by Adam D Jones
“I’ll tell you who I am.” Marshal removed the hat he’d been given and tossed it aside, staring the Sovereign square in the eye. “My name is Marshal. I was at Whitesand. I was at The Dunes. And now I’m in your city to tell you that you’re done hurting people.”
“I thought you looked familiar.” The old man grinned. “Are you going to stop me? Is that boy going to kill me without a Dae stone?”
Marshal walked over to a table and picked up an ordinary rock. It was large enough to fill most of his hand. “Mr. Sovereign, have you noticed how many of your guards are missing?”
The Sovereign staggered, like he’d been shoved, and his mouth fell open. It only lasted a moment, but Raine could tell the Sovereign had no idea what Marshal was talking about.
The Sovereign quickly regained his composure. “You’ll find no way out of the trouble you’re in. I write the law here.”
“Is that so? Well, we use a different lawbook on the frontier.” Marshal pointed to his chest. “And I’d say you’ve broken a rule on every page.”
Raine watched the men stare at one another while dust innocently fell between them. Marshal tossed the stone in the air one more time and caught it, frowning as he considered its weight. Then Marshal smiled as he flung the stone in a blur. It sailed past the Sovereign and through a window. The glass fell apart, leaving behind a jagged hole nearly as tall as the window.
Marshal, that wasn’t even close!
The Sovereign raised an eyebrow. “You missed.”
“No, I hit what I was aiming for.” Marshal pointed at the window. “Thought it’d be polite to let her in, seeing as how she climbed up that drainpipe.”
The Sovereign spun in time to see Amelia swing through the broken window. A gun was raised, and she squeezed the trigger. The Sovereign fell to the ground, clutching his face. The vial he had been holding flew across the room and shattered.
“Get Raine out of here,” she said. Her thin fingers reloaded the weapon.
The Sovereign slowly rose. As he stood, his face passed through a shaft of light, and Raine saw the bullet embedded in his jaw, like Amelia had fired the pistol into a brick wall instead of a person.
“Get him out now!” She fired again.
◆◆◆
Amelia fired the next shot into his belly. The Sovereign twisted as it hit but stayed on his feet. She stepped away from his advance, but his long reach swatted the pistol from her grip.
Before he could recover, Amelia kicked his chest. It was a move that would have knocked over an ordinary man, but the Sovereign didn’t budge. He found his footing and stormed forward with his bone-crushing hands reaching out. Amelia jumped away, keeping her fists up.
He threw a punch that she swatted away with an open palm. He tried another, from the other fist, and she knocked it aside. His eyes grew wide, which Amelia registered as anger. Anger was good. She knew angry people made mistakes.
The Sovereign put his head down and charged, and this time Amelia could not move fast enough. They fell together. Amelia punched him again and again, landing useless blows against his chest and stomach.
“Who did this to me?” she said. “WHO!” Amelia continued pummeling his chest. “Who put it in me?”
“Who?” the Sovereign pinned her against the ground. “Who made you a husk? You haven’t figure that one out yet?” He slammed his fist into her mouth.
Amelia spit blood onto the floor. “Tell me.”
“You’re not all there, are you?” He watched her get to her feet while he gloated. “That’s why you keep hitting me.” He reached toward one of his pockets. “Did you think that would do you any good?”
“No. I didn’t think so. But I’ll bet I broke all your vials.”
“My...” His hands patted his vest where many wet stains were spreading.
Amelia pushed away from him while he was distracted and got to her feet. “I felt at least ten of them break. Seemed wise to remove your best weapons first.”
◆◆◆
Marshal grabbed Raine and pulled him out of the room. Raine fought it, but Marshal was strong enough to drag him out. They heard another gunshot from inside.
“I’m not leaving her!” Raine pulled his arm free. “We can’t run away.”
“We’re not!” Marshal whispered. “I’m just waitin’ long enough for the Sovereign to think I ran off.”
“So we can surprise him?”
“So I can surprise him—no, don’t look at me that way. You’ve to got to run.”
“It’s no use, Marshal. There’s no Dae stones here.”
“I’m not talking about that. You get out of here and get us some help. Amelia isn’t the only thing I saw outside that window. The Corsairs are coming through the main gate.”
More glass shattered from inside the lab room.
Raine nodded. “I’ll get them. I’ll bring you help.”
“You do that, son.” Marshal turned around and kicked open the door.
◆◆◆
“It’s over, Sovereign,” Marshal said loudly.
“I’ve destroyed his vials,” said Amelia.
“Good girl.” Marshal rolled up his sleeves and cracked his knuckles. “You know, Sovereign, I don’t believe I’ve ever lost a fight.”
“I beat you once,” said Amelia.
“Not now.”
“I did. It wasn’t difficult for me.”
“Amelia!”
“Enough!” the Sovereign spun on Amelia and grabbed her arms.
Amelia struggled, but couldn’t keep the Sovereign from pushing her back toward the broken window.
“Don’t you dare!” Marshal ran behind him and threw an arm around his neck. “I may not understand what you are, but I’m bettin’ you still need to breathe.”
Marshal squeezed hard, pulling back on the Sovereign. The three of them froze in a stalemate. Something’s gonna give...just hold on…
“What?” The Sovereign muttered, suddenly distracted by a sight out the window. He let go of Amelia and struggled with Marshal’s arm. “Let go! Those fools are in my city!”
“And you’re gonna join ‘em!” Marshal reared back and lifted his boot, but before he could strike the Sovereign leaped out the window.
Marshal and Amelia stood at the window and leaned over. They watched the Sovereign hit the ground hard on both feet, unharmed.
Well, that’s just not fair.
The Sovereign halted in a crouch for a few seconds, and then stood and ran toward the front of the city, across town, where the sandship crept into the city.
“It’ll be a massacre,” said Marshal.
Amelia picked up her gun. “Then let’s go.”
◆◆◆
Dawn stood at the bow with Captain Balen, looking out over the emptied city.
“The people are in their homes, I suppose,” said Balen. “They’re supposed to go inside when there’s trouble...but everyone’s gone. No one on the walls. No one trying to stop us.”
Dawn looked every direction for some sign of the guards. Nothing had ever been more common in Gamon than uniformed men walking the streets. She saw eyes looking through windows and half-opened doors, but no presence on the streets of any governing force. The soldiers who had been patrolling the city walls were gone when the sandship passed through on the sand road.
“Here comes someone,” said Balen. “Recognize him?”
Dawn saw a man running their direction. Running? He was large-framed with grey hair.
“Is that…is that the Sovereign?”
“I’ve never seen him before.” Balen tapped his hand on the railing. “I have no idea!”
The figure continued running toward them, and finally his eyes were visible. His mad, wild eyes.
Balen held out his pistol. “Stop right there! Whoever ye’ are, just stop!”
The man continued to run. It’s him.
Balen shook his head. “I told you, stop—”
The Sovereign was more than a building away when he jump
ed and then soared through the air, hurling toward the deck of the sandship. Balen fired off his shot. A piece of the Sovereign’s uniform burst as the bullet hit, revealing cracked, grey skin underneath.
“ABANDON SHIP!” Balen shouted.
Dawn and Balen backed away, hearing the crew scattering behind them. The Sovereign landed in front of them and leveled his wicked eyes at Dawn.
Dawn fumbled for her cutlass while Balen yelled and stabbed his spear-like false hand into the Sovereign’s back. The Sovereign shoved him away and kept his gaze on Dawn. She raised her weapon and took a step back.
The Sovereign walked past, ignoring her, and grabbed the engine levers.
“Stop him!” shouted Balen.
But it was too late. The Sovereign gripped the levers and pushed them forward, all the way down. When they were as low as they would go, he pushed down harder until they bent over the edge of the fulcrum.
The ship sped up, knocking Balen and Dawn off their feet.
Dawn stumbled to the controls. Got to turn around or we’ll kill someone. She put her hands on the controls, but stronger hands grabbed her wrist from behind. The Sovereign lifted her into the air and tossed her onto her back. She pushed herself to her knees and saw the Sovereign at the controls, looking ahead, eyes eager, his grin wide.
Is he aiming for something?
Balen, at the front of the ship, pointed ahead of him. “There’s a boy down there! He’s gonna hit him!”
◆◆◆
Raine was out of breath. Walking in the desert for weeks had helped him gain some strength, but not enough to run across Gamon quickly. He’d stopped twice to rest, and now his chest burned with each breath.
Almost there.
Shouting. Raine stopped and pushed himself against a wall in the alley. He could have run in plain sight, but a Lodi running through the streets always drew attention, so he had kept to back ways and small streets. Strangely, he hadn’t seen signs of anyone patrolling the city.
More shouting. And then an engine. The mechanical sounds grew louder and louder, and Raine realized it was a sandship trying to speed up. I’m going to miss them!
“Dawn!” Raine ran toward the main street. “Dawn! Wait, Dawn! I’m coming!”
Raine turned the corner and the sandship eclipsed his view.
38
Marshal and Amelia saw the crash from across Gamon.
By the time he and Amelia stood outside the grey building the Sovereign had made it to the far end of the city. Marshal squinted. It was hard to clearly see anything all the way at the front gate, but they saw movement on the deck of the sandship before it changed course.
The ship gained speed and barreled through the wide street while Corsairs leaped from the deck like they were being shaken off. Marshal watched the ship take a sudden turn and slam into a building.
The wall caved and the roof collapsed. Even from across town, Marshal could hear metal being torn. The impact ripped the ship apart, and Marshal imagined pieces would be spread across town.
“He’s mine,” said Amelia. She started to run.
“Don’t hurry.” Marshal grabbed her arm. “Never thought I’d say this to you, but keep your head. Especially now.”
“Did you see what happened?”
Marshal released her with a gesture. “Go ahead, then. Run as fast as you can. You’ll get there and be so tired a child could knock you down.”
Amelia gritted her teeth. “Do you know how long it will take to walk there?”
“Who said anything about walking?”
◆◆◆
Dawn pushed herself off Balen.
They were on the ground, in the dirt, overshadowed by a spectacular wreck. The sandship lie bent and broken, still creaking from the impact while the brick wall continued to crumble. Pipes, debris, and metal pieces could be seen all over the street. Dawn knew that a well-maintained ship would still be intact after a crash like that, but Captain Balen’s run-down vessel had been no match for the wall.
She leaned close to Balen. He was breathing, but it came shallow and his eyes stayed shut. She knew this was normal, in fact, it was healthy to remain unconscious when the body ran out of steam, but Balen wouldn’t be safe here.
Someone was yelling.
Dawn got to her feet and picked up her cutlass. She pushed hair out of her eyes and saw the Sovereign standing with his back to her. Beyond him, the Corsairs were scattered from the crash. As a group, they tried to help each other get up and escape.
“Sovereign,” Dawn heard herself say. “Sovereign, turn around.”
He did. His wild eyes stared her down, and he laughed at the sight of her sword.
“Leave them alone.” She gripped the weapon in both hands.
“Certainly.” He took two fast steps and reached for Dawn.
I knew you were going to do that. No man had ever bothered to assume Dawn could fight. They were right, of course, she still hadn’t learned, but she knew how to stall. As soon as she saw him move she jumped away and swung the heavy curve of her sword at his outstretched fingers. Remembering something Amelia had done, Dawn kicked at the ground and sent a cloud of dust at his face.
Got you.
Dawn raised the cutlass high and brought it down at his head.
The Sovereign’s hands grabbed her wrists. He lifted her into the air. Dawn struggled as the dust fell. Shen kicked at him as many times as she could, but nothing budged the man.
“I know what you are,” she said. “I can help you!”
“I don’t need help, child.”
“You do. You just don’t know it. The chemicals are driving you crazy. I didn’t see it before.”
“See what?” He continued to hold her up, smiling like it was his own joke, his way of showing how impossibly strong he had become.
“The twitch in your eye. The paranoia. It’s not unusual when people aren’t careful with the chemicals we use. Happens to one or two scientists every year. I…I don’t think the Gift is supposed to be used this way.”
He gripped her tighter. “Child, I am not mad. I am simply superior. An improvement.”
“Then why is your hearing so bad? You haven’t even noticed those horses.”
The Sovereign turned around in time to see a carriage barreling toward him.
Amelia sat in the front next to Marshal, who held the reins. Amelia stood up, wide-eyed, crouching low to keep her balance while the carriage raced. The Sovereign waited till the last moment and jumped out of the way to avoid being trampled, tossing Dawn aside as he did. Amelia leaped from the wooden seat and tackled him as he moved.
Dawn caught her breath, still flat on the ground.
“Can you walk?” asked a man.
Dawn looked up to see one of the Corsairs from Balen’s ship.
“Get everyone out,” she coughed. “And try and bring that other ship here.”
“Are you sure?”
Dawn nodded and watched him leave. She picked up her sword and got to her feet. Here goes.
◆◆◆
Marshal jumped down from the cab. Amelia and the Sovereign were getting to their feet, staring one another down. He took his place next to Amelia while Dawn approached from the other side.
“We don’t have to do this.” Marshal rested his hands on his belt. “No matter what, you’re gonna lose eventually. We can do this peacefully.”
“No more talking.” The Sovereign raised his large fists.
Marshal shook his head. Why doesn’t that ever work?
Amelia ran in, her shoulder low, and slammed into the Sovereign. He held in place, grappling against her. Dawn raised her cutlass high and brought it down on his back.
Guess I’ll go low. Marshal raced in and swung his boot at the Sovereign’s knee, but it was like kicking at iron.
The Sovereign spun and threw Amelia into Dawn. The two of them tumbled toward the broken sandship.
There! The Sovereign was strong, strong like a mad bull, but he wasn’t trained, and Marshal sa
w him put too much weight on his left foot. Marshal charged and crashed into the right side of his back and watched with satisfaction as the man fell to the dirt.
Got you.
Marshal reached for his gun. He glanced up and saw Dawn leaning against the sandship, trying to find the strength to fight on. Amelia was shaking her head, still on the ground. They were more hurt than he’d expected.
The Sovereign rolled onto his back.
“Don’t move.” Marshal pointed his gun. “You’re one tough customer, but I have a feeling that if I aim just right—”
With speed Marshal hadn’t expected, the Sovereign swing his foot out and knocked the gun from Marshal’s hand. It fell to the ground, where the wind blew handfuls of sand over it.
The Sovereign lifted himself from the ground. Marshal ran past him, toward the sandship were Dawn and Amelia were struggling to stand.
“Get out of here. Both of you.” He grabbed Amelia’s arm and tried to get her to her feet. “I need you to—”
The Sovereign’s fist landed in Marshal’s back. Marshal fell and twisted, landing on his backside. He fought against the pain while the sights and sounds around him became blurred and distant. No. Just a little longer. Keep...get up…
The Sovereign stepped back. Marshal got to his feet and Amelia did the same. They both staggered and struggled to stand.
“You missed one, dear.” With a smile, the Sovereign reached into his sleeve and retrieved a glass vial, thin and intact
Amelia grunted.
“This will be the end of all of you.” He raised the vial to his lips and drank. “Let my city see me for what I am. Let them learn what I have become—what you have helped me become.”
Marshal wanted to move, wanted to do something, but his body gave in to the certainty that he was finished with this fight. He watched the Sovereign open his mouth.
A tongue of flame flew at them.
39
A cold gust of fierce wind blew past Marshal, making him shiver as he fell back and looked up.
