Ashura: Lies
I’m so flustered. I can’t believe that this curse is going this far… does Zephyr really think everything I say or do is a lie?
“You seem to be lying a lot, and I don’t know why…”
I know it’s useless to try saying this, but I have to try something. “But I’m not lying! Everything I’ve told you is true!”
“Young crane,” the frog leans close to me, “these lies are getting out of hand…”
I begin to think. This feels like some sort of riddle. If I speak in only lies, will it cancel out? “I am lying…” I whimper, hoping it will cancel out.
“It’s good you’re admitting to it,” Zephyr responds. Dammit! “Now, can you tell me the truth?”
“I… I can’t!”
“Yes, you can, my child.” Zephyr sounds unusually patient with me. They want to understand me, but I just want this to be over.
“I speak only in lies.” I bluntly admit it. It’s not a lie, but if I was lying, it would be interpreted that I speak only in truth, which wouldn’t make sense either way.
The frog backs away for a moment, with a puzzled expression. “...You’re… that… If you say that, that makes sense!”
I immediately perk up. Finally, there is a way around this. “Yes! Doesn’t it?”
The frog grabs their head. “This is going to take some getting used to, though, forgive me.”
“That’s fine, just as long as you know.”
“What happened to you?”
“It was the falcon, he did this to me, it’s… it really is a long story-”
Before I can finish, a thick, a beam of blinding light emerges from the clouds, aimed directly at Zephyr. It hits them head-on and engulfs their body. Abaddon flies down from the sky. “You were supposed to fight the enemy, but you didn’t. I took matters into my own hands. You truly disappoint me.”
Now that I am alone with this threat, I feel entirely powerless. However, I remember something in this moment. If one elementalist dies, the essence that person has gathered will transfer to the nearest elementalist. And yet, I have gained nothing. Does that mean…
I hear footsteps behind me, and when I turn around, I see Zephyr alive. “That was close,” they say, “I knew that rude falcon never truly left.” The frog uses the nearby water as a temporary writing implement to write sigils onto the ground. They conjure up water and wind elemental attacks at an uncanny speed, aimed at Abaddon.
“Wait!” I spout. I have to know the truth. “What happened?”
While Abaddon grounds his sword in the earth and hangs on, Zephyr quickly explains to me what they did: “You know of the wish-granting power of essence, right? Well, this is a secret technique I discovered. You can spend one essence of any kind to momentarily give yourself a taste of your wish. However, be careful. If you use this secret technique more than once, you will lose the ability to get a wish granted.”
I am intrigued, but still confused. “But how did you survive?”
“I granted my wish for a moment, which is to be immortal and undying. As for how I knew which moment to activate that… well, I’ll leave that as a secret!”
With the attacks spent, Zephyr creates a wall of water behind us to protect us from Abaddon. He regains his stance and marches over to the wall, using his sword to part the water. I feel a firm tug on my tunic as I’m pulled away.
“Ashura,” Abaddon commands as he slings me over his shoulder, “we’re leaving. Let’s go.”
***
After making it back to ground level, Abaddon throws me onto the ground. “Make a camp or whatever you need to survive the night. You will do better tomorrow. Am I understood?”
Afraid, I nod silently. As long as he’s here, I feel like I have no power.
“Good. I’m going to scout the area to make sure nobody kills you. Don’t get any funny ideas.” He flies in the air and swoops around, but never out of my sight. I know he’s keeping an eye on me.
I just construct a simple nest in a tree to try sleeping. After a while, he comes back down and sits next to me. “The sun is setting,” he states, “Get some shut-eye.” He curls up in a purple, feathery ball. I don’t think I’m going to sleep well with him here, but I will try, anyway.