Halve Human

by Stephanie Fazio

  A noise far down the tunnel makes the wormkill pause. My brother’s voice…calling…taunting the wormkill.

  Why are you still here? I want to scream to him. Get out of here!

  The wormkill is already in motion. It slams me into one of the newly-made craters in the wall as it hurls its enormous bulk down the tunnel past me…in the direction of Aunt Jadem and Dayne.

  “Come back!”

  I scramble to my feet, my right arm hanging useless by my side. It takes me precious seconds to catch up. Even when I do, my sweaty hand can’t find purchase on the fat, slimy tail. My wild punches and kicks are useless; its spongy flesh just absorbs the blows. The acid of its slime burns into my skin.

  Some natural light is making its way in from the Outside. I can hear the scrabbling of human steps ahead. Move, I beg my aunt and brother. Please.

  The wormkill is between me and the Outside. If I can’t stop it, there will be nothing to keep it from devouring the others. I jump onto the creature’s flailing tail and rain down blows. The beast wriggles its body, making poisonous slime fly in every direction.

  More dirt and stones crash down from above.

  Fresh waves of panic steal my breath away. I grab the wormkill’s tail, digging my nails into its flesh to get a hold on it. I don’t try to stifle my screams as the poison races through my fingertips and up my arms. As soon as I have a grip on the slime-covered tail, I yank it backward with all of my strength.

  A gurgling protest erupts from the wormkill as its body is launched up through the ceiling. I hear screams overhead, and then the wormkill is crashing back down. I sprint underneath it, managing to position myself between the creature and the Outside before it hits the ground in a heap of white flesh and slime and debris.

  It snarls, and then slithers toward me on its venomous belly. Its approach is slower this time—more calculated, like it knows I’m not like the prey it’s used to.

  Both of my arms are numb, useless. I back away from the wormkill, moving in the direction of the Outside as fast as I dare.

  I’ve lost track of how much time has passed, but Jadem, Dayne, and Hendrix have to be on the Outside by now. I strain my ears for any sound of them, but all I hear is the click of the wormkill’s fangs.

  I give Aunt Jadem and the others a few more precious seconds, waiting until the wormkill is a mere snap of its fangs away from me. Then, I run.

  CHAPTER 21

  Come on!”

  Aunt Jadem and Dayne are standing just outside the tunnel and waving frantically at me.

  I throw myself out of the tunnel’s opening.

  The wormkill shrieks in protest when its teeth clamp shut on empty air. Its hideous roars fill my ears as we run, but it doesn’t leave the darkness of the tunnel.

  Too close, I think, as my heart thuds against my ribcage.

  We stumble away from the tunnel before I collapse in a heap of nerves left over from my encounter with the wormkill. Feeling is coming back into my arms, and with it, a fiery pain.

  “You did it!” Dayne sinks to his knees and pulls me to him. “Thank the sun.”

  My brother’s grip on me is almost violent. It’s like he expects someone to come and throw me back in the wormkill tunnel. My face is pressed into his cloak so I can’t see his expression, but I can hear the relief and emotion in his voice.

  “You did it,” he says again.

  “I never had a single doubt,” Aunt Jadem says.

  Dayne finally releases me. When I look at my aunt, I see the pride shining in her eyes as she regards me.

  “Darling niece. Our savior.”

  I swallow, not wanting them to know how much my skin is burning from contact with the wormkill slime…how close I came to failing them.

  My aunt continues to look at me in a way that makes me uncomfortable. It’s like she thinks I’m invincible or something. She thinks I can fix everything that’s wrong and broken. She thinks I can control the fate of the Solguards.

  What if I fail her?

  I manage a smile. “It was nothing,” I say with a forced lightness.

  Dayne lets out a bark of laughter.

  My thoughts are drowned out by the sound of a blaring horn.

  “Second alarm,” Aunt Jadem says, offering me a hand. “Archers on the way.”

  Sure enough, before the horn’s echo has died, I see figures in gray appear in the distance. I don’t think they’ve spotted us yet, but then an arrow hits the ground only a few feet from us.

  Dayne curses.

  There’s yelling, and then more arrows strike the ground all around us.

  “Take him!”

  I let out a surprised oof as Aunt Jadem shoves Hendrix at me. I don’t ask questions. I just lift up the man’s limp form in my arms without missing a step.

  There are more Duskers now, and they’re running straight for us.

  We just need to get to the gate.

  The iron gate is ahead of us, looking somehow even taller and more imposing from this side. It’s still open, at least, just as Aunt Jadem said it would be.

  No sooner has the thought entered my mind, the gate gives a squeal of protest as it begins to crank shut.

  I turn back to my aunt.

  “Run!” she screams.

  We do. I match my pace to Dayne’s, making sure not to outrun him.

  Faster, I want to yell, but I know they’re running as fast as they can. The thought of the iron posts, coming together and locking us in with our enemies, is worse than the thought of facing the wormkill again.

  The horn continues its incessant cry as Duskers stream out of the citadel.

  The mud slurps and sucks at our feet, slowing us down. We’re so close now. Just beyond the iron gate, I can see Ekil and Brogut hurling stones the size of my head through the opening, taking out the Duskers nearest to us and scattering the others. Still, they won’t be able to help us if we get trapped on this side of the gate.

  The gate is more than halfway closed now. Duskers are churning the crank with every ounce of strength they possess.

  When Dayne stumbles in the mud, I haul him up.

  “Come on!” I yell.

  The gate is almost closed.

  A shadow crosses overhead. I look up to see Vlaz, with Ry and Dellin on his back. Arrows rain down from the air like there are a dozen archers riding Vlaz instead of just two. The Duskers scatter, giving us a clear path to the gate.

  I yank Hendrix through the gate behind me and then shove him at Ekil.

  “Get him out of here,” I tell the Halves.

  Dayne races through the narrow opening just behind me. We turn back at the same time, looking for Aunt Jadem.

  The gate is still open, wide enough to allow one more person to get out, but Aunt Jadem isn’t here.

  “Where is she?” I gasp, searching for my aunt in the crowd of Duskers scrambling to avoid Ry and Dellin’s arrows.

  “She was right behind us—”

  The rest of Dayne’s words are cut off as the iron gate shudders into place against the mountains hemming it in.

  “No!”

  “Hemera.” Dayne’s voice is hoarse. “We have to get out of range.”

  “Aunt Jadem. We have to get her. She’s still inside.” My words trip over themselves. I can barely think beyond the panic.

  Aunt Jadem is still in there.

  “Above you,” Dayne calls.

  I look up just in time to see a rope dangling over my head. Terror makes my movements sluggish as I reach up a hand.

  “Grab it!” Ry yells, motioning to me to take the rope. I let my hands close around it, taking some comfort from the feel of something solid in my hands.

  The rope yanks upward, and my arm almost comes out of its socket as Ry hauls me onto Vlaz’s back. As she does the same for Dayne, I watch the Dusker archers aim their crossbows from each of the lookouts. Their weapons are trained on us. Dellin continues to shoot at them, forcing them to duck rather than take their own shots.

  “Jadem,�
�� I begin, but Ry cuts me off.

  “We’ll get her.”

  At the look of determination on my friend’s face, I want to weep with gratitude. Once the four of us are settled enough that we’re not going to fall off, Ry steers Vlaz lower.

  My heart drops away as my gaze finds Aunt Jadem. She’s kneeling in the mud, surrounded by a ring of Duskers.

  “Crowe!” Dayne calls, his voice somehow breaking through the shouting from below. “We have Hendrix. If anyone harms Jadem, he dies.”

  Almost as soon as he’s finished speaking, the Duskers part to reveal a single person in gray striding up to Jadem. I can’t make out much about her from this height, but there’s something about her stride and posture that I don’t like. Even from here, I can see the precise, unhurried steps she takes to approach my aunt. Her movements are not those of a leader who is worried about what might happen next.

  But that’s ridiculous, I tell myself. We just kidnapped her lover and second-in-command. She has to be as desperate to get him back as we are for Jadem.

  Hendrix is in the woods with the Halves. The Duskers were too focused on the rest of us to follow them, and now the soldiers are stuck inside the iron gate with Jadem. By the time they could crank the gate back open and start searching for Hendrix, it might be too late for their second-in-command. They have no choice but to return Jadem to us unharmed if they ever want to see him again.

  “Go lower,” I demand.

  Maybe, if we’re quick, we can get the rope to Jadem and sweep her out of there before the Duskers can grasp her.

  The reasoning is solid, but it doesn’t stop my stomach from tying itself into knots.

  Vlaz howls and pitches to the side. We lose altitude. I can hear Ry yelling and feel Vlaz’s flailing attempts to right himself. And then I see two Duskers on the ground, operating what looks to be a giant crossbow. It’s anchored in the mud, and they’re fitting a second arrow into the wooden frame.

  I watch in horror as the Duskers work in tandem to release the missile.

  “No!” I scream, just as Vlaz lets out a deafening roar.

  CHAPTER 22

  Vlaz’s body pitches again, and I see the arrow shaft protruding from his neck.

  Vlaz flaps his wings spasmodically, froth matting the hair on his sides, as he tries to stay airborne.

  “Get him past the gate,” Dayne is yelling, “before he falls.”

  There’s the creak of metal as some part of Vlaz scrapes against the top of the gate, and then we’re falling.

  Vlaz strikes the ground hard, sending the rest of us hurtling through the air. We fall in a heap of limbs and groans just past the trees.

  “Is everyone alright?” Dayne asks, panting.

  My arms ache with the reminiscent heat of the wormkill’s slime. Still, I take that as a good sign I’m healing. Ry and Dellin seem fine, too. Dayne inspects Vlaz, who is growling as he tries to reach around and bite at the shafts protruding from his neck and side.

  “Steady boy,” Dayne murmurs as he wraps his hand around the first shaft.

  Vlaz yelps and shies away from Dayne. When Ry moves to block his escape, Vlaz’s yellow eyes go wide with terror. He snaps his fangs once—not an attack, but a warning. And then, he flees.

  By the time it occurs to me to run after Vlaz, the hyenair is gone.

  “We have to go back for Aunt Jadem,” I say, already starting back toward the iron gate. “They’ll kill her if we don’t do something.”

  “I’m sorry, I can’t.” Dellin gives Ry a fleeting look of apology, and then she’s running into the forest, away from the citadel.

  “Dellin!” Ry calls after her.

  The other girl looks back once, but then she’s swallowed up by the trees.

  Coward.

  “Forget about her,” I say.

  Aunt Jadem is on the wrong side of the gate, and without Vlaz, we have no way to get back in.

  “What are we going to do?”

  From here, I can see the Duskers in the lookouts, their crossbows aimed at us. The moment we come in range, they’ll shoot.

  “We’re not getting anywhere near the gate without Hendrix,” Dayne says, his eyes on the Duskers in the lookouts.

  “Ekil, Brogut!” I scream, praying they haven’t made it too deep into the forest to hear me.

  After a few breathless moments, the Halves emerge with Hendrix in Ekil’s grip.

  “Thank the sun,” Ry breathes.

  “We need to get Hendrix to the gate,” Dayne says. “When Crowe sees him, she’ll call off her archers and let Jadem go.”

  Ry looks back at the trees once, but Dellin is nowhere to be seen.

  Ekil, his arms wrapped around our prisoner, pushes him forward. Brogut follows, crouching to make himself smaller. We all cluster behind Ekil and Hendrix, using their protection as a shield as we approach the iron gate.

  “We have your second-in-command,” Dayne calls up to the Duskers in the lookouts as soon as we’re within range. “If you even point a weapon at any one of us, he dies.”

  A part of me understands we’ll need to trade Hendrix for Jadem and that this whole mission will have been a waste, but right now, I don’t care. All I care about is getting my aunt back.

  My brother pulls back Hendrix’s hood enough for the archers to see his face, but not so much he’s at risk of the Burn.

  I barely notice when the archers exchange looks with each other and then lower their weapons. All of my attention is on the slight gap between the gate’s hinges and the mountain, which gives me a view of what’s happening on the other side. Aunt Jadem is standing unarmed in front of the Dusker Supreme.

  There must be hundreds of Duskers just inside the gate. They’re standing in two columns on either side of their Supreme and her prisoner, all bearing swords and crossbows. Even though I’ve never seen Crowe before, it would be impossible not to know who she is from the way the other Duskers keep their attention fixed on her.

  Still, she looks nothing like the brutish, hulking leader of the Duskers I pictured. The woman standing opposite Jadem is small, delicate. She reminds me of a clay doll my mother gave me when I was a child.

  The doll was beautiful, with silky hair and perfectly-chiseled features. Its glazed skin cracked at even the slightest pressure, and I stopped playing with it for fear it would break. I put it on a shelf next to my bed where it would be safe. Eventually, one of the other Dweller children stole the doll, and I found it smashed to pieces on the ground outside my sleeping chamber.

  Something tells me that even though the Dusker Supreme looks like that doll, she’s neither delicate nor breakable. Her steely eyes are locked on my aunt in a way that promises death and destruction. I wrap my hands around the iron hinge and clutch at it until my hands turn white, like I can will the gate open through sheer force of will.

  “Hemera, get behind Hendrix,” Dayne hisses. His lips are white with anger. Or fear.

  A retort is on the tip of my tongue, but I hold back because I know he’s right. The Duskers won’t touch us as long as they’re afraid they might hit one of their leaders.

  “What are they talking about?” Ry murmurs, peeking around Hendrix to squint through the gap between the gate and the mountain.

  It’s clear Crowe and Jadem are having a heated debate, although we’re too far to tell what they’re saying.

  If the situation were different, it might be comical. Crowe barely comes up to Aunt Jadem’s shoulder and has to tip her head almost all the way back to look at my aunt. She’s so narrow that when my aunt shifts her body, Crowe disappears from view.

  I try to imagine her face beneath the gray hood, but all I can conjure up is pale skin. Crowe makes a gesture in our general direction. It’s then that I see the long sword sheathed at her hip.

  Crowe steps up to my aunt until there’s no space left between them. Aunt Jadem lowers her head, and I see Crowe whisper something in her ear. When she steps back, Crowe puts her hand on the pommel of her sword and unsheathes it. />
  I gasp.

  Crowe turns her gaze on us for the first time. Even at this distance, the steel of her gaze makes my blood run cold. Her lips quirk in the barest hint of a smile. Before I can even take a breath, Crowe’s attention is back on my aunt as she offers her the naked blade.

  “What in the sun?” Ry whispers.

  Crowe turns to the soldier standing nearest to her, and unsheathes the sword at his belt. More words are exchanged between them, and then Aunt Jadem raises her sword.

  “What’s she doing?” Panic is unfurling in my stomach. Crowe should be opening the gate to exchange our prisoners.

  “This isn’t supposed to be happening,” Ry says. She turns to Dayne and me. “Is this supposed to be happening?”

  Even though I can’t hear it, I imagine the ringing of swords as Aunt Jadem strikes the first blow. She moves fast, but Crowe blocks her. My aunt swings again. Crowe pivots, staying just out of range. She dances on the points of her toes, looking like an annoying puppy circling its master.

  But the next time Jadem strikes, Crowe doesn’t move back. She lunges.

  CHAPTER 23

  My scream is lost in my own ears as the Dusker soldiers shout and pump their fists, egging their leader on. Somehow, despite their height difference, Crowe manages to grab Jadem’s sword arm. My aunt’s mouth opens in what I’m sure is a cry of pain as Crowe wrenches her arm behind her. I see my aunt’s weapon fall to the ground. Crowe kicks it away, even as she tightens her hold on Jadem with one hand and raises her sword with the other.

  It’s as if time has slowed and everything around me has faded away. There is nothing except for Crowe’s sword. When I blink, it’s no longer my aunt, but my mother. Crowe and her sword have disappeared. In her place is a Halve with a wooden club.

  I stay hidden in the tree as the Halve’s club bludgeons my mother’s head. A flock of kynthia birds—my mother’s favorites—scatter from a nearby tree as she falls to the ground. Dark red blood cuts a line across her throat.