Chapter 2: And Through You

One humid afternoon, young Benja Gwyn, not yet 12 summers old, made the long walk from the village back to his family farm. He stuck to the smaller roads and dirt paths. Along the way, he recited the Meshika sutras to himself.

A little girl screamed.

Benja broke into a run. No hesitation. He aimed himself like a missile at the sound of screaming. He paused just long enough to grab a branch, a heavy one, good for hitting the sort of brutes who waylaid helpless children on the quiet paths between villages.

Only Benja didn't find a cut-purse or kidnapper. He found a monster.

At just over four feet tall, the monster wasn't particularly large by any measure, but it was big enough to loom over the little girl who'd fallen back into the dirt.

Deep blue like the night sky, it had a jutting underbite. Its eyes blazed like twin stars in the dark. Gnashing its teeth, it roared. The monster's asymmetrical, almost water-like limbs weaved back and forth like snakes. One slashed out, stinging the girl.

She screamed in pain and fear.

"Stop that!" Benja cried. In his head, he sounded commanding, heroic. Outwardly, his voice cracked and he sounded like exactly what he was: a frightened boy.

Nevertheless, Benja dashed forward, placing himself between the monster and the little girl.

He raised his stick. "Back off, you! Back off!"

The monster hesitated.

Benja half-turned to the girl behind him. "Run!"

Scrambling to her feet, the girl sprinted for the horizon without looking back. No need to tell her twice.

Benja found himself facing the monster alone. He swung his stick at it.

The monster stumbled back, looking confused.

Which, in turn, confused Benja. He lowered the stick. "What are you?"

The monster tilted its head, doglike, as if listening to him.

"Can you understand me?"

The monster uttered a string of guttural sounds.

"Did you... Did you just try to speak?" Benja dropped the stick.

The monster peered at the stick on the ground.

Benja explained, "I'm not going to hurt you, but you can't go around scaring kids. Do you understand?"

The monster nodded.

Eyes wide, Benja exclaimed, "You do understand me! You're intelligent!" He had trouble catching his breath. "My gods, I've discovered an alien intelligence."

This was incorrect.

No matter how many new star systems humanity settled over the millennia, they found no evidence of alien intelligence anywhere. It seemed humanity was alone in the universe.

As if to prove this point, the monster diminished, shifting its form into that of a child about Benja's age.

She had big dark eyes, a prominent nose with a bump on the bridge, and facial tattoos. Two lines extended halfway up her chin, thin as thread. Between them, a center line consisting of delicate half-diamonds ran all the way up to her bottom lip.

"You're a kid!" Benja exclaimed. "Extraordinary. But how did you do that?"

Clasping her hands with nervous energy, Etzli shrugged.

Benja said, "I want you to be honest now: are you actually a kid who can turn into a monster? Or are you a monster who's just turned into a kid?"

"I'm a monster?" she asked.

"Of course you are! Look at you!"

Etzli looked down at herself. She wore a simple shift made of rough fabric, and old shoes too big for her feet. She'd tucked a daisy in her hair.

Benja shook his head. "Well, not now. But a moment ago, you were quite monstrous."

Etzli stared at her shoes and mumbled, "I didn't know I was a monster."

"Curious," said Benja. "Normal kids don't turn into monsters, at least not around here. I think you may have a condition. But that's alright. I can help."

Etzli looked hopeful. "You can?"

"Of course! I'm an Outranger, after all."

"A what?"

"You haven't heard of the Outrangers?" Benja almost sounded offended. "We're heroes, delivering justice to an unjust galaxy!"

He struck a heroic pose, waiting for Etzli to look amazed.

She just stared, blank.

Benja shrugged. "I'm not actually an Outrider yet, but I'll begin my training when I come of age. Until then, I pledge myself to the cause of helping you find a cure!"

Benja was true to his word. He spent much of his youth helping Etzli search for a cure to her monster problem. But they never found one. They couldn't even find anyone else who had the same problem.

The best they were able to do was control the monster, keep it safely out of sight from everyone else. And, in this, they succeeded. Mostly.

Along the way, they became the best of friends.

Years later, Benja was invited to fly off to a faraway world and train to be an Outranger under the legendary Pampaa Grakha, a ruthless old hero, now turned ruthless old teacher. A rare honor. Grakha took on only a few students each year.

The day Benja left, Etzli became the monster.

It was only by chance that he found out. As the rock-hopper lifted off, some of the other passengers started pointing and shouting at something in the distance.

Benja peered out the window. He recognized the monster immediately, smashing its way through the woods, wailing like a wounded creature. It was bigger, wilder, and more solid--like it had pushed itself out through Etzli and into the world.

That was the last time Benja had seen Etzli for nearly six years.

***

When Benja arrived at the Olo Mountain Temple, ready to enter the Criterion and finally earn his place as an Outranger, he found himself hoping he'd see Etzli here.

And hoping he wouldn't.

He caught a glimpse of her, stepping off one of the dozens of rock-hoppers buzzing in and out of the landing pads.

Etzli looked so much older now, and yet just as Benja remembered: Her jet-black hair flowed from a center part, and shined like glass. Her quiet, oval face was almost delicate. She possessed a naturally fiery complexion and dark, piercing eyes.

Without making the conscious decision to do so, he rushed over to her.

At first glance, Etzli looked gloomy in her dark clothing, but healthy. It took moments for Benja to notice the signs that disturbed him. Etzli had not been sleeping. She hadn't been eating. Her eyes looked haunted.

Fear gripped his belly, ice cold. He asked, "What about your monster?"

Etzli's expression tightened. She glanced around, lowered her voice. "It's fine. I'm fine."

"But it's still there, inside you, right? You never cured it."

"It's not going to be a problem. It..." She raised her chin, proud. "Last night, it went away. So, who knows? Maybe I am cured."

"I see," he said, not sure that was a good sign or not.

"Is this the only reason you came over to talk to me?" Etzli asked. "To see if I'm gonna wig out during the trials?"

"Of course not." Benja closed the distance between them. They were almost nose-to-nose. He whispered, so only she would hear. "But the monster still exists within you. And as you grow, it grows. You get stronger, it gets stronger."

She said nothing.

He knew he wasn't telling her anything she didn't already know. But he'd never told her this before: "I don't think you should enter the Criterion."

"Excuse me?" She smiled slightly, waiting for the punchline.

As much as it hurt him to do it, Benja pushed the next words through his teeth, the ones he desperately needed her to hear: "As an Outranger, you'll wield more power than you've ever known and, through you, the monster will only get worse. It's too dangerous."

Etzli's eyes blazed and, for a moment, he thought she might transform right there and swallow him whole, ending his career before it began.

But the heat passed. Etzli narrowed her eyes. "You knew me when we were kids, but don't fool yourself. You don't know me anymore."

She turned to leave.

Feeling sick to his stomach, Benja said, "I'll stop you."

"Yeah?" She called his bluff. "Go ahead. Screw around and find out."

She was right. Benja didn't stop her. But, soon enough, he'd come to wish he had.