Death's Angel

by Colin Lindsay

  Kala knew from her map that Bayre lay on the east coast, and she and Skye needed to find a way back to the distant west. While she’d discovered how to stow aboard an airship, she still needed to figure out how to make it go where she wanted. She had to believe that she could.

  Skye woke in a fog and stretched like a cat.

  “You’re still a treat in the morning,” Kala observed.

  “I try,” he replied, yawning. “I need some kai. Do you think you could leave your arsenal behind while we hunt some down?”

  “Way ahead of you,” she replied, gesturing at her lack of visible weaponry.

  “Great. You’ve put away your daggers.”

  “Four of them anyway,” she replied.

  Skye rolled his eyes and rose to freshen up at a rain barrel. While he was getting ready, Kala hid the weapons she was leaving behind. When they were both finished, they headed down the stairs to the street.

  Emerging into the brightly lit street, Kala remarked, “You clean up well.”

  Skye beamed. “That’s why you love me.”

  She shoved him, and they made their way toward the nearest market with his arm around her shoulder.

  “I’m sorry that I wasn’t very chatty last night,” she apologized. “The journey by airship was exhausting and running into you sort of threw me for a loop.”

  “No apologies necessary,” he assured her. “We have all the time in the world to catch up now that we’re together again, and I know just the place to do it – it serves the best kai in the city. I found it during my explorations,” he informed her. “The city is huge.”

  “I got that impression from the view,” she agreed. She wrinkled her nose at the assault of smells. She was used to fewer scents, those that were more subtle, and those that were definitely more pleasant.

  Skye noted her discomfort. “It takes some getting used to,” he encouraged.

  “I’m not sure I want to get used to it,” she grimaced.

  They strolled through the city just like any other couple and Kala reveled in the normalcy of it. They entered an open-air market with brightly colored awnings and vendors competing for their attention. People milled about browsing and haggling.

  Skye guided Kala to the kai vendor, and she waited while he bought two cups using the meager supply of coins that he had left. They looked about for a quiet table and spotted one on the periphery of the space that the vendor had claimed. They were surrounded by an odd assortment of people who were also indulging in their own morning ritual of kai. There was a boorish merchant hunched over his steaming cup, clearly not yet fully awake, a couple of school-age girls chatting about boys they fancied, and a sullen-looking waif of a girl sitting alone, nursing a tiny cup of boiled-down kai. Everyone was consumed by their thoughts, but still, Kala and Skye kept their voices low.

  Skye had a million questions. “How did you find me?” he asked to start.

  “I wasn’t really looking for you so much as following the same path you took. It was just luck that I met you at the landing port.”

  “Lucky me,” Skye chuckled and took a tentative sip of his kai. It burned his mouth, so put his cup down to cool. “What have you been doing these past two years?” he asked.

  A cloud passed briefly behind Kala’s eyes as she debated what to reveal. “I left the village in the next airship after yours. The Council wanted to send Lily, so I took her place.”

  “Great minds think alike,” Skye beamed.

  “I didn’t really plan it. It just felt like the right thing to do.”

  “Lily…,” Skye mused. “She’s an angel. I can’t believe they decided to send her away.”

  “Well, her father is a devil, or was anyway.”

  “I’m sure he still is.”

  “Only if there’s a hell,” Kala replied cryptically, leaning back.

  “Then what?”

  “Then what, what?”

  “After you left, where did you wind up?”

  Kala shivered involuntarily, remembering her time under Baron’s control. “Let’s just say I found myself employed, forcibly, by a petty crime lord for a while.” She left out the parts about the job involving murder and extortion. She took a sip of her kai instead to wash away the memories.

  “Sounds terrible,” Skye commiserated, recalling all the tyrants he’d run across in his travels.

  “Believe it or not, it wasn’t all bad. I met some good people,” Kala responded, thinking of Amber and Hawke.

  “How did you get away?” Skye asked.

  “The guy’s business empire sort of collapsed,” Kala replied obtusely, wanting to put an end to thinking about Baron. “I moved on to the city where I met Eden.”

  Skye bristled at being reminded of his mistreatment of the poor girl. “She really is sweet,” he had to admit.

  “She really is. She reminds me of Lily in that way. She helped me remember that there is still good in the world. Cheesy though it sounds, I think my spirit healed during my time there.”

  What happened to you? Skye thought but kept to himself. “How did you come to meet Eden?” he asked instead.

  “The Head Librarian introduced us.”

  “The older, stern-looking woman.”

  “Tallie? I guess that’s an apt description.”

  “She didn’t like me much.”

  “What’s not to like?”

  “Apparently, I made a bit too much noise.”

  “That would bother Tallie, but beneath that stern exterior, she’s really nice. She gave me books about the airships and introduced me to Eden when I asked her about maps.”

  “Speaking about maps, do you have any idea how we get home from here?”

  “I made a copy of a map Eden had of the directions the winds typically blow. It seems like we have two options – we either take an airship east over the ocean or south until the winds turn westward. East is a straight shot, but it’s a long way across the ocean. Taking an airship south, then west, however, would require numerous hops through settlements we know nothing about.” She paused and stroked her cup. “I don’t really like either option, but we have to choose one.”

  “Our decision may be made for us,” he replied. “I’ve watched ships land and take off for days. None of the ones that head east ever takes a passenger, only the ones heading south. There has to be a reason for that.”

  “I don’t like the idea of hopping our way across the continent.” Kala pursed her lips. “I met some unpleasant characters on my way here, and I don’t fancy repeating the process.” Her shoulders tensed, and she had to push the memories away to relax them. She took another sip of her kai. “We need to figure out why the airships that go east are unoccupied. Any idea of where to start with that?”

  “We could ask your religious friends,” he joked and braced himself for being hit.

  “Very funny,” she responded. “I read everything I could find about the airships in the Church’s main library. It was huge, and I had a very helpful librarian to help me. I doubt we’ll find anything useful here just poking around.”

  “There’s always the airfield, but I didn’t see any clues there when I was staking it out. Besides, the guards might be keeping an eye out for us now that we eluded them.”

  Kala hunched forward in consternation. “We have no good leads. We’re going to have to create some new ones if we’re going to find a way back home.”

  Skye nodded but had no idea how they would do that. They sat in silence mulling it over.

  It occurred to Kala that they both spoke of returning home, but they hadn’t yet talked about which of their homes they were trying to get back to. She feared that their choices would eventually split them apart again. One problem at a time, she told herself resignedly.

  The waifish girl got up, leaving her unfinished kai on the table, and walked past them on her way out of the market. Her passing halted their conversation, and it felt somewhat concluded on that note. They downed the remains of their cups and got up to go.
>
  “I’d like to scout the temple,” Kala told Skye. “I’m sure the city must have one if there are monks here.”

  “Oh, there are monks as thick as flies here, so there must be a super-sized temple,” he quipped. “I think I’ll either stick close to you or stay way the hell away. I not sure which is smarter yet.”

  They walked toward the city center. Skye studied her as they walked to see if he could figure out how she accomplished the trick of staying invisible to guards, but he failed utterly. Where did she learn that? he wondered.

  Kala interrupted his thoughts. “We’re being followed,” she informed him.

  Skye looked behind them but saw no one.

  “Subtle,” Kala scolded.

  He felt chided but had to accept that she was the expert in this domain. He was woefully out of his element. Not that he had an element, he thought. I have no element, he realized and found himself bothered by the realization.

  “Will you pay attention?” Kala asked, annoyed.

  “Right. Don’t pay attention, but pay attention – check!” Skye concluded exasperatedly.

  “You’re learning,” she replied sarcastically and steered them toward a nearby alleyway.

  “Are you sure a dark alley is the best place to lead whoever’s following us?” he asked.

  “No better place for me to dispatch them,” Kala replied.

  Skye cringed. This version of Kala isn’t my favorite, he thought.

  Kala whirled and threw a dagger that Skye hadn’t even noticed her pull out. He turned to see what she’d hit but saw it vibrating instead in the heavy wood of a door frame, a hair’s breadth from the head of the waifish girl from the market.

  The girl was blond and compact and didn’t seem fazed by her brush with death. Her eyes sparkled as she reached up, grabbed the hilt of the dagger, and pulled. It didn’t budge. She had to turn toward the door and brace her foot against it to yank it out. Freeing it at last, she walked casually over to Kala and handed it back, hilt first.

  Kala just watched her impassively, and Skye took his cues from her.

  “I sort of lost all of my cool struggling to yank your dagger free, didn’t I?” the girl asked.

  Kala returned the dagger to its sheath inside her tunic. “You still breathe, so I’d count that as a win.”

  The girl grimaced.

  “Why were you following us?” Kala asked.

  “You piqued my curiosity.”

  “You’re going to have to do better than that,” Kala said with a hint of menace.

  “Okay. I’ve met a lot of people your age, and without fail, they’re trying their hardest to stay out of an airship, and here you two are discussing how to get into one. Forgive me, but that’s curious.”

  “Who do you work for?” Kala asked, communicating a thinly-veiled threat of violence if the answer didn’t please her.

  Skye looked at Kala with shock. The girl couldn’t be more than fourteen years old.

  “I’m with the Resistance,” she replied, straight-faced.

  “Now you’ve piqued my curiosity,” Kala replied.

  “Thought so,” the girl replied confidently. “If you want to know more, follow me,” she said and turned to go.

  Kala stopped her with a hand on her shoulder. “And if you’re leading us into a trap?”

  “Do I look like an assassin?” she asked, rolling her eyes.

  “Do I?” Kala asked sternly.

  “Are you?”

  “Yes.”

  Skye looked at Kala uncertainly but decided to go along with it.

  The waifish girl whistled, impressed. “My first assassin.” She gestured at Skye, who had been silent so far, and asked, “Is he an assassin too?”

  Kala laughed. “Only of rocks and trees,” she replied, remembering his failed attempts at archery.

  “Gods-damn skittish deer,” Skye grumbled to himself.

  “He talks,” the girl observed.

  “Of course, I talk,” Skye replied, annoyed, before relaxing. “Allow me to introduce myself properly. “I’m Skye,” he said and offered his hand awkwardly.

  The girl just stared at it until he withdrew it. He motioned toward Kala. “She’s…” he began.

  “Raven,” she finished for him.

  “Skye and Raven. That’s rich. Are we using code names?” she asked.

  “That’s my name,” Skye replied, now decidedly annoyed, but raised an eyebrow at Kala’s choice of Raven as a name.”

  The girl sighed. “I’m Celeste, and I’m officially not an assassin. Satisfied?”

  Nothing about the girl rang any warning bells to Kala, so she replied, “Satisfied. Lead on.”

  Celeste led them through the city, oblivious to who saw her, much like an anti-Kala. But because of her familiarity with her surroundings, no one paid them any attention, just like Kala’s weird magic in reverse. Skye was wondering if everyone except him had superpowers when Celeste guided them into a dead-end alley. Kala tensed as Celeste stopped in front of a dilapidated building with no doors and windows, just water-stained plaster peeling off the brick walls. “We’re here,” she announced cheerfully.

  Kala looked closer at a rough sheet of wood leaning against the discolored wall.

  “Good eye,” Celeste noted and pulled it aside to reveal a person-sized hole in the wall. “Welcome to the Resistance,” she said and entered.

  Forest

  Forest made haste leading the party out the gates of her village. She prayed that the damn fools who stayed behind would come to their senses and follow her before it was too late. She pulled her bow from across her back and held it loosely in one hand. Forest doubted she could do much to protect her motley band if they encountered one of the woods’ true predators, but she felt that she had the responsibility to at least try.

  She led them across the fields toward the southern treeline. Kala’s grandfather walked closely behind her, dressed suitably in ranging attire and sturdy boots and trying to look brave for the rest of them. Little Abdi followed him. He was still dead tired from their long trek from Soren’s camp, but Forest judged that they couldn’t rest for even a moment until they’d put some distance between themselves and the village.

  Lily and Cera came next, walking side by side. Lily wore gardening attire and a tunic, which would have to do, Forest thought. Cera’s outfit was well-fitting, but not particularly suited to a long journey. Cera kept up a steady stream of cheery conversation to keep Lily distracted from the terror she felt at the prospect of entering the woods. Forest worried about them both.

  Councilor Fayre and Councilor Sayer’s former scribe followed next, talking to each other. It struck Forest that if there were no longer a village, and therefore no longer a village council, would Fayre still be Councilor Fayre or just Fayre? She couldn’t imagine her as just Fayre. Worse, she’d always thought of Sayer’s scribe as just an extension of Sayer – she’d never thought of him as his own person, with his own name. She had to dredge her memory to come up with it – Will. Fayre and Will looked as though neither had ever left the village walls, let alone ventured into the woods. They were putting up a brave face, but Forest could tell that they assumed that they were only postponing their demise, rather than averting it.

  Calix and Oriel followed at the rear, pulling the cart of supplies that Calix had hastily gathered from the village stores. As a hunter, Oriel was appropriately dressed in leathers and was armed with a bow and knife. After Forest, he knew the most about surviving in the wilderness, but because he’d never overnighted in it to her knowledge, and always hunted in a group, she wasn’t sure how deep his understanding of the woods went. His young wife Allie stuck close to his side and looked fearful of her shadow. Forest knew that they were madly in love and surmised that they were only here because Oriel’s commitment to keeping her safe overrode his and her terror at the prospect of leaving the village.

  Calix had his grandfather’s rusty sword strapped to his belt, but Forest knew from their play swordfig
hts that he had no idea how to wield it; but in a crisis, it was comforting to have a third person who might be able to help out. He and Oriel were their defensive flank, and she was their tiny party’s vanguard. The responsibility weighed heavily on her.

  They entered the trees, and all talking ceased. They knew, with good reason, that the forest was fraught with danger and respected it. Forest guided them across terrain that would permit the cart to be more easily pulled after them, even if there were safer paths. Enough light filtered through the trees that Forest judged they had about a third of the day left before the light would fail them, and they’d have to stop for the night. They did their best to move quickly, but the cart slowed them down. They tried to be quiet as well, but the inexperienced among them were prone to stepping on twigs and snapping branches. They were trying, Forest thought, and that’s the most anyone could ask.

  Cera pointed out some flowers to Lily, bent to pick one, and put it in her hair. Trust Cera to make fleeing for her life look good, Forest thought.

  Allie jumped at every rustling in the underbrush. Forest knew that if a sound were truly to be feared, you wouldn’t hear it until it was too late to be bothered by it. She sighed.

  After walking a fair distance, she judged that Abdi and Kala’s grandfather needed to rest, so she signaled a halt at the next tiny clearing. Even the fittest among them collapsed to the ground. Forest judged it would do more for their morale to let them talk than it would for their safety to have them sit quietly. They passed around waterskins, and Forest advised them to take just a little, lest they run out. “Water is our most precious resource in the woods,” she told them.

  Fayre sat down beside Forest so that she could ask her questions, and the others quieted to listen to her answers.

  “How big is the force that threatens our village?” she asked.

  “A thousand fighters, maybe more,” Forest replied nonchalantly. “Plus about that many again following them.”