CHAPTER 821: OIL AND WATER

Gayron stood, helping me to my feet. I leaned on him, tail twitching as we gazed at the lights streaming into the village below.

"What do you mean ’They?’" Gayron asked. His eyes widened. "You mean the soldiers? But I lost them. I’m sure of it."

"It’s my fault," I said, shrinking from his gaze. "I got scared and, um...lost control."

"When you thought I left you?"

I shivered, Luke’s expression haunting my memories. "N-no...something else."

"When you say lost control, you don’t mean–"

"My aura. It...leaked, and gave everyone visions. Someone reported it, and now they’re here to investigate. Their sky ship will be here, too, but I don’t know when."

"Visions, huh?" Gayron rubbed his chin, eyes distant. "That would explain my dream, then. But was that really a vision? Like... it’s going to happen? You’re sure?"

Ah, a vision. That explained why I wasn’t able to wake him. At least he didn’t seem upset about it.

"Nothing is sure," I said. "But what kind of vision did you have? It was about Korra, wasn’t it?"

He stiffened, his tail going as flat as a board. "Y-You saw?"

I shook my head, tilting my head in confusion. "No? You just called her name out."

He let out a breath, his shoulder sagging. "Thank the emperors. Er, I mean, there’s no point discussing it now. We’ve got to figure out what we’re going to do. From what you saw, can we win a fight?"

I looked up at him, gripping his shirt. "They have an eighth-level, and I don’t have any mana."

He swallowed hard, his supporting hold on my arm loosening. He seemed flushed for some reason, leaning away from me slightly. His discomfort only made my tail twitch harder, and my grip on his shirt tightened.

"What do you think we should do?" he asked in a strangled voice.

"I...I don’t know. But, um, could I maybe use this? Then you could teleport with your ring," I said, touching the ring hanging on my necklace.

"It won’t work." He held up his ring. It was far larger than the one Luke had given me, its enchantments entirely different. "They only work one way. The other half of this one is with Luke, as are all the other apostles. It’s also coded to my mana, so no one other than me can activate it. But what about you? Can’t you summon that remnant again?"

My face fell. "I can’t, I already tried. I can’t summon Fable, or Haven, or anyone. The World Barrier stops it."

"Damn." He made a face. "I thought you said you’d be able to."

"Emlica said it might be possible, but...it’s not."

It hit me that I was still holding close to him close, and my face flushed. I backed away quickly, almost stumbling. My legs wobbled, but they’d recovered enough to hold my weight at least. Gayron let out a small breath, pointedly looking away.

"Damn," he mumbled, rubbing his horn. "So, uh, if that’s your only idea, we should start running. This mountain’s thick, but it won’t take them more than an hour to find this place."

I looked down at the lights in the village. They went from home to home, disappearing inside before reappearing a few seconds later. A few drifted into the woods covering the roots of the mountains, steadily climbing in long, switch-back patterns.

"It won’t matter. We’re almost out of time," I said, looking back at him with wide eyes.

"Time? If you keep Silent Stars active, I can keep us hidden for months, if not years. More than enough time to find a way back to the northern continent."

"No." I shook my head, tail going limp. "Emlica’s spell. It’s the only thing keeping us from the World Barrier. Don’t you remember that terrible power when we first teleported in?"

He scratched his cheek. "Was that what it was? I thought that was just part of teleporting through a shard. But doesn’t the world barrier just prevent us from hurting anyone?"

"I thought so too. Emlica didn’t say it would be so heavy."

"There’s a lot those remnants hide from you, isn’t there."

My fingers closed into fists, trapping my skirt between my fingers. "I-It’s not like that."

He snorted. "It certainly seems that way. That Ernyst one taught Korra and me how to fly in like half an hour. That’s supposed to be one of the greatest mysteries of magic, you know. Ever wonder what else they decided not to share?"

I hesitated, chewing on my lip. Hearing Gayron of all people criticize my allies made my tail bristle, but it was hard not to hear the truth in his words.

"Not everyone’s like you," I said, turning away with a slight pout.

He winced, the swish of his tail growing more agitated. An awkward silence descended between us, broken only by the soft rustle of the night breeze. On the horizon, the gray light had expanded, chasing the stars westward. A hint of pink colored the sky, beckoning in the dawn.

"Look, I’m sorry. Let’s just focus on surviving today," Gayron muttered.

His voice was tight, the apology forced, but I took a deep breath. "Okay."

But even though he said that, what could we do? I folded my arms, tail swishing as I fell into thought. Our resources were limited, but not insignificant. My mana was even lower after the healing spell, perhaps enough to cast a sixth-circle spell or two, but little more. And judging from the strength of Gayran’s aura, he had about half of his total mana. The sunpurge impacted his physical strength, but...

"Um, Gayron?" I asked, looking up sharply. "Can you create a flicker?"

He raised an eyebrow. "Probably."

At nod, he released a jet of fire from his palm. The flames scorched the rocky pillar black, casting a pale orange glow over the mountain top.

"Not so bright!" I cried, looking anxiously down at the village.

He swore and cut the fire off by closing his hand into a fist. A tall figure rose out of the smoke, dusting himself off.

"Gayron, at your service," he said, walking toward us.

I took a small, unconscious step back, feeling a little trapped between the two muscular men. But, as I remembered my point, I moved toward the flicker, hesitantly reaching for his arm. I paused a hairsbreadth from his skin, looking up with pleading eyes. The other Gayron moved his arm into my hand, allowing me to reach up, pushing his sleeve halfway up his bicep.

"No sunpurge," I said, looking over at the original. "Did you know that would work?"

He scuffed his foot, a light flush turning his face pink. "Well I, uh...no. But I should have thought of that first. Every flicker appears at my peak."

I pursed my lips, looking back at the second. He regarded me curiously, and I jerked my hand back, blushing.

"S-sorry."

He grinned. "No, I was rather enjoying it..."

"Shut up," Gayron muttered. "She might tell Korra."

My eyes darted between them, my tail growing more agitated. "T-this takes too much mana, doesn’t it?"

"Yeah, and it’s not like it makes my sunpurge disappear," Gayron said.

"But didn’t you say each one can become your main body?" I asked.

He hesitated, a slight jerk making his tail jump across the ground.

"The main body has to die," the flicker supplied helpfully. He tapped his chin. "I suppose it also takes a ton of mana, too. Almost five times as much as creating a new flicker."

"Oh." I looked at the ground, hands gripping my dress.

"The sunpurge isn’t so bad. I’ve only got four or five spots, and none of them inhibit my combat ability," Gayron said.

It wasn’t as if curing his sunpurge would have helped our situation much, but failing even that left me in low spirits. I walked to the edge of the plateau, hand resting against the side of the rocky pillar, and gazed at the horizon. My stomach leaped at being atop a cliff, but I ignored the urge to run and scanned the horizon. A small dot appeared along the band of gray, slowly approaching us. It held a slight aura of mana, visible despite the great distance.

"The Sun Seeker," I whispered.

"Hmm?" Gayron joined me at the edge, squinting.

"The skyship. That’s what he called it."

"You had a vision? What else did you see? Something that can help?"

"Nothing. Just that we won’t be able to fight our way out. And...you?"

"Me?"

I barely heard his response. My attention flew to the ring hanging about my neck. I carefully lifted it, admiring the gleam of the gold in the approaching dawn. Its mana was complex, but...familiar. I threaded a small ribbon of mana toward it. Maybe, it was possible to–

Gayron’s hand landed on my shoulder, jerked me toward him. I jumped, barely holding back a cry as his fingers dug into my flesh.

"What do you mean, you had a vision of me? You were spying on me?" Gayron asked, eyes glowing like embers. "Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should."

"I-I know, I’m sorry, but it wasn’t like that! I just...I just wanted a...hug." I finished in a small whisper, biting my lip so hard I half-expected it to bleed.

His eyes narrowed. "A hug?"