head straight for the Left Soryn caves. There's a mess of tunnels there that lead under the hills and towards the volcano. They most likely went there."
Sylvia ran at a steady pace, though she was weighed down somewhat by her armor and the second club she'd borrowed. When they reached the place Melody had guided her to, Sylvia paused, confused.
"Are you sure this is a cave? It just looks like a big pile of boulders."
"The maggots," Melody spat. "Cowards. All of them flaming cowards."
"What?"
"They must've suspected I'd come after them, so they capsized the entrance so I couldn't follow." She rubbed at the scar on her forehead, something she often did unconsciously when she was deeply upset. "We won't be able to cut them off before they reach the volcano. Meaning we will have to break into the volcano to save Wander."
"Is that…hard to do?" Sylvia wiped sweat from her face and tightened the brown band around her comb.
"It's like a giant beehive of Dhraks."
"Oooooh, grop. I am really not looking forward to this," Sylvia groaned. "I'm definitely going to lose a leg before this is all over. Maybe an eye. Maybe that wouldn't be too bad a look on me, actually. Might make creeps think twice before getting near Wander again."
"Sylvia, you're rambling. We need to move," Melody insisted.
"Sorry, sorry. It just sort of helps with the nerves," Sylvia said, breaking into a swift trot towards the hills. "Do you want us to take an orbal? It will be faster."
"Too exposed. This way will have to do," Melody said, keeping a watchful eye out for Dhraks.
She didn't see any for miles around, even in the scorched land where there were always an occasional few roaming around. They must have joined the army marching to their fortage when it had come.
Melody noticed Wander's hat bouncing against Sylvia's side where it was strapped. Sylvia apparently wasn't interested in wearing it, even though Wander had given it to her. She pulled it out and placed it on her own head. It made her feel close to Wander. The wind rushing against the hat was a little annoying, but the hat was so comforting that she decided against taking it off, instead leaning forward and letting Sylvia's head and neck take the force of the wind.
They had been traveling for several hours when they reached a large patch of forest that was undamaged.
"What's with that?" Sylvia asked. "Some kind of monster living there that even the Dhraks don't wanna face?"
"Yes – if mushrooms can be considered monsters. The Dhraks are highly allergic to them, so it's a good guess that this area is full of them."
It was a relief entering the coolness of the forest after being under the gaze of the sun for so long. Melody decided to strike up a conversation.
"How long has Wander had this hat?"
"Long before I met him. He told me the story of how he found it. Did he tell you it's magic?"
"Yes. He said it gives him things in times of need." She took the hat off. "Come to think of it, right now is a time of need."
"Eh…it's not very reliable. It works best when Wander uses it."
"I'm going to try it anyways," Melody said, reaching a hand inside. Her fingers closed over something hard and metallic. When she pulled it out, she found she was holding some strange metal object with an anchor at the end. Sylvia glanced at it and sighed.
"What's this?"
"A grappling hook. Look, I'll show you - hang on tight."
She took it and pressed something, causing the anchor to fly into the branches of a purple tree and latch onto one. In another second the rope connecting the anchor to the object pulled them into the air until they'd made it onto the branch.
"That's cool, but how will it help us?"
"I have no idea. As usual." Sylvia glanced at the ground. "Oh great, now I'm going to need to orbal us back down." Reaching into the hat, she suddenly paused. "What's that smoke trail?"
Melody squinted through openings in the branches. Not too far away an unsteady plume of smoke was rising into the sky. "Probably some Dhraks burning plants for food."
"What if it is the Dhrak army?"
"I don't think so…I'm pretty sure they'll stay in the cave systems all the way back."
"Still…we should check just in case."
Melody agreed and the two of them set off cautiously towards the direction they had seen the smoke. As the forest became less thick, they were able to make out the smoke more and more. When they were nearly upon it, there was still no sign of any Dhraks.
"It can't be the whole army," Melody sighed. "Let's get going again."
"Wait." Distant shouting met their ears. "That voice…" Sylvia frowned. "I feel like I've heard it before." She walked slowly forward, trying not to make any noise. The shouting gradually became louder until Melody could make out sentences.
"You stupid pathetic excuse of a ship. I knew I should have incinerated that seedy dealer when I had the chance. You couldn't handle one wormhole. ONE wormhole! If I didn't still need you I'd grind your whole metal hull into a pile of dust so small you'd need a magnifying glass to see it. You know what? I'm going to find that dealer, and do that to him!"
Melody could now see the ship this person was talking about. It was scorched, smashed partially covered in ice, and smoking in multiple places. A light green female of unknown species, looking to be about Sylvia's height, was kicking it and screaming at it. Melody would have felt bad for the girl if she wasn't threatening to brutally murder someone at the moment.
Sylvia jerked backwards as though she had been slapped in the face and dashed behind a tree-trunk. "Oh no, this isn't good. We've got to get out of here."
Melody fought the temptation to peak around the tree at the girl again. "Why?"
"Well…heh…remember that psychotic galactic overlord I was talking about earlier? The one who kept trying to kill us? Yeeeeah…that's the one."
"Seriously? How long have you dorks been spying on me?"
Sylvia and Melody froze and looked over at the girl, who was standing two feet away and staring at them with hands on her hips.
"We haven't been spying on you," Sylvia said flatly. Melody felt the Zbornak's muscles tense, preparing to launch them into a run.
"Yeah, as if we just happened to find each other – whoa, Wander, someone got quite the makeover. You goin' through some punk ninja phase? I like it, I like it."
"I'm not Wander," Melody snapped. "I'm Melody, a female of his kind."
Her eyebrows shot up. "Wow, Sylvia. What happened to best friends? You dump Wander like a sack of rocks for some hot ninja chick? I didn't think you had that in you, to be honest."
Sylvia's hands balled into fists and her comb rose threateningly. "I did not dump Wander. He was captured by some stupid rock creatures that want to sacrifice him to their stupid god in some stupid volcano because he was stupid enough to turn himself over to them. So I don't have time to stand here and deal with your crap right now, I have a best friend to save. Either roast me with your stupid fire powers or get. Out. Of. My. Way."
She gaped at Sylvia for a moment before a curious smile curved across her face.
"These rock creatures…what are they like?"
"Why do you want to know?" Sylvia asked suspiciously.
"Because…if there's going to be a fight…I might want to be a part of it." She smiled wistfully. "Do you know how long it's been since I've had a real challenge? I almost had one coming with that giant robot you guys found, until you idiots blew it up."
"The Dhraks in the volcano will be very challenging, with all their numbers," Melody said. "Especially since there will be lots of megas there. We may even have to face the Alpha."
"How big is this Alpha?" she asked, shoulders hunching with excitement.
"Enough, Melody," Sylvia said. "Dominator's not taking this seriously. Besides, she's not trustworthy. She's already tried to kill me and Wander multiple times, as I've said before."
"But…I didn't kill him last time I had the chance," Dominator said, looking away from Sylvia as she spoke the words.
Sylvia frowned.
"We need all the help we can get, Sylvia," Melody said quietly. "We don't have much else to lose. You know we can't break into that volcano alone."
"Alright, I guess you can help us," Sylvia said reluctantly. "But Melody's the leader here, not you. She knows the Dhraks better than either of us."
"Fine," Dominator said. "As long as I get to fight." She started walking back to her crashed ship.
"Where are you going?" Sylvia asked.
"To get you a better weapon than that pathetic club. Also, to get us some decent transportation."
She emerged carrying a large, complicated-looking contraption and two oblong colorful objects. She tossed the contraption to Sylvia, who clutched it to her chest.
"Finally, a flarpin' ray gun!" the Zbornak said happily. "Y'know, I'm starting to think you're not half bad."
"Oh, I'm still bad alright," Dom said, pressing something on one of the objects which caused it to mysteriously float. She stepped onto it, grinning. Two straps immediately closed over her boots. "I'm just over the whole destroying galaxies thing. It got…boring."
"If you say so," Sylvia said, scrutinizing the floating object. "Is that a hover-board?"
"Yup. The other one's all yours. Think you can handle it?"
"Where'd you get it?" She carefully stepped onto it and searched for a way to activate it.
"I made it," Dom said smugly. "I make almost everything I use. Except for this stupid ship. It looked pretty sweet, and I was going to add some awesome upgrades, but then it decided to be an epic failure."
"You made these?" Melody asked, gawking at the hover-boards. The one Dom was on had fire designs, while Sylvia's had ice designs. "How do they work…magic?"
Dom eyed the katanas on her back. "I'm guessing your planet is behind in the technological curve."
"This is a whole 'nother galaxy," Sylvia spoke up. "They're probably no more advanced than others around them."
"Well, let's hope these Dhraks don't need technology to put up a good fight," Dom said, cracking her fingers expectantly.
"How high are we going to fly on these things?" Melody asked. "We will be easy targets for their arrows."
Dom smirked and pressed another button, causing a see-through purple shield to form completely around her. "I'd like to see their dumb little arrows pierce this."
Sylvia finally activated the hover-board and Melody almost fell off her back as the Zbornak swayed, trying to keep the board steady.
Dom watched Sylvia struggle with it, her fingers twitching impatiently. As Melody waited as well, she studied Dom's interesting clothing. The girl was dressed in a long, tunic-like shirt that clung to her body, showing off her shapely form. Her leggings had diagonal bold yellow and black stripes on them, and her black boots reaching her knees had spikes on the soles. Her shirt had off-the-shoulder, red and orange shear sleeves that matched the shear fabric covering a wide slit in the bottom right side of her shirt. The shirt itself was jet black, with the design of a dripping red heart on it, an orange streak curved on one side.
Dom noticed Melody watching her. "You want a better weapon too, ninja girl?" she asked.
"I always use my katanas. I've trained with them for fifty years."
"Wow. Okay." She grinned. "I can't wait to see the damage you can do with those things."
"Don't worry," Melody said darkly. "You will."
Once Sylvia was confident she could control the board, and Dom had retrieved a few supplies from the ship, they set off above the trees, flying at a steady pace.
"So, where is this volcano?" Dom asked.
"I don't know the exact location. But it is somewhere to the northwest," Melody said, fidgeting in the saddle. Even though she trusted the shield to protect her, she still felt exposed so high in the air.
"This better not take forever," Dom said. "I mean, I don't have anything else planned for the day, but even flying can be a drag after awhile."
Unfortunately, Melody had more trouble finding the volcano than she'd originally thought. When the sun set and it became difficult to see, they decided to rest inside one of the many caves in the area. Once they'd eaten and sleepiness began to weigh down their bodies, Sylvia had Dominator seal off the exit with dried lava to protect them from Dhraks. They'd become more and more common the deeper they'd gone into the Dhraks' territory.
"Well this is stupid," Dom grumbled, snapping sticks in half and throwing them into the fire she'd made with salvaged wood. "Are you sure this volcano even exists?"
"I am sure of it," Melody said, enjoying the warmth of the flames. "The Dhraks I once knew talked about it often."
"The Dhraks you once knew?"
She sighed. "It's a long story. You won't want to hear about it."
Dominator pulled more food out of the supplies she'd brought and munched on it, focusing her large pinkish-red eyes on the weary Star-born sitting across from her. "I've got time to listen. And you're a fekking ninja, you've gotta have some good stories."
Melody hesitated, wondering if she should even consider opening up to a girl that had once tried to kill Wander. But there was something almost child-like in Dom's eyes as she sat there chewing expectantly that made Melody feel as though she could trust her. It was worth a shot, anyways.
When she was done telling Dom everything she had told Sylvia and Wander just days before, Dom put down her food and took a long swig of water. Melody wasn't sure whether she felt relieved or upset to see her listener so calm.
"So, you were friends with this guy for a hundred years?"
"Yes."
"Wow…that is a fekking long time. I've only had one friend, and that lasted about fifteen minutes."
The half-charred branch that Melody was about to add to the fire stopped as she stared at Dom in surprise. "I…I'm sorry about that," she said softly.
Dom blushed and quickly reached through the fire, grabbing the stick from her and throwing it into the flames.
"No big deal. It's not like I want or need friends anyway. I don't know why I'm even bothering to talk to someone as boring as you."
She turned away from Melody and lay down, using one of her supply packs as a pillow.
Melody watched her for a moment, wondering why Dom had become so cold all of a sudden. I think opening up to her caused her to open up as well, and she didn't like that.
Her eyelids were growing heavy now. I wish I had something to use as a pillow. This ground is so hard. She crawled over to Sylvia, who looked soundly asleep, and lay with her head leaning against the Zbornak's back. She'd seen Wander rest on and against his friend multiple times, so she hoped it would be alright for her to do so just for one night.
The end of Sylvia's tail suddenly wrapped around her waist and gently lifted her onto Sylvia's back, where the soft saddle worked surprisingly well as pillow.
"Thanks Sylvia," Melody murmured. She took out the needle hair pins and hairband, letting her long hair spread over her like a blanket.
It was still hard to get to sleep; nearly every muscle in her body was tense from anxiety. Soon Dominator started muttering in her sleep about blasting someone with something called rocket launchers, which didn't help. Finally, Melody took Wander's hat and lay on her side, cuddling it in her arms. Within minutes she fell asleep.