by Nyssa Renay
“Because they don’t give a shit about us! They never have! All they care about is making sure we’re ready to be shipped off to some war while they stay here, all safe and sound, continuing to brainwash the next bunch of clueless potentials who show up here year after year. But, what’s the point? I mean, look at Ownie. He was fully trained and barely lasted six months. We’re being used, and there’s not a damn thing we can do about it!”
“He’s right. It’s true,” a gruff man’s voice chimed in from right behind me.
I spun around, startled.
It was Shepherd Machoji.
-55-
“What’s true?” I snapped. “The fact that we’re only here to be sent off to fight and die in some stupid war…or maybe…it’s the fact that you’ve been lying to me ever since I was a little kid?”
“Both, actually.” Machoji’s tone was cold and unwavering. “I’ve always told you exactly what you needed to hear at the time. That’s all.”
“That’s bullshit!” I griped. “Why didn’t you just tell me what was going on from the beginning?”
“Because you didn’t need to know! It’s as simple as that, Vigil. It’s not about you! I thought you’d have figured that out by now. Look around, for Ein’s sake! All these people are giving their lives for something much bigger than themselves, and it’s time you to start looking at the big picture, too. You were brought to the academy for a reason.”
“Yeah, because I was given some stupid Vivication. It’s not like I had a choice.”
“No, you didn’t. Your mother made that choice for you before you were even born, and it’s about time you start respecting her wishes and do what you’re told!” Machoji growled and turned toward Abellie. “Where’s your sister?”
“She just left a few minutes ago,” she replied timidly. “Eeliyah said she was really busy with whatever’s going on around here.” Abellie looked around the room, her expression scared and confused. Reluctantly, she returned her gaze toward Shepherd Machoji to ask the one question she had to ask, but didn’t know if she wanted the answer to. “Is this what’s going to happen to us?”
He forced a smile. “I know this all seems a little overwhelming, but I need you to find Eeliyah and bring her back here as quickly as possible. Understood?”
“Yes, sir,” Abellie replied and darted into the crowd to find her sister.
Shepherd Machoji turned toward me, letting out a heavy sigh. “Look, Vigil. I know this is hard for you to understand, but you need to trust me.”
I was still reeling from the revelation that my mother had something to do with my coming to the academy. I had no idea. She’d never mentioned anything to me about it. I always thought her death was just tragic bad luck. I started to think there was more to the story than I was told.
“Why? Why should I trust you?” I was so angry, I could barely think straight. “You and the rest of the shepherds have done nothing but lie to me.”
“A long time ago, your mother made one of the most difficult choices anyone had to make. She sacrificed her own happiness to make sure you would get to where you are right now. On the day you were born, your mother made me promise to watch over you. She knew the path your life would take, and I know it doesn’t make a lot of sense to you right now, but one day, it will. I promise.”
“Is that the truth? Or are you just telling me what you want me to hear again?”
“No, Vigil. I’m telling you the truth. I really do need your help.”
Looking back, I knew Shepherd Machoji had always been there when my life had gotten out of hand. No matter how much I struggled with my anger towards him and the other shepherds, deep down, I knew he was right. This was just another one of those moments I’d look back on one day.
“I still don’t understand. Why me?”
“Vigil, have you ever wondered why you survived the Curabitor and your sister didn’t?”
“All the time,” I admitted.
“It’s because you were chosen by Ein. He chose you to live instead of your sister. He gave you a purpose, Vigil. I’m sorry you lost your sister. I truly am. When she gave up her life, she saved yours. So now, I’m asking you to stop focusing on how unfair you think it is to be a potential. Move on and honor her sacrifice by showing me her gift wasn’t in vain.”
I nodded. “Fine, but will you at least tell me the truth from now on?”
“All I can do is continue to tell you what you need to know, when and if you’re ready. I’ve been exactly where you are right now, and to be perfectly honest, knowing too much about your future would be more than you could handle. I need you to trust me, Vigil. In time, everything will become clear for you. I promise.”
“Okay,” I replied, defeated by his words. I’d never even considered that Linna’s or my mother’s death was a gift or a blessing in disguise. In that moment, I was introduced to a new ideology, one that would forever affect how I saw the world around me and my involvement in the war. Perhaps he was right about potentials knowing too much about their future. Had any of us known the truth from the beginning, it might have motivated us to train harder than usual. Then again, the fear and anxiety of being forced to go off to war could have had a greater negative effect.
“Good. Now that we’re on the same page, I need your help to convince Eeliyah and Abellie to help me with something incredibly dangerous.”
“Why them?” I asked, puzzled.
“Because they don’t realize how special they are,” he whispered as he pulled me out of earshot of anyone else. “Besides you and your uncle, how many other potentials’ relatives have you heard anyone at the academy talk about?”
“None.”
“That’s because having two people from the same family at the same time almost never happens. Besides yours, I know of only one other mishap with the Curabitor during the blood croup.”
“Eeliyah and Abellie?”
“Yes. They were both sick, just like you and your sister were. But unlike your situation where the child who was supposed to survive changed when their process was finished, they both survived, instead of only one of them. Ein has a plan for them, too. I’m sure of it.”
“I’ve never heard either of them say anything strange happened when they were cured by the machine.”
“That’s because they thought both of them surviving was the normal outcome for the process. It wasn’t nearly as traumatic for them as it was for you, so it didn’t seem like anything had gone wrong.”
“But what is it you need them to do that’s so dangerous?” I asked, but was interrupted by Abellie rushing back into the lobby followed by Eeliyah, who was covered in blood and looked completely exhausted.
“I found her!” Abellie cheered.
“You wanted to see me, sir?” Eeliyah asked, uneasy.
“Yes. I need your help,” Machoji insisted.
Eeliyah quickly looked to me, hoping for a clue as to what this was about. I offered her a quick smile and a nod to let her know it wasn’t as bad as I knew she’d assumed it to be.
“Of course, sir.” Eeliyah forced a smile. “But I’m sure there are much more experienced Brio interns who could assist you better than I can.”
“I’m afraid in these dire circumstances, it has to be you…and Abellie as well.”
“Me, sir?” Abellie’s expression changed to one of panic as her eyes darted around the room to the injured and the dead. “B-But I’m in Kindell sect, sir. I don’t know how to heal people.”
“Don’t worry. You won’t be healing anyone,” he replied reassuringly.
“Then what do you need us to do?” Eeliyah asked, baffled.
Machoji let out a heavy sigh. “Help me save Telshakra.”
-56-
Shepherd Machoji led us out of the medical ward to a sizeable vehicle parked to the side of the building. I’d never seen anything like it at the academy before. It was a larger version of the carts we used in the Sanctified Mines,
except this one had an armor-plated metal cage built onto the back of the bed.
“Get in!” Machoji barked, opening the side door of the cage.
Once inside, Eeliyah, Abellie, and I took the middle three seats of the five inside the passenger cabin. We barely had enough time to put our seatbelts on before Machoji sped off, sending a large tarp-covered crate sitting on the floor directly in front of us crashing against the back of the vehicle.
“Is that thing going to be okay?” Abellie asked nervously as the crate just missed hitting her legs as it slid by.
“It’ll be fine. It’s been through much worse,” Machoji acknowledged.
“What’s under there?” I asked.
“The Curabitor,” he replied coolly. “Without it, we have no chance of saving Telshakra.”
I felt a cold chill run up and down my spine at the mere mention of the words. “What the hell do you need that for?”
“Vigil, calm down,” Eeliyah urged. “Why are you so freaked out?”
“Because you two have absolutely no idea what that thing does. I do. It’s a nightmare!”
“What nightmare?” Abellie asked. “If it wasn’t for that machine, we’d both be dead from the blood croup.”
“Exactly!” I growled. “You have no idea what this machine actually does, do you?”
“It cures people,” Eeliyah answered nonchalantly.
“Yes, it does,” I snapped. “But its true function is to save one person by killing the person attached to the other end of it! What happened to you two was a mistake. One of you should have died!”
I could see this new revelation affect both girls at once. Their expressions turned somber as they quickly looked at each other, realizing how lucky they were to be there together.
“It’s true,” Machoji said calmly from the driver’s seat. “But that’s precisely why I think you girls are going to be the perfect conduits to enable me to use the machine to save Telshakra. It’s a miracle that both of you survived the power of the Curabitor when no one else could. Well…except for Vigil.”
I felt a lump well up in my throat at the thought of Linna giving up her life for me. “My sister was supposed to live…not me,” I explained somberly. “Somehow, I lived and she died.”
Eeliyah put her hand on my shoulder. “I’m so sorry, Vigil. I had no idea. That must have been awful,” she said compassionately.
“We didn’t know,” Abellie offered.
“It’s okay.” I forced a smile. “I was saved by Ein for a reason, right?” I said firmly, trying to convince myself in the process.
“And…so were you two,” Machoji chimed in. “You’re twins. It’s clear to me that Ein felt one couldn’t survive without the other. You were both given a blessing to survive when no one else was afforded the same opportunity. You were saved for a reason as well, and I think it’s time you repay the debt, no matter the outcome.”
It was then I fully understood what Machoji was trying to convey to me during our earlier conversation. All the sacrifices my family had made for me meant nothing if I didn’t at least try to honor their memories by doing whatever I could to make the world a better place for those chosen to live on.
“But what are we supposed to do?” Abellie asked anxiously.
“Can you at least tell us what’s going on, so we can be a little more prepared to do what you need us to do?” I added, hoping he’d give us a clue about what was really happening.
“Long ago,” Machoji began, “just after the blood croup ravaged Telshakra, King Lexani wanted to find a better way to keep everyone safe from any further enemy attacks. I came up with the idea to create an energy shield that could be cast around the entire planet to prevent anything from getting to the surface. The king accepted my proposal, and I spent a large part of the next decade building the massive defense system into the outer boundary of the academy.”
“Is that where we’re headed now? The outer boundary?” Abellie asked.
“Yes,” Machoji acknowledged as the vehicle sped along a long dirt road, taking us miles away from the academy. “We built five colossal skyforks to power and maintain the shield, each over a mile high and a quarter of a mile across.”
“What skyforks?” I asked, searching my memory. “I spent months out at the Sanctified Mines. If those things were that big, I would’ve noticed them across the horizon.”
Machoji smiled proudly. “They’re cloaked, pretty much the same way you are during a Call to Death. Four of the skyforks are powered by the raw crystals that are mined and stockpiled deep in the ground beneath each one; elements of fire, water, earth, and air. The fifth skyfork is powered by Brio’s energy for life, but also utilizes Necra’s vast ability to exist in the ethereal plane between life and death. Her energy protects the skyforks in the same way you’re hidden when you help a soul cross from our world to the next. The theory was that the enemy can’t attack what it can’t see.”
“Did something happen?” I asked.
“One of our shepherds led a small group of conts to carry out an attack on the building housing the controls to the fire skyfork, and they succeeded.”
“Conts?” Abellie asked.
“It’s what we call shepherds who’ve turned their backs on Ein and joined the enemy. The group managed to destroy the equipment used to funnel the energy from the power source and relay it to the skyfork antenna. Without all five forks being active and working together, the shield becomes unbalanced and shuts down, and then there’s nothing to stop the enemy from invading Telshakra. Our fleet has been able to hold them off for the most part, but several enemy ships have penetrated our orbital defenses and reached the planet’s surface. If we don’t repair the connection soon, it won’t be long before our defenses are overcome and everyone on Telshakra is killed.”
A somber, awkward silence fell over the vehicle as we trudged along. Eeliyah broke the silence with the very question I tried not to think about, as if for some strange reason, I already knew the answer.
“What kind of shepherd would do such a thing?” she hesitantly asked.
“It was my Uncle Vantaru, wasn’t it?” I blurted out. “That’s the real reason you brought me along, isn’t it? You need to use me to try to get to him.”
“Yes,” Machoji admitted, his tone cold and stoic.
I saw the look of panic in Eeliyah’s eyes at the mention of his name. I recognized that same reaction in myself at the mention of the Curabitor.
“So, this is all my fault.” I was stunned.
“Why is it your fault?” Abellie interjected.
“If I hadn’t attacked my uncle at the prince’s royal dinner, he wouldn’t have been sent away from the academy and reassigned. This might never have happened in the first place.”
Machoji let out a heavy sigh. “If it wasn’t him, I’m sure someone else would’ve done it eventually. I just wasn’t prepared. If anything, it’s my fault. These conts only care about themselves. He’s not the first shepherd to turn his back on Ein, and he won’t be the last. There have been many others during the war who were tempted by the enemy’s devilish offers to help a shepherd fulfill his or her darkest desire of greed or lust for power. Don’t let it bother you too much, Vigil.”
“He’s right,” Eeliyah insisted. “Besides, you attacked him that night to save me, and I’ll always be grateful for that. Whatever I have to do to stop him, I will.”
“Me, too.” Abellie nodded.
“Good,” Machoji called out as he slammed on the brakes. “Because we’re here.”
-57-
When the side door of the vehicle opened, the odor of fire and death filled my nostrils. Audible moans of pain and suffering from the wounded and a steady stream of spells and orders to the able-bodied royal guards filled the air.
“Incoming!” a shepherd bellowed from off in the distance.
Panic erupted as everyone darted behind makeshift barriers to take cover.
Eeliy
ah, Abellie, and I followed suit and crouched down near the back tires of the truck as Shepherd Machoji howled, “Ma’yena centali!” He cast a thick barrier of ice like an enormous igloo over us and the entire vehicle.
From behind the wavy, distorted viewpoint of the ice barrier, I watched as large balls of acid crashed down over the battlefield behind us. Horrified screams filled the air as a few of the barriers gave way, spraying acid on those hiding behind them. Nearby shepherds did their best to cast cleansing waves of water in an effort to save as many of the men they could.
When the acid volley had ceased, Machoji shouted, “Nelocio!” The conjured barricade crumbled apart, quickly melting into only a few small puddles on the ground. Machoji walked onto the open battlefield. “Shepherd Phlogis!” he called out. “Shepherd Phlogis!”
“Over here!” he called out from behind a much larger version of the transportation cart we’d arrived in. This one, however, had somehow been crumpled and flipped over onto its own roof.
“Let’s go!” Machoji barked, motioning for us to follow him.
I exchanged a momentary panicked look with Eeliyah and turned to her sister, but Abellie had already bolted off toward Machoji before I could say a word. It was a far cry from when the three of us had first arrived at the academy. Back then, Eeliyah and I had to coax Abellie to take even one step forward amid all the chaos of the coliseum. It was astonishing to see how far she’d come over the last ten years.
We followed Shepherd Machoji across a large, open section of the battlefield, running as fast as we could. The fear of being picked off by the enemy at any moment weighed heavy on my mind. I was petrified. It felt like an eternity before we finally reached the safety of the temporary command tent, nestled behind the large overturned cart. There, Phlogis and two other shepherds scrambled to heal the minor injuries of a few royal guards who’d hobbled over to take cover.
“Shepherd Machoji.” Phlogis sighed with relief upon seeing him, but his expression quickly changed at the sight of the three of us. “What the hell are they doing here?” he growled. “Are you insane?”
