by L H Whitlock
A punch collided with Grave’s chest, pushing the air from his lungs. He grasped the man’s wrist and twisted his arm, forcing the man to turn then Grave kicked the back of his knee, sending him to the ground again.
Twisting his arm behind G-2’s back, Grave anchored himself against the man, using his full weight to hold him in place, hoping to get through to him. G-2 howled and reached for him, but Grave jammed his fist into the man’s upper neck, right beneath his skull. The hard, rock-like exterior bit into his flesh, but G-2 flattened on the floor, giving Grave another advantage.
“You can find yourself. Even if you think the nanos have taken you. I thought they did too, and I found my way out. It’s still a struggle, with the pain and the darkness, but I am in a good place. Come with me. You can be too.”
G-2 stilled for a moment, then bucked. Grave nearly flew off but grabbed the man’s shoulder just in time. He brought his knee down hard into the small of his back. G-2 roared with anger, this time succeeding in bucking Grave off.
Grave growled and spun out of the way as G-2 kicked. Grave managed to get back on his feet just before G-2’s fist collided with his cheek. He stumbled backward, and G-2 flung him to the ground, stomping his foot right over Grave’s face. Grave caught it, grunting as the man’s weight bared down on his hands. His forearms burned from the exertion, his teeth clenched and excitement pulsed through him, renewing his strength. It had been quite a while since he had a real challenge.
For a moment the blood-lust caught up with him, and when Grave came back into his right mind, the two were entangled, fists flying, knees connecting with abdomens, bodies slamming into the walls and control panels. The room was a mess, twisted steel, and debris everywhere. Rikar and Helic were on the other side of the room, tag teaming their third and last-standing opponent. Grave shook away the remaining red haze and looked up into G-2’s face. He was about to try and persuade him again when the ship rocked violently.
“We’ve entered into the atmosphere!” Helic roared. “Get to your seats and buckle in. When Volnitro’s ship dislodges, we’re going to get sucked out!”
G-2 swung, and Grave ducked, wrapped his arms around the man’s torso and ran him into a wall. G-2 grunted and tossed Grave off, his red eyes and mouth glowing with nanos as he stomped back toward Grave.
A rolling caught Grave’s attention, and he looked over to see a long steel pipe. Grave slid, grabbed it, and threw it like a spear sending the metal straight through G-2’s eye. For a moment Grave wasn’t sure that did the trick, but after taking two steps, the monster wavered and dumped onto his side, the red still emitting from his unseeing eyes.
Thoughts of how he should have tried harder to persuade the man, of how he should have helped him through the brutal transformation filled Grave’s mind, but he had no time for regrets, he needed to get to Rikar and Helic so he could finish off their opponents and they could secure themselves.
Grave crossed the room in several large strides, grabbed the last of Volnitro’s remaining men and tossed him into the wall. The man’s head hit with a crushing smack and he slumped to the floor.
Rikar and Helic looked at the fallen man then back to Grave.
“We had that, you know?” Rikar said.
“You always do come butting in, don’t you?” Helic added.
Grave turned and made way for a chair.
A computerized voice filled the intercom. “Losing altitude, engage. Losing altitude.”
“Get into your seats, Volnitro will be breaking away at any moment. He can’t stay connected with us much longer, or he’ll go down with us,” Helic instructed.
Grave buckled himself in. Helic silenced the warnings blaring through the intercom, then the ship jolted violently, and a howling wind blew through as the docking zone tore away from them alongside Volnitor’s ship.
Grave caught a glimpse of the other ship hovering, watching them go down. Shame he wouldn’t get to finish Volnitro off, but he knew there would be another time soon.
Helic grabbed the steering stick and tried to force the ship back up, but all he managed to do was level out a bit, so they weren’t falling in a complete nosedive.
“Shit!” Rikar grunted as he tried to shelter his face from the rushing wind.
Grave bumped wildly in his seat, his ears clogged from the descending pressure and liquid sloshed in his stomach, making him queasy. “Should we abandon ship?”
“Well… We don’t have any parachutes or anything, so that probably wouldn’t be wise.” Helic tried to hide the concern in his voice, but Grave could see right through his friend’s mask.
“So, going down with the ship…again. This seems to be our thing,” Rikar said with a forced laugh.
The stained white stone of Yunnika’s castle came into view, surrounded by the vibrant yellows, oranges, purples, and blues of the bungalows and markets that surrounding it. Large flags blew in the wind and bright red petals matted the streets in such quantity that they were visible even from the ship’s quickly descending altitude.
The festival, Grave realized. He had never been to one before, but he remembered the red petals were used in the mixture to determine the sex of the baby, and thus used in grand extravagance throughout the entire ceremony. He could see clusters of people making their way up the sea-side cliffs toward the castle, on their way to witness another ceremony. Grave wondered if they thought of it as a death sentence, or if they held onto hope that Hayme would announce a male heir.
Grave’s breath hitched. The baby. He had to get there fast, or he would lose his child. His child. The words caught Grave for a moment. When had he started thinking of Nora’s baby as his child? In no way was the child actually his, but he couldn’t see his life without Nora in it and had already grown used to the thought of having a son in the near future.
“Prepare for a rough landing!” Helic announced.
Grave’s focus turned back to the ship where they were about to enter into the forest. Trees exploded against the ship, their trunks tearing apart and flinging splinters of wood hundreds of feet away. Roaring filled the ship, and it jostled violently, flinging the men around in their seats despite the belts securing them in place.
Grave flung forward in his seat, the belt digging hard into his waist as the ship crashed into the forest floor, dragging several hundred feet before coming to a rest in a small crater.
Grave’s body ached. He groaned, rolling his shoulders back to try and stretch some of the pain out. Beside him, Rikar and Helic groaned and shook off the daze of the crash.
Rikar undid his seatbelt after a slew of cursing left his lips. “Flying fucking sucks.”
Helic undid his seatbelt as well. “This is the last time I fly the two of you. You guys are bad luck. You know how expensive these things are? The sanctuary is footing this bill.”
Grave growled and pushed at his seatbelt, but it didn’t release. He fought with it for a moment before pressing another button to the right, one he hoped would release the restraint.
“Grave! No!” Helic yelled, but Grave’s seat had already sprung upward and sent him soaring through the air. He landed in the dirt outside the ship flat on his back. If it wasn’t for his nano-enhanced abilities and body he probably would have died. Instead, he lay on his side fully conscious and still strapped to the chair. He growled and ripped it out of the seat, then rolled to his feet and waited for Helic and Rikar to join him.
“Well, that’s one way to leave the ship,” Rikar joked. Grave glared at him, a slight snarl lifting his lip.
Rikar put up his hands. “All right, sorry. I see that you’re in a bad mood. Understandably. Now, let’s go save the love of your life.”
A chime sounded on Helic’s communicator. He pulled it out of his pocket and studied it for several moments. “Oh, good. The medic I called from Ever is in orbit. He won’t be granted access to Yunnika without Hayme’s approval, but he’s on standby and willing to break the truce if we need him.”
“A medic?” Grav
e asked.
“If I remember correctly, if Hayme decides the pregnancy needs to be terminated, they’ll inject Nora with a dose of chemicals to kill the baby. I wanted to make sure we had someone close in case we’re too late.”
Panic choked Grave. He couldn’t be too late, he couldn’t lose Nora, and he wouldn’t allow Hayme and his false profit to take the baby.
34
Nora groaned and pressed a hand to her stomach as she braced herself against the stony wall inside the hallway of the castle. Her abdomen clenched tight, and pain radiated down her legs. Something was wrong with her baby. Whatever Hayme had given her was beginning to take effect. She had never felt cramping like this before. Bile filled her throat, and she threw up all over the red carpet, then leaned her back against the wall and rested her cheek on the cool stone. Her vision was blurring, and her face felt clammy and hot.
Bella gasped and rushed to Nora’s aid, lifting an arm around her shoulders for support. “Nora! Oh, what’s wrong?”
“Hayme… He gave me something. A pill. He said it would kill my baby.”
“But you said yourself that you saw proof it’s a boy! He can’t do something like this before the ceremony. God specifically says that the ceremony must take place, and the queen’s pregnancy terminated only if it’s a girl.”
Nora breathed through another cramp and looked at Bella. Is this how other people looked at her when she spewed the rubbish the priest had taught? “Bella…” Nora’s voice came out weak. “Why do you think God terminates the queen’s pregnancy if it’s a female, but then teaches that all life and all children should be cherished?”
Bella opened her mouth and closed it several times, her eyes watering with emotion and confusion, but her lips moved in the manner Hayme had taught. “Because if the queen is pregnant with a female, it is a spawn of the dark, of the evil inside the grounds and must be murdered for only God would grant his chosen a son, and all else must be destroyed to maintain the balance.”
Nora gasped as another wave overtook her. “When I was gone I—” She couldn’t speak as yet another wave of pain tore through her, quicker than the last like they were coming closer and closer together. Catching her breath, Nora said, “When I was gone I learned a lot about Hayme and what he has done to alter the scrolls and manipulate the people on Yunnika, especially the king. How do you think he has been around for so long? And he never seems to age.”
She took a breath and stumbled down the hallway, feeling like she was walking her last steps. Why should she even go to the ceremony? It wasn’t like the outcome would be good.
“You speak of blasphemy!” Bella said, her face drained of color and voice thick with disgust. “Hayme has been chosen by God. He and only he has access to the scrolls. God speaks through him.”
Now that Nora heard it through another’s lips, she understood how silly she had once sounded. I wonder where the scrolls even are. Probably down in Hayme’s reading cellar.
A new riveting energy pulsed through Nora, helping her stand straight and face Bella. “I can prove it. We have to hurry.” She grabbed her friend’s hand and tugged her along, nearly doubling over as another cramp hit her. Tears burned her eyes, knowing how much pain her baby had to be in with its final moments at hand. Now all she could do was oust Hayme.
“Nora! I don’t think this is a good idea,” Bella pled.
“Please, Bella. I need your help. I can hardly stand. I’m in so much pain because that priest is killing my child. As we speak, my baby is dying inside of me.” She emptied her stomach again as pain radiated through her. “Please trust me, please.”
Bella stared at her for a long moment. The woman had been through many, many queens, and she was undoubtedly faithful to the king, but Nora and Bella had grown close. She had even given Nora the tip she needed to escape before the gender ceremonies. Maybe, just maybe, she would help again.
Bella looked back and forth unsure, then nodded briskly. “All right, but we need to hurry. We are supposed to be at the ceremony soon, and I don’t know how long we have until Hayme comes to find us.”
Nora managed a smile and raced down the stairs as fast as she could manage toward Hayme’s chambers.
35
The wooden door opened with a creak as Nora peered in through a crack. A fire still burned in the fireplace, casting flickering shadows around the room. She looked back at Bella who stood at the end of the hallway looking up the stone staircase, keeping watch for Hayme.
Nora gasped as another cramp nearly brought her to her knees. She pushed the door open and signaled for Bella to come. The woman raced down the hallway clumsily, her feet slapping loudly on the stone, or maybe that was just Nora’s paranoia setting in.
She gently shut the door behind them as the two stepped through the threshold. “Okay, where would it be, where would it be?”
Bella shrugged as she studied the walls full of bookshelves, each row filled with old, dusty manuscripts. “I’ll start over here, and you take that wall.”
Nora nodded. She felt her body wavering and didn’t know how long she would be able to hold herself up. But if Hayme were going to take her child, she would fight to the end. It was time to see what these scrolls really were.
She studied the shelves and shuffled through the books, wondering if they really did look like scrolls or if that was just a name for them, and would Hayme even keep them on these dusty shelves for all to see? No, she didn’t think so.
Aborting the mission, she hurried to Hayme’s desk, bracing herself against the corner as a cramp raged through her body. She opened a drawer, and dozens of vials full of glowing red liquid rolled around. She picked one up and holding it between her two fingers she turned it upside down and watched the thick liquid bubble at the top.
“What is this?” she asked, holding it up for Bella to see.
Bella joined her at the desk and took it, holding the vial close to her face as she tried to make sense of it. Reaching into the drawer, Bella pulled out a syringe and shared a look with Nora.
“I have no clue. And there are syringes in here, too.”
“Do you think it’s…medicine or something?”
Bella shrugged. “Hayme says medicine is banned by God, that nothing should interfere with his selection…”
Bella shoved it into her pocket, and Nora grabbed one for herself in case she needed some blackmail. She nearly giggled, maybe living with criminals had made her think like one.
Bella gasped and pulled out a concrete tube. The exterior was crumbling and pitting, and she sat it roughly atop the wood. Dust chipped away, settling on the antique desk. Nora helped Bella turn the tube over as they searched for an opening or lid of some sort.
“There’s nothing here,” Bella said. “I was sure the scrolls would be inside something like this. It does look ancient.”
Nora nodded. “I agree.” She was going to add more, but another cramp took her breath away. As she crouched over to ride out the wave, she noticed a small indent in the concrete. It looked like the remnants of a carving. She brushed her fingertips over it, and a piece of the concrete caved in, and the exterior spun and contracted in a strange pattern until there was an opening in the center of it.
Nora and Bella stared at each other for a moment, then Nora reached inside and lifted the delicate paper from within. It was rolled up and took both women to keep it unfolded. Written in beautiful, spiral penmanship were the words of the scroll God.
Nora gasped, tears coming to her eyes. She had been so sure that the scrolls were made up, but now she brushed her fingers over the lettering and read word for word God’s gospel.
“This is incredible,” she breathed.
Tears ran down Bella’s cheeks. “I never thought I would witness the words of the divine, but here I see, with my own mortal eyes.”
Feeling guilty for not savoring the moment any further, Nora carefully pulled back page after page, skimming it along with her friend, each pointing out inconsistencies with what Hay
me had said. Finally, they came to the gender ceremony.
Nora held her breath as she read the beautiful, golden scripture.
“And if I find the king and his bride worthy, I shall bless them with a child. A child who shall take the king’s seat in descending order and rule on my behalf over the lands and the moons I have crafted. All are my children, and whoever shall threaten the peace of their union will be cast into the dark and lower realm. Male or female, the child will rule and keep my book upon his hand.”
Nora nearly collapsed as relief flooded over her. She hadn’t thought she would truly find proof of Hayme’s lies. A trembling hand covered her mouth, and her eyes burned with tears. Everything Grave had told her was true; Hayme had manipulated the word to his own benefit. She would never understand why, but she hoped that when the time came, he would be cast into the dark.
Nora’s stomach cramped again, and warm water poured down her legs. She stared down at her soaking wet ceremony gown in confusion, then looked to Bella who was breaking out of her trance.
“Nora!” She rushed forward and caught her before she could fall to the ground.
“What…what is going on?”
Bella brushed the hair out of Nora’s face. “Your baby… The prince is coming. Your water broke!”
“But he… Hayme made me take that pill…”
“All I can hope is whatever he gave you didn’t have enough time to hurt the poor soul.” Bella grasped Nora’s forearm to help her to the door.
The door flung open, and King Mighton stood in the threshold. His skin looking almost gray as his coughing rumbled in his chest and he hacked blood into his hand, he looked up, startled to see them.
“What are you doing in the holy chambers?”
Pain wracked through Nora’s body, but somehow, she remained standing. “I had to see for myself. I had to see the scrolls.”
Mighton’s eyes widened in horror. Most of his hair had fallen out, leaving chunks missing from the long, white locks. His arms looked thin, thinner than even her own. He looked sick, gray, and weak. Dying. She remembered how his hands used to grab her, how he hit her, but now he didn’t look like he could inflict pain on her if he tried.
