Chapter 8: Chapter 8 – Vesper

Bo and Gale collectively wracked their brains – doing their very best to come up with a way to gather water.

They had long abandoned any notion of gathering the Borealis the original way and were instead obsessed with the idea of mining it in bulk.

"Do you understand what this means?" Gale rasped. He was grasping the collar of Bo's robe with his only fist, and Bo could feel the hand trembling with excitement.

Bo could only nod furiously because he knew exactly what it meant. It meant he wouldn't have to turn a drill inside a ticking time bomb. It also meant that his chances of actually gathering enough Borealis in time had increased drastically.

"I can make… I can make anything…." Gale trailed off with a sideways glance at his bag. Only he knew how many strange contraptions he had cobbled together over the years – but they all paled in comparison to his magnum opus, the fire stick.

"I've always been limited by how little Borealis I can gather, but now…." Gale gazed at the glittering cave like it was full of gold. His hand twitched at his side in eagerness – itching to get started.

"But how do we get the water?" Bo asked the pertinent question.

"I…" Gale paused, scratching his chin with the sharp end of his hook thoughtfully. He seemed to drift off into his mind, combing through countless years of experience for the answer.

Bo watched the old man eagerly, waiting for whatever crazy conclusion he might come to.

Finally, Gale's eyes found their focus again, and he pointed at Bo purposefully.

"Name every way you could gather water in the desert," He snapped impatiently. His eyes had taken on a tinge of wild, almost frenzied excitement.

"Uh," Bo stuttered, "Well, there's urine,"

Gale shook his head immediately, "No, it won't work. I barely need to pee - if at all. And you did it on the walk here, so you shouldn't be able to go for at least a week,"

With a begrudging nod, Bo continued, "And there's… an Oasis,"

The old man laughed sharply, "Just move on to the next option. There's no chance in hell we manage to find, let alone kill one of those,"

"Um, what about underground rivers or springs? Are there any in this area?" Bo asked hopefully.

But Gale shot down that idea before it had even formed. "None within a week's travel, I'm afraid,"

Bo rubbed his arm – a twitch that helped him concentrate when he needed to think. He wracked his brain, going through every scroll he had ever read. Had there been anything that would help them gather water? Surely there must have...

He froze.

"I know!" He exclaimed.

"What!?" Gale stared at him wide-eyed.

Bo took a deep breath before continuing, "A long time ago, I read a scroll about special mineral formations in the desert." It had been one of the countless in Fran's collection. Scrolls about rare minerals weren't particularly interesting, but Bo had read pretty much everything Fran had before turning twelve. He didn't even really care what the scrolls were about – but rather, he enjoyed learning something new. Whatever that thing was didn't matter.

"I can't remember the name of it, but this formation is created when another mineral…." He paused, searching for the name, "Tialis, I think," Bo couldn't help but beam with contentment when he managed to remember it. But when he noticed Gale's feverish interest, he quickly got back to what mattered.

"Anyway, when Tialis is struck by lightning, something odd happens to it, and the rock changes colour from black - to white,"

"I'm assuming there's a point to this story," Gale added impatiently.

"There is." Bo grinned and continued, "You see, whenever Tialis turns white – it gains an extraordinary property… It can absorb moisture from the air."

Gale's eyes narrowed in intense focus, "And where can we find this Tialis?"

"Well… It is usually created in places with a high elevation - since those are more likely to get struck by lightning…." Bo trailed off as he gazed up the height of the ridge. He had to crane his neck all the way back just to see the top.

Gale followed his gaze, and his eyes widened in realisation, "A place like up there?" He asked giddily.

"Yeah, exactly like up there," Bo said with a grin. He hadn't managed to reach the top earlier, but the rocky outcrop was certainly high enough to drastically increase the chances of getting struck by lightning.

High enough that Tialis could form.

 

***

 

Despite his advanced age, Gale skipped up the mountain with the practised ease of a goat. In the end – Bo, the far younger boy, was left to clamber up after the old man.

Thankfully, the ridge wasn't particularly steep and scaling it – even in the dark – turned out to be relatively straightforward.

On their way up, neither Gale nor Bo said a word. For Gale's part - he was utterly preoccupied with what possibilities this new discovery might bring. And Bo was equally excited, imagining Ethron's face when he returned to the tribe after killing thousands of Sarpa with an infinite supply of fire sticks.

After scaling the ridge for half an hour, they arrived at a flat shelf near the top. Most of the rock on the shelf was a darker hue than was typical of the ridge – appearing blackened or even charred in places.

"I think lightning has hit this part of the ridge before," Bo said in a hushed tone. There was something about the stillness of the night and how exposed they were that made him nervous.

"Definitely," Gale nodded. The old man quickly walked out onto the shelf and began scouring the rock for any specks of white.

Bo left him to it and climbed further up the ridge. He walked around the sharp, rocky corner of a protruding boulder and found himself in front of two huge boulders. The gap between them was narrow – with jagged stones jutting out like barbed wire.

Just as he was about to turn back, Bo glimpsed a flash of white in the starlight. He squinted through the narrow crevice but couldn't be sure what he was looking at without getting closer.

"Gale," He raised his voice – calling back over his shoulder.

"What is it?" Gale quickly shouted back.

"I think I've found something!"

As Gale hurried towards Bo – their loud voices echoed off the ridge and carried far into the still night sky.

The old man hobbled up to Bo and narrowed his eyes as he examined the tight crevice, "I won't fit through there," He grumbled.

"But I will," Bo chirped.

"I don't know," Gale shook his head, "It'll be tight,"

With a grin, Bo shrugged his shoulders and cracked his neck, "It'll be worth it,"

Before Gale could raise any concerns – Bo took off. He went through the crevice sideways, with his chest and shoulders scraping uncomfortably against the jagged walls. The distance to the other side wasn't far – maybe five metres at most. But even that relatively short gap felt torturous to cross.

Gritting his teeth – Bo ignored the scrapes and bruises, wincing as he banged his knee against the narrow walls. But he didn't let those minor injuries slow him down – as the closer he got to the other side of the crevice, the clearer it became what lay there.

With a vague white shape fixed in his vision, Bo dragged himself out the other side of the crevice and hurriedly clambered over the few boulders between him and what he had been looking for.

The Tialis had an almost holy aura to it. It glowed softly in the starlight – bearing striking contrast to the dark rock of the ridge.

"Did you find it?!" Gale shouted from the other side of the boulders – his voice echoing into the night.

"I did!" Bo yelled back, walking up to and touching the rough surface of the Tialis. When he looked closely – Bo could actually see that the white rock was dotted with thousands upon thousands of tiny holes that weren't noticeable from a distance.

It was cool and damp to the touch, and when Bo's hand left the Tialis, it came back slightly wet.

"What do you think?" Gale asked. "Will it work?"

Bo licked his lips and examined the rock curiously, "I suppose we could place a rag on the rock and have it absorb the moisture – that might work,"

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"That's a great idea!" Gale shouted eagerly.

"But…"

There was a long pause before Gale replied, "But?"

"It shouldn't be this wet. In the scroll I read, Tialis only becomes completely saturated when a storm is approaching. I think it's something to do with a change in air pressure, but I'm not sure,"

"And?" Gale asked pointedly.

"If there's a storm coming – then we might be in big trouble! What if we can't find out way back to the tribe?"

Gale didn't reply for another painfully long moment, "Screw the tribe," He said softly.

"What?!"

"I said screw the tribe!" Gale yelled, "They haven't treated either of us well! I used to respect Ethron, but recently his decisions have led us astray more than-"

A sharp cry split the night - carving through the stillness like a knife through butter. It seemed to come from all directions, bouncing off the ridge and echoing through Bo's head.

He jumped away from the Tialis and tripped on a rock – stumbling backwards. Right as he fell, something sharp blazed through the spot where his head had just been.

"Shit! We were too loud," Bo swore.

He scrambled to his feet and tripped again – banging his knee off a sharp stone.

Another screech pierced Bo's ears, making them ring. All he could do was focus on standing up – but the sheer volume of the noise made his head throb and spin uncontrollably.

"Bo!" Gale yelled, "What the hell is that?"

It was too dark to see what was attacking him, but Bo had a pretty good idea of what it might be. Only one creature he knew of that made a sound like this.

"It's a Vesper!" Bo hissed through the pain in his knee. He just barely managed to climb over a massive boulder and slid down the side – hearing sharp claws grind across the stone behind him.

"A vesper," Gale cursed under his breath, "Okay, Bo, I need you to get to the crevice and hide there. I'm going to go grab something from my bag – so keep it distracted,"

"Wha-" Bo tried to ask, but his question was cut short by another ear-splitting screech.

He weaved between two more boulders and rushed towards the crevice, breathing hard as two enormous wings beat behind him.

Gritting his teeth, Bo squirmed into the narrow gap and hurried deeper – setting his jaw as jagged rocks dug into his chest, drawing blood.

His breathing came in panicked bursts as he listened to the mighty wings beat outside the two boulders. The vesper screamed again and again – its wretched cry echoing up and down the narrow passage and making his ears bleed.

Bo checked to see if Gale was on the other side of the crevice, but sure enough, the old man was gone. Bo could only pray that Gale had been telling the truth and would actually return – otherwise, he was screwed.

Finally, the vesper seemed to realise Bo wasn't going to leave his safe haven. So, it quit flying and landed just outside the narrow gap between the two huge boulders.

Its razor-sharp claws clicked on the rock- gouging four little pockmarks whenever it took a step.

Click

Click

Click

It prowled menacingly towards the opening – its dark form obscuring the night sky from view. All Bo could see was a looming black shadow with two ragged wings.

The vesper was even taller than a grown man and paused at the entrance to the crevice - realising that it wouldn't be able to fit inside.

With a frustrated screech, it began clawing at the two boulders - trying to pry them apart.

By this point, Bo's hands were clenched so tightly that his nails had dug into his palms. He was using every little scrap of willpower to stay still. If he bolted and left through the other side of the crevice – the vesper would catch him. There was just no way of outrunning one of them during the night.

All he could do was pray for Gale to return – and soon at that.

Somehow, the vesper managed to make one of the massive boulders shift. It wormed a little into the crevice – writhing to reach Bo, who was forced to drag himself deeper in.

It kept pushing against the two boulders – clawing and scrabbling to reach Bo, whose heart had long since entered his mouth.

He could only watch in abject horror as one of the boulders shifted again – rocking backwards and giving the vesper even more room.

With a concerted effort, the ghastly creature squirmed further towards him. It clawed and scraped at the two boulders – dragging itself deeper into the tight space.

Suddenly, a noise that Bo had hoped he would never, ever, hear rang out like a funeral bell. One of the boulders groaned and shifted massively, widening the gap in the crevice enough that he could stand normally – rather than sideways.

The vesper froze for a second – stunned that its desperate attempt to reach its prey had worked.

Bo bolted, rushing out the other end of the crevice and sprinting around the corner of a boulder towards the rocky shelf further down the ridge.

The vesper hurried after him – initially struggling to free itself from the tight gap but quickly piling on the speed when it was clear of the two boulders. It drove its mighty wings and took off in pursuit – cutting through the still night air in great swathes.

As he fled, all Bo could do – was pray that Gale would get there in time. It had certainly been a while since the old man had left, but would he be able to rush down and then back up the ridge in that amount of time?

He'd better be.

Bo's life depended on it.

Cutting across the flat shelf, Bo raced down the ridge – taking insane risks as he scaled the jagged rocks with suicidal speed.

Hot on his heels was the omnipresent beat of mighty wings. Relentless. Inescapable. Inevitable.

"Gale…" Bo panted, "Where are you?"

As if in reply – he heard distant footsteps from further down the ridge.

Spurred on by this discovery, Bo piled on the speed – digging deeper than he ever had before. He heard a particularly violent wing beat and ducked instinctively – just barely dodging a vicious swipe.

The footsteps were drawing closer and closer every second, but Gale himself was still obscured by a massive boulder.

"Gale!" Bo yelled anxiously.

The old man suddenly burst into view, clutching a small metal cylinder in his hand.

"Duck!" He screamed – hurling the cylinder at a spot just above Bo's head.

Without thought, Bo threw himself to the ground and held his hands over his ears – watching as the metal tube sailed through the air and smashed into the vesper behind him.

For a single moment, stillness reigned supreme.

And then came the fire.

A wall of it.

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