by Halie Fewkes
“What about the fact that the Escalis are willing to negotiate and end the war? The fact that the Humans are invading Escali territory. Places that have been Escali for a thousand years are now under attack by Humans. People need to realize very fast that Izfazara is willing to negotiate, but none of his successors are. If this war doesn’t end soon, it never will.”
“We’re not the ones who are unable to negotiate—”
“Really? You just said yourself that you can’t be expected to get within shouting distance of those murderers. If an Escali got within three miles of the Dragona, you’re going to claim it wouldn’t have a dragon sent out to hunt it down?”
“Well, no—”
“And who won’t negotiate?”
I stopped to think for a second… I knew I had reasons for hating the Escalis, but Archie was somehow… Making sense? I almost felt like listening to what he was saying. Not quite, but almost.
“Did you know the Escalis really could take down the entire Human existence in a matter of weeks? The Dragona is an especially easy target, fooling itself into thinking it’s hidden. The only reason the Escalis haven’t killed us is because Izfazara is one of the fairest kings the Escalis have ever had.”
“Fair?”
Archie took a deep breath, seeing I wasn’t convinced by anything he was feeding me. “Allie, we really used to be friends before any of this happened. We were friends before you thought I betrayed you, but we were also friends back before you lost your memory — back when you were on both sides like I was. I’m not lying to you. Even if you choose never to come back to us, I just want you to know the truth.”
“You’re right that I’m not going back. I’ll never serve the Escalis, Archie, not when they kill my people every day. How could I? And how can you? How can you sleep at night?”
“I don’t. And I end up having to make decisions nobody should ever have to make. It’s not always fun, but if you could understand how many lives I’ve saved in the process, and how many you’ve saved in the past, you would get why I still do this. Sometimes, if you help one side out enough, the battle’s over before anyone’s dead.”
I thought about that for a second… The situation was a lot bigger than I had thought. This wasn’t just about Archie and me — it involved everybody in the war.
“So…” I said, unsure of where to go from there. “How does all of this have to do with kidnapping me? All that trouble just so you could convert me back into a spy with you?”
“Not exactly,” he said, once again choosing his words carefully. “See… You were about to be discovered… Your former life was about to be discovered at least, because of the blood test… And, it’s just…”
“What are you talking about?” His prolonging was irritating me.
“Look at my neck. Do you notice anything?” he asked. I saw nothing but the blood from where I had just cut him. I looked a little closer and noticed—
“The cut I just gave you is gone,” I said. Archie raised his eyebrows but didn’t add anything. “Archie. Who. Are you?”
“I’m half-Escali,” he said. “My father was Human, my mother was Escali. Healing quickly isn’t a power I have, it’s just a genetic ability. It’s the same with my sense of sight, hearing, and smell, and you might have noticed how much faster and stronger I am than everybody else.”
I didn’t reply due to a loss for words. There was nothing left to say.
“But that’s not all,” he added, watching me carefully. “I’m not the only one at the Dragona with this heritage. There is another—”
I didn’t want to hear him finish; I had a pretty good guess who. I picked up one of the jagged remnants of his sword and cut open the flesh of my palm before he could go any further. He stopped talking as I watched the red blood flow from my hand. Nothing happened at first, but then the skin started to grow itself back together and the cut began to disappear.
Archie said nothing as my heart stopped for the tenth time of the day.
I was an Escali.
I am half Escali.
The enemy I had grown to hate — I’d become. I’d always been.
Now it all made sense.
Archie remained silent, waiting for me to speak first. It took me a while. I was thinking about everything he had said, breathing harder with each thought. Could I really have been on the wrong side before I lost my memory? I didn’t even know which side was the wrong one anymore. What he had said actually made some sense. It shouldn’t make sense!
“I didn’t know half-Escalis existed,” I finally said to break the silence.
“Nobody does. If Humans knew about us, they’d probably be a little more on the lookout.”
“Where are your arm spikes?” I asked.
“I broke them off so I could blend in at the Dragona. So did you.”
I heard my name being shouted in the distance. I could see Archie’s worry that I would shout back or try to escape to them, but I had no intention of doing so.
“I can prove what I’m saying is true,” he said quickly.
“Can you really?” I asked. “I’m sick of not knowing.”
“Yes, all I need is a little trust, and we’ll go back to the mountain. Can you give me that?”
I had to return anyway for fear of Prince Avalask, so I might as well have somebody I knew with me. I could go with him, see what he had to show, then return to Prince Avalask and still keep my loyalties in the right place…
“Lead the way,” I said. Archie was visibly relieved and stepped onto the mountain trail to begin climbing.
As I started after him, I could still hear the sounds of my friends calling. I was betraying them in every way, and they were still out trying to find me.
Chapter Nineteen
We had only covered a small distance before I decided I needed time to myself to think everything over. Too much to take in all at once. Too much dread in having to go back to the Escalis’ lair and see Prince Avalask again.
As we ascended the trail, the voices calling for me died out. I began trying to make my footsteps as quiet as possible so that when they disappeared altogether, maybe Archie wouldn’t notice. A large branch loomed over the trail, and I grabbed it to pull myself up. I didn’t even look to see if Archie had noticed. He was smart enough to understand that I needed some time alone.
I climbed to the topmost branches and sat on one near the trunk, sturdy enough to support me. From where I sat I could see the Dragona, the vast expanse of our cedar forests, the lake… My mind wandered to my recent encounter with the lake…
How could any of it be true? I pulled out one of my swords and cut the palm of my hand again, just to be sure. It hurt, stung, bled, and then healed itself within a minute. No wonder I was about to be discovered, if someone tried to cut my arm open for a blood test and saw that, they wouldn’t know what to think. I tried to think of a time when I had been wounded, or simply bled for more than a few seconds. I tried to find evidence that maybe the entire thing was an elaborate setup, but I couldn’t think of a single injury that had ever stuck around.
I quickly checked the back of my hand, but found that even the carved symbol from earlier in the day had disappeared without a scar. I recalled when I had smashed my knee in my first encounter with the Escalis. Was the aggression I witnessed really just part of their culture? Maybe. And then my knee had been completely better only a few hours afterward. I remembered the scrapes all over my body from pulling myself out of the Breathing Sea, but they had quickly disappeared as well. Michael had been covered from head to toe in scratches while Archie and I had only seemed to sustain damage to our clothes.
So assuming I was… half-Escali… could I still stay on the Human side? I knew they wouldn’t accept me if they ever found out. It was surprising the Escalis did, because they seemed so hostile toward everything. Why would they accept someone who was half enemy?
Maybe Archie was on the right path, trying to end the war, but what could one person do? I was start
ing to question everything. Archie wasn’t stupid by any means, and if he really believed his actions had an impact...
As I thought through our conversation, a falcon swooped in and landed on a branch to my left. It was grey with flecks of a darker shade all over its face, and its feathers reflected the sunlight. It leaned over, head-butted my arm, and then cocked its head to the side.
“You can tell Archie I’m on my way,” I told it, but the bird’s gaze remained unbroken. It head-butted my arm again and resumed staring at me as though it understood everything. Of course I was imagining it, but I liked to think something might understand.
I knew I had to climb out of the safety of the tree. Not much of my mind had cleared, but I felt ready to come down. Once back on the ground, I looked up the trail to see Archie waiting for me. He understood I needed the time. I didn’t even wonder anymore how he knew me so well, he just always had.
“So… I met your bird up in the trees. It’s… pretty,” I said awkwardly as the falcon flew down from the canopy, landing on his arm.
“Who, Flak?” He gave it a dead mouse he had produced from nowhere. “Flak’s not my falcon. She’s yours.” She took off from Archie’s arm and stretched her feet out to land on mine. The talons were sharp and strong as she held tightly.
“She’s mine?” I asked. I went to stroke her feathers, but she didn’t seem to like it, so I stopped.
“Yes, but she’s been helping me recently. You know, all falcons are smart, but Flak is really something else. She’s the reason we were able to get you away from Sav and Gat, because my friends wouldn’t have shown up in time without her. ”
“Well… thank you,” I said to her. She seemed content and took off into the trees, leaving me back on the ground. I was jealous. I wished I could just fly away and leave everything behind. “Let’s get going,” I said as I jumped ahead of Archie and started climbing the hill again. It only took him a few strides to catch up with me.
“I have to warn you about several things before we get there,” he said.
“Do tell.”
“Ok. Well the first thing is basically who we are. You might hear someone call you a Tally. Talliendra means ‘half’ in Escalira, so that’s just what we’re called.”
“I asked you what that meant before! You told me that was what the rest of the world called Humans.”
“I lied.”
“So there are more like us?”
“Only a few. Escalis look down on us because we’re part Human, but we usually have information they want, so they try to treat us well at the same time. It’s complicated.”
“Yeah, but it makes sense,” I said, pausing for a second to think about the word Tally. “I feel like everything I know is wrong now. What all have you lied to me about?”
Archie didn’t have to think hard about his answer. “A lot.”
“Name the times — since we’re being honest now. I want to know everything you’ve ever told me that wasn’t truthful.”
“Allie… In complete honesty, I don’t think I can name them all.”
“Try.”
“Alright then… Where to start… First would be on the first day you met me at the Dragona. I pretended I didn’t know you when I definitely did. I also told you I couldn’t read the map, when I actually could. I wanted to tell you everything that first night, at the Eclipsival, but there were just so many people nearby. I decided to wait.
“And… I lied and said I didn’t have a power when I have a shield that protects me. I used it to keep everything in the Breathing Sea from smelling me and Michael. We would have never made it out otherwise. And remember that time outside my room when you hit me in the ankle? I pretended to be injured for a few days, but it had actually hit the shield, so I didn’t feel it at all.”
I nodded, eyes fixed straight ahead. “I actually noticed that one too. You forgot to limp a couple different times over the next couple days. That was one of the reasons I thought you were an Epic.”
“I’m glad I’m not. Life is complicated enough as a Tally. I always told you that I got good at sparring because of my friends. That is half true because the practice helped, but the agility and natural talent comes from being half-Escali. That’s the only reason you and I stand a chance against the Escalis in a fight. Not a good chance though, which is why I grabbed my friends to help me at the Dragona.”
“Explain to me what happened, Archie.”
“I grabbed the other Tallies as fast as I could, knowing we were about to have trouble, but you were gone by the time we got to your room. We caught up to you and the twins outside, and you were completely out of it by then. I probably should have stayed with you after we got you back to your room, but I left again because I thought we might have a real chance of killing Sav and Gat.”
“Who?”
“They’re the ones with hair as black as Prince Avalask’s. The ones from the bridge who were also in your room. And from the description you once gave me, I’m pretty sure Sav is the one who destroyed your memory and carried that little girl off.”
“And tore that poor woman’s throat out,” I mumbled.
“I know. We both have a hundred reasons to hate them. Treldinsae also wouldn’t have been such a disaster if not for those two. That was another time I was trying to tell you who you were. I couldn’t believe my luck, that you and I would be in an Escali city with no other Humans around. And while we’re talking about lies, I didn’t find those sasperan arrows just lying outside of Treldinsae. I brought the stunning arrows in my bag so we wouldn’t have to kill any Escalis. Then I convinced Michael to bring his bow along before we left.”
“Was one of those arrows reserved for me too?” I asked. “In case I tried to run away?”
Archie looked uncomfortable. “I didn’t want it to be, but the thought crossed my mind. None of that mattered though, because I had no time to tell you anything once Sav and Gat found us. They probably smelled us, the devils. I’m not saying I think it would have gone well otherwise, telling you who you were in the middle of Treldinsae, but we wouldn’t have lost West if Sav and Gat hadn’t chased us into the Sea.”
“Why didn’t you stop them? If you’re on their side, they might have listened to you.”
“No, Sav and Gat don’t listen. They’re the ones who took you from the Dragona, remember? They don’t care.”
“Do you know what they want from me?” I asked.
“No. I can explain a lot about your past, but I don’t know everything. I just know you used to keep more secrets than a dead man, and many of them weren’t yours.”
“What about Sir Avery? What secrets did I know that have him so worried about me?”
“I have no idea. I can only tell you that Sir Avery has never had an issue with you living at the Dragona, whereas the rest of us were warned never to go near it. If I hadn’t been there for the sole purpose of helping you, I have no idea what he would have done to me. Whatever you used to do for him, or used to know, I know he valued it highly. Even enough to let me stay.”
“I’ll bet it’s related to what those two Escalis want from me…”
“I’m sure it is. And if you ever see them from a distance, Allie, run. Or if you get the chance to kill one of them, take it. They’re more dangerous to us than anything else.” I had never heard Archie speak with so much loathing. “Prince Avalask is their older brother, but they aren’t like him. They’re purely evil, justifying all they do with beliefs of Escali-supremacy. They view Tallies as rotten scum since we’re a mix, and even though they constantly try to wipe us out, we can never kill them because they’re royalty. Their father is next in line to take the throne, and we’d be dead if we tried.”
“So then if Izfazara and their father died, would one of them—”
“Yes. They’re twins, but Sav would be the one to try to take power. He’s the cunning brother. Gat just likes to break things.”
“Could it really be any worse than it already is?”
Archi
e coughed in disbelief. “Izfazara is nothing compared to those two. If Sav became king, Tallies would be exterminated, and Humans would probably be enslaved. Izfazara uses Tallies all the time. We’re valuable to him, whereas Sav and Gat already try to kill us on sight. Oh and if you ever see their black falcon, Gyr, you can kill him too. He’s almost as bad. Just don’t do it if Flak’s around.”
“Alright then. I understand that they don’t like Humans, but we still have half of their blood. Doesn’t that matter to them?”
“Yes. We’re worse than Humans to them. Anybody involved with the enemy is fair game to Sav and Gat.”
“Even other Escalis?”
“My sister was full Escali, and they had no problem taking care of her.”
I was distracted enough to stumble into a fern as he said so. How horrible. “Holy life, I’m sorry.”
“It’s in the past. I don’t really like talking about it.” He frowned and stopped.
“We just passed the place,” he said, backtracking a few paces before veering off the trail. He steered through bushes in no apparent direction, startling a small hiding rabbit. Archie instinctually reached to his side as it scampered away, but had nothing to grab.
“Sorry about breaking your sword,” I said.
“Naw, if it’s breakable, it’s not a sword I want to put my trust in. I can get another one. If you had broken my Escali sword, then we would have had a problem.” We stopped by a large hole in the ground, which was apparently another entrance to the Escali world. Archie jumped in and I followed after.
We descended and made several turns before reaching a polished, grey stone floor with pillars supporting a massive ceiling. Vines were woven throughout the pillars, so thickly that the stone ceiling was barely visible. Blooming blue flowers on the vines lit the entire room, illuminating several large paintings on the walls.
Archie walked comfortably by the arm-spiked monsters who passed us, but every one of them set me on edge. A few of them drilled me with questioning gazes, either because I had bare elbows or because I was showing fear. I knew the latter was a horrible weakness to display among Escalis, so I held my head high and pretended that the sight of them didn’t terrify me.
