The Last Night of the World

Chapter 5

The Valley of Dragons

-

The next day, Van sat at the desk in his office, riffling through papers that lay in a pile in front of him. Several were reports of the conditions of the shelter in the hills, a partial inventory of the supplies, the details of last month's harvest. A military assessment on yesterday's attack and a summary of their meeting compiled by Doradeen. A few documents required his perusal and signature, such as the one from a jeweler's guild asking for permission to start mining in the hills. They won't be doing any mining anytime soon, he thought, and laid it aside.

As he worked, the folded-up message from Basram kept hovering at the edge of his vision. He had placed it apart from the rest of his papers, since it was a meeting waiting to happen and didn't need his immediate attention. But he kept it just in sight as a thorny reminder of how matters stood between him and Hitomi.

As the sun climbed higher into the sky, the words on the paper in front of him began to run together. Van rubbed his eyes, which were scratchy and dry. He hardly slept at all last night; he felt like a dishrag that had been wrung dry to the bone. Everyone was depending on him to hold the kingdom together. He had to find a way to hold himself together first.

There was a knock on the door. Probably a messenger to relay Asturia's reply to his requests for help. It would not exactly make him feel better, but at least it would not make him feel worse.

"Come in," he said.

The person who entered, however, was not a messenger, but the last person he expected to see. Van's hand froze in mid-sentence, the quill suspended in the air. Hitomi let the door close and stood uncertainly, fidgeting with her ring. Their eyes met, and they both quickly looked away as if burned.

"What are you doing here?" Van asked gruffly.

"I…I said I would help."

"You don't have to."

"I want to help, Van."

"Fine. But why did you come here?"

"I thought…" She trailed off.

…that there might be something to talk about? Van stole a glance at her. Dark shadows made her eyes appear sunken, and a delicate vein traced the translucent skin of her temple. She had not slept well either, an observation he noted with a mixture of satisfaction and regret.

Reaching for the doorknob, Hitomi said, "I'd better go, then."

"There's been no change since yesterday," he said as she turned the knob. "We're still waiting for Asturia to get back to us. Otherwise, we're holding up."

When their eyes met again, her expression was one of gratitude, but Van focused on keeping his neutral. He reached down and dug something out of his pocket. "Here," he said, the chain of the pendant dangling from his fingertips. "You're probably going to need this."

"Thank you," she said as he let it drop into her palm.

"Don't go too far," he said before he could stop himself, and surprise dawned on her features. "In case you see anything," he added quickly.

When Hitomi left, Van tried to lose himself in the spaces between the lines formed by letters neatly stacked together, the dips of the downstrokes and the turns of the ink as it abruptly changed direction, a maze of black and white, of words and meaning. He tried to block the image of Hitomi from his mind: the way her braids were matted as if she had slept in them, the way she moved her mouth when she spoke, the graceful arch of her fingers when she took the pendant from him. The Basram letter watched him from the edge of the desk, its red wax seal like a bloodshot eye, an open sore. Snatching it from the polished wood surface, Van opened a drawer, shoved the letter inside, and slammed it shut.

-

Outside, at an intersection in the hallway, Hitomi slowed to a halt by a statue of a knight whose hands rested on the pommel of a massive sword balanced in front of him. She uncurled her fingers, which had been tightly closed around the pendant. Picking up the jewel between her forefinger and thumb, she let the chain dangle between the fingers of her other hand like a small golden waterfall. It was warm, after having been nestled against Van's leg in his pocket, but it quickly became cool as droplets of water in the morning air. She had forgotten all about the pendant until now. The last thing she remembered about it was taking it off right before she had the vision. After that, her world had become such a whirlwind that she no longer knew which way was up.

Slinging the chain across both hands, between her thumbs, she looped it over her head. She pulled her braids through, one by one, stray strands of hair momentarily snagging the chain links. She studied the statue in front of her: it had blind stone eyes and a sharp jaw that thrust forward very much like Van's did. This was probably an ancestor, she realized, a relic of the old Fanelia that had somehow managed to survive the Great War. It was something that felt unexpectedly, oddly familiar in a world that had, in such a short period of time, become so distant and unfamiliar.

-

The days passed, and messenger pigeons streaked through the sky. Asturia agreed to give the people of Fanelia temporary refuge, as did the allied duchy of Freid. Other than struggling with the fine details of the logistics of the evacuation, the rest of the week was blessedly uneventful. Van wondered what Hitomi did with her time or if she listened to him when he asked her to stay close by. Part of him wanted to ask, but the other part of him said that he already had too many answers that he didn't want to know, and he didn't need any more.

Leviships came to haul away refugees by the boatload, an operation that was being overseen by his two generals and Doradeen. Although Fanelia was a small country, transplanting tens of thousands of people with a limited number of ships took several days. Van stopped by periodically to receive report and assess their progress. It probably would have been more efficient to communicate with his overseers by pigeon or by meeting with them at the end of the day, but Van preferred to see for himself. Also, viewing the ruined city from the trail that hugged the wall of mountains surrounding Fanelia served as a constant reminder of the burden he shouldered as Fanelia's ruler and protector.

One day, as Van was mediating an argument between Doradeen and an Asturian official about the reliability of his crew members, a leviship that Van immediately recognized descended in the clearing by the yawning cave mouths. It was the Crusade, its sleek hull sandwiched between two giant stones as black as charcoal, the leviship that belonged to a certain blond-haired knight.

The grass fanned out in the ship's descent, and the wind tugged Van's hair away from his face. The rear of the ship swung down to meet the ground, and a tall man with long, yellow hair paraded out, followed by several of his men.

"Fancy meeting you here, King Van!" the man exclaimed jovially, holding out his hand.

"Allen Schezar," Van said politely, shaking the older man's hand and nodding at his crew. "What brings you to Fanelia?"

"I heard about what happened," Allen said, more seriously. "I wanted to know if you needed a hand."

If Allen wanted to know if Van needed any help, he did not have to haul his leviship and band of men all the way over the mountains to Fanelia. What Allen was really meant, in the language between men, was that he wanted to know how Van was doing. He had been there when Van struggled with his demons and fought to live up to everyone else's expectations during the Great War. Back then, Allen had been a mentor of sorts and Van his grudging apprentice, even while they vied for Hitomi's affection. "Fanelia has been destroyed, and we can't pinpoint where the attack came from, or who the attackers were," Van explained. "Even worse, the dragons have come out of the forest in large numbers and are roaming the city, and we haven't been able to drive them back."

"A city besieged by dragons," Allen muttered to himself. The man had a knack for the poetic, even when he wasn't trying. "Have you gone down to investigate?"

"How can I? The dragons would tear apart any soldiers I send down there. This isn't an enemy army we're talking about, Allen. They don't know the meaning of negotiation or restraint."

"I mean with Escaflowne."

"Escaflowne?"

"Escaflowne is smaller and more agile than any leviship in existence. You could easily fly down there and take a closer look, to see how bad the situation really is."

With so many other things on his mind, he had not considered using Escaflowne in a scouting expedition. It was not a bad idea. In fact, it was brilliant. Van was about to say so when Hitomi emerged from the mouth of one of the caves. "Allen? Is that you?" she called.

It took Allen a moment, but he recognized her. "Hitomi! You really have come back!" Allen went to meet her, covering the distance between them with long strides. "The rumors were true, after all."

In the middle of the clearing, he bent on one knee and gallantly kissed the back of her hand. When he rose, Hitomi asked, "How are you doing, Allen? How is Asturia? And Princess Millerna? And Dryden? Are they doing well?" The questions poured out from her in a flood of relief that there was finally a familiar face who she could talk to without feeling completely estranged.

Allen laughed heartily and said, "They are all doing fine, more than fine. We'll have plenty of time to talk about them, I'm sure. But I see that you, on the other hand," and he took her left hand, bringing the ring into view, "are a taken woman."

"Y-Yes," she replied, silently praying that he would not ask the question she knew was coming next.

"It's not what you think." Van had come up behind Allen, his expression steely. Then, to Hitomi, he said curtly, "What are you doing here?"

The unfriendly nature of his question nettled Hitomi. "What do you think I'm doing here?" she replied. "I came to help distribute supplies and round up people for the evacuation. I said I wanted to help, so I did."

"I thought I told you to stay in the palace," he said, frowning. "You should have let me know where you were. You could have had another vision."

He told me? Why is he making me feel like I'm doing something wrong? Or that I'm supposed to be on some sort of leash? "Since when do I have to report to you everything I do?"

He stared hard at her left hand, which still hung poised in the air, then crossed his arms and turned away. "That's right, I forgot. You don't."

Allen, sensing that something was definitely amiss, wisely held his peace. Hitomi whirled on her heel and stomped back to the caves, where soldiers were busy herding people into groups to be taken away by leviship. Halfway there, she turned around and yelled, "If I had a vision, I was going to tell you anyway!" Then she broke into a run, blinking away angry tears.

Hitomi did not see much of Van after that, except for occasional glimpses from afar when he made his rounds with the officers. Instead, she occupied herself with handing out food and blankets to those who needed them. She spent time playing with the children and talking to people, hearing their stories about what life was like on Gaea from regular folk. Many people had been badly injured from falling bricks and rafters, so she followed the medics around, learning how to clean wounds and change bandages and even dowsing when they could not figure out what was wrong.

At the end of the day, she went back to the palace with the other relief workers, most of whom were soldiers, medics, and nurses. She did not really want to suffer Merle's cold stares or the uncomfortable atmosphere between her and Van, so she went straight to her room. Why she was trying so hard in a world where she didn't belong was a good question; but she cared about what happened to Fanelia. She cared about what happened to Van.

As she lay on her bed, she wished that things didn't have to be like this. She wished for the days when the sight of him was enough to fill her with joy, when he made her feel like she belonged. The days when they needed each other to survive, he with Escaflowne and she with her clairvoyance, when their destinies were the two halves of a circle that blended together, unable to tell where one left off and where the other began.

Staring at the wall, at the thin line made by moonlight peeking through the shutters, Hitomi wondered if she didn't still need him even now.

-

The next morning, Councilor Doradeen conducted a headcount of the remaining refugees and predicted that after today, the evacuation would be complete. A weight left Van's shoulders after hearing the news; at least his people would be safe. As long as Fanelia had her people and her king, she would survive. The man who had once told him that sat next to him, absentmindedly tapping a leather-bound book on the table to some internal rhythm.

Allen's presence had been an unexpected boon: he helped smooth out the details of coordinating transport with the captains of the Asturian leviships, many of whom he knew personally. "If only he had shown up sooner," Doradeen, a stickler for efficiency and order, had huffed. "The process would have gone much faster."

When the last of the leviships took off with its precious cargo, Van turned to the blond knight next to him. "Allen, I am deeply indebted to Asturia, and to you. Thank you for assisting Fanelia in our time of need."

Allen waved his hand in way of saying you're welcome. "If anything, King Aston feels indebted to you. If it weren't for you and Hitomi, none of us would be here today. Speaking of which," he said, leaning closer, "something is going on between you two."

Van stared straight ahead, and his silence was answer enough for Allen.

"You weren't the one who gave her that ring." Again, it was a statement, not a question. "It was someone else. From the Mystic Moon, I imagine."

"Yeah."

"You can't just give up on her, Van."

"What would be the point? She can't stay. When all of this is over, she's going to go back home and marry him." As soon as the words left his mouth, he realized that he sounded petulant, like a whining dog on its last legs. He could feel Allen's icy blue eyes boring into him.

"The two of you destroyed the emperor's destiny-controlling machine against all odds. The strength of your love was that powerful. You used to believe in her, and she believed in you." Allen looked off to the side, where Hitomi stood talking to two other women, their heads bent together as if sharing a secret. "I've seen her working with the soldiers and the medics. She believed in you, and I think she still does."

-

When it came time for Van and his retainers to depart, Allen offered to escort them himself. Van declined, saying that he wanted to stay behind to scout the city and the surrounding forest. "I'll catch up with you later."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. It shouldn't take long. Asturia's less than a day from here by air."

But he had not counted on Hitomi still being around; she had not left with the other townspeople. It fell to reason that she would leave on the Crusade along with the rest of his advisors, which made Van even more glad that he had not chosen to go with them. If he and Hitomi traveled together, the awkward silences between them would raise too many questions. But something about the way her face lit up when Allen first arrived at the scene bothered him. Why should he care? She was engaged to another man anyway. But the image of Allen kissing her over one of the bridges of Palas still lingered in his memory.

Hitomi was busy helping the medics pack up their instruments and supplies. The medics, along with the soldiers, were also among the last to leave since they were considered essential personnel for the evacuation. She was on her hands and knees, filling a crate with rolls of gauze and bandages. Gathering up his courage, Van walked up behind the crate and cleared his throat.

"Um…Hitomi."

"Yes?" she said coolly without looking up, pointedly focused on her task.

"I…I want you to stay with me."

Her head immediately snapped up from the length of gauze she was rolling.

Oh no, not again. His cheeks burned like fire as his mind conjured up the memory of humiliation and the sting of her slap the last time he said the same exact words to her. "N-Not like that. I mean…" Why was he getting flustered? It was just a scouting trip. "I mean I want you to stay here with me. And not leave with Allen. I'm going down to Fanelia to look around. With Escaflowne. So I'd like you to come with me, to…to…" To what? "…to back me up. In case you see something I don't."

Van mentally smacked himself. He needed to stop using her power as an excuse. She probably hated him by now, if she didn't before. What was he doing, anyway?

Laying aside the gauze, Hitomi seemed to give his request careful consideration. "All right," she replied, getting to her feet and dusting off her dress. "But only if you promise me one thing."

"Ok."

"Let's try not to get mad at each other, ok?"

-

Shortly afterwards, they had taken off and were flying over the hills toward the city. Van controlled Escaflowne's flight by the means of two handles and curved levers connected by a complex system of wires to the gears that tilted the dragon armor's wings to catch an updraft or curled the tail to change their course. Behind him, Hitomi stood with her feet braced to keep her balance and her arms locked stiffly around his waist to keep from falling off. Hitomi had not taken into account how they would go about doing this when she agreed to come along. It still stung, the way he had questioned her so accusingly earlier that day. Her hands were clenched into fists, as if to avoid touching him as much as she could, her body rigid like a wooden statue.

The stilted silence as they flew only served to emphasize the distance between them. When they were passing over the ramparts that guarded the palace, Van finally spoke.

"Hitomi, I'm sorry. About today." The wind whipped his words over his shoulder the way it whipped the hair back from his face.

His words were like a trigger, releasing the tension in Hitomi's arms. She unfurled her fingers and let them lay flat across his belly. "Me too, Van."

And just like that, they were five years younger again, the boy with his dragon and the girl from the Mystic Moon.

-

They zig-zagged over the broken rooftops of the city, which had been whole and bustling with life only a short week ago. Van set his mouth in a frown and gripped the handles harder, as if doing so could make him forget how beautiful his city used to look from the windows of the palace, pretending that his city was not this abandoned ruin that was now crawling with scaly reptiles who poked their large, ugly heads into the empty rooms that used to be someone's home. Once, they passed over a trio of dragons huddled around something on the ground, sniffing and grunting and dipping their heads up and down. Scattered nearby were several swords and spears, a boot connected to an armored pant leg that was stained brown with dried blood. One of the dragons spied them flying above them and it looked up, a string of flesh dangling between its knifelike teeth. Van felt Hitomi's arms tighten around him, her fingers digging into the fabric of his shirt. He banked to the left and caught a wind that brought them higher, away from the killing fields that Fanelia had become.

He had seen enough. Dragons populated almost every street where there had once been people. Driving them out would not be an easy task; land dragons were afraid of fire, but it would take a large, concerted effort to herd them back into the forest and keep them there until the city walls were rebuilt. Now the remaining question: why had they come out of the forest in the first place?

Swooping over the leafy treetops, Van did not think anything appeared amiss until a low rumble reached his ears. The rushing of the wind in his ears must have drowned it out before. He swung Escaflowne in the direction of the sound, which grew to a dull roar. The sound of an army on the march, he thought grimly.

Somewhere ahead, the sea of trees abruptly ended in a line that stretched across the horizon, dividing forest from clearing. An enemy encampment. Just as I thought. But how could an enemy force of this size have escaped the notice of Garva's scouts or the wolf-people who resided in Arzas?

Then it occurred to Van that the village of Arzas should be nearby. An icy hand twisted in his gut. Ruhm would have sent word if he had seen anything strange. And chopping down half a forest was definitely strange. Van strained for any sign of the village with its rounded huts that dotted the trees, but to no avail.

As he drew closer to the break in the trees, the air around him grew warmer until it was hot and dry as a desert wind. When he saw it, his heart dropped through the bottom of his stomach. "Oh my God," he heard Hitomi whisper.

In front of them, below them, where there should have been trees upon trees rising above the tangled undergrowth, was a pit—no, a ravine, a jagged wound in the ground—that hissed with a lake of molten fire, the waves bubbling and lapping at the rocky walls. The ground by the pit was parched and cracked, the vegetation charred and blackened near the lip and merely desiccated further away by the edge of the forest. The gaping hole that had swallowed up the forest floor was so vast that Van could barely see to the other side of it, where it merged with the skyline of mountains that separated Fanelia and Asturia.

No wonder the dragons had fled.