Storm of Ash

by Michelle Kenney

  ‘Can you help her?’ I begged, kneeling beside him and watching his expert hands gently open her tunic, and unwind my blood-stained cloth. The spider web of dark veins had spread all the way across her chest and down her torso. It was a grim sight. And my head knew what my heart refused to accept.

  Eli looked back at me, his eyes clouding in the dappled light with an acceptance I didn’t want to see. He reached out, and taking a small woollen blanket proffered by one of the Prolets, tucked it around her as snugly as though she were a child going to sleep. Then he closed his gentle hands over August’s and mine, before lowering his head.

  So we said goodbye, and the grief that cut out my heart and burned it all anew knew one salve. That she’d died leading the charge, as General of her people. She knew it too. It was in the glimmer of her smile when the pink sky beyond the trees told me the angels were already waiting to take the bravest, most natural Outsider I’d ever known, onwards. So when her hand finally relinquished mine, I did the only thing I could. I looked up through the watching trees and vented my anguish. It was a hunter’s call; for her courage, for the future she should have known, and for the legacy she left behind.

  And finally, when I mustered the courage to face August, I denied the arrows pushing through the tissues of my heart, because I knew she wouldn’t want me to cry at all, let alone a river that would drown the whole world.

  Chapter 22

  We buried Aelia beneath the branches of the Great Oak that reached towards all four corners of the forest. I always fancied the oldest tree was rooted both in this world and the next; that its topmost branches could reach the heavens while its solid, earthen roots grew far into the soil beneath our feet.

  It seemed fitting for a girl who made freedom her colour. A girl born with nothing, except the will to change it all. Now that spirit was as free as she always wanted to be, reaching far away into the clouds. And when finally we left, I could already feel her strength flushing through the branches, tingeing the buds and whispering among the spring leaves.

  Aelia’s loss was felt unanimously, and there were no words or actions that came anywhere close to comfort. It felt wrong to talk, wrong to be silent, and inadequate to be anything in between. Eyes stayed low, as though any casual connection might make the tragedy too real. And yet there was no denying it either. August’s face was pinched with a devastation that nothing and no one could mend. Aelia was gone.

  We picked up a north-east trail that circumnavigated the forest line, and caught up with the Ludi rescue party, led by Unus and Saba, as early daylight stirred life around us. The soft warming light was so familiar. It was a hunting time of day, the sort of time I used to associate with the start of a shift and the sleepy chorusing of the birds. Today though I resented its resilience.

  Talk was brief, but I gathered enough detail to fill in the gaps. Unus and the rest of the rescue party had followed the old Roman tunnels and escaped to the outside just as the rockfall started. They lost one Lynx hunter over the mined land, before Jas spotted them. Eli’s journey was still a mystery.

  The sight of Mum plaiting wild garlic by the campfire eased my hurt momentarily, and sinking beside her, I dropped my head in exhaustion. She embraced me, smoothing my hair the way she used to when I was younger, after playing among the Baobab with Max. I never envied her oblivion more. Aelia had said she was lucid when they rescued her, but she was clearly back in Arafel now. It didn’t matter, so long as there was a chance of another moment.

  ‘You’re late, Talia,’ she chided indulgently.

  I smiled, despite my leaden chest. I wanted so much to unload, to sob until I had nothing left, but those days had passed. I was the rock now, and all the strength, solace and wisdom she’d carved into my heart as a child would have to be enough.

  ***

  Sixty-three survivors – Arafel hunters, Komodo, Lynx, Prolets and a handful of Pantheonites – wound their way wearily through the forest, towards the new Arafel camp. The day was unremittingly glorious, the trees thick in foliage and sun warm before mid-morning, but there was a chill among us that no view could thaw. We may have made it this far, but Aelia was gone and there was no doubt Cassius would be on our tail in a matter of hours, bringing hell in his wake.

  I dropped to the back of the exhausted procession, suddenly aware I hadn’t yet spoken to Unus. We walked a while in silence, offering each other quiet solace only close friends can, yet when I stole a glance up at his great pudgy face my chest only ached all the harder.

  ‘Lia care … when Unus small …’

  I reached out to squeeze his plate hand. ‘She was a gifted doctor, a loyal friend … and a true Outsider,’ I mumbled, though the words felt inadequate and trite.

  I glanced up at August’s quiet silhouette up ahead, unsure whether he was within listening distance.

  ‘Lia say … Pantheon control head at cost of heart … but a wise leader … knows strength of both.’

  The stone in my throat suddenly moved, and a real smile relaxed across my face. It was just the sort of thing Aelia would say, my fierce, irreverent angel.

  Kiss my Prolet arse!

  ‘Kiss mine,’ I mumbled.

  Unus tipped his head down at me quizzically.

  ‘Thank you,’ I whispered before slipping up the line towards Eli.

  We still had everything to fight for, and the General of the Prolet Freedom Fighters wouldn’t want us to do anything else.

  ‘Tell me everything,’ I signed swiftly, ‘but first, how did you know we were coming? Across no-man’s land?’

  It was something that had been perplexing me. His appearance was so opportune. We’d always had a twin connection, but the way he’d been standing there with Jas as we rode across the dirt was a stretch, even for us.

  He slipped his arm through mine, pulling me close. It was the first chance we’d had to talk privately.

  ‘Last night, when Jas spotted the Ludi rescue party crossing the mined land without you,’ he signed swiftly, ‘I thought … It was my worst moment, and yet … I knew you were OK for two reasons.

  ‘Firstly, because I could feel it in my bones, and secondly, because a small army of forest animals had preceded all of you. Some were injured, others weren’t, but they were clearly sticking together. They were forest animals, and yet they looked …’

  ‘Different?’ I whispered, suddenly desperate to hear our gallant rescuers had made it too.

  ‘Hunted … yet, never freer.’

  I felt a rush of relief so intense it made my vision swim.

  He squeezed me gently. ‘I started helping those who would let me, before I realized …’

  ‘Realized?’ I signed rapidly. ‘Did you see a big male gorilla? Was he holding anything?’

  Eli looked puzzled for a second, before he shook his head. ‘I saw a group of gorillas disappear into the bushes, but no alpha males that I recall,’ he signed. ‘What it did make me realize was that only a feral girl could be responsible for such a wondrous sight.’

  I smiled up at him. It lightened my heart to know the animals had made it across the wasteland, their instincts alive and well.

  ‘And what about you? Where did you go? Did you find her?’

  I signed swiftly, not wanting the others to know how I considered our survival to be entirely dependent on finding Lake.

  His eyes narrowed. He knew it too. ‘Yes,’ he signed, ‘in Arafel.’

  I stared at him incredulously. ‘She made it to Arafel? The village? How did you know to look there?’

  ‘I worked it out.’ He frowned. ‘After drawing a blank in the Mountains. I started thinking that if Cassius was telling the truth about your blood relationship, she would feel as drawn to you, as you to her. Plus it would be quiet there, after everything. So I went back.’

  I drew a breath, aware of how hard and strange that must have been alone. We’d both left so much behind there – friends, our home, and Eli’s life’s work.

  ‘Where was she? Where did you fin
d her?’ I signed rapidly.

  He stared at me. ‘I didn’t have to look far … and she found me.’

  I felt the colour drain from my face. ‘What happened?’ I whispered.

  ‘It was intense,’ he signed, lip-reading perfectly, ‘like she knew who I was … knew I was your blood? I managed to climb into our treehouse, thought I might as well try to salvage some books while I was there. And then her head filled the open wall of the living room. She’s a titan, Tal … the size of eight elephants! And kinda beautiful – for a draco-chimera.’

  My heart pounded to think of Eli facing Lake alone, beautiful draco-chimera or not, and yet he was still here.

  ‘She’s still in her volatile draco form?’ I mused slowly. ‘She’s a responsive chimera so remaining in her most aggressive form means … she knows a war is coming?’

  I searched Eli’s face. ‘Did you talk to her?’

  ‘I didn’t need to,’ he signed. ‘She understands everything, Tal. Her eyes are … are …’

  ‘… hers?’ I finished for him.

  He nodded.

  ‘Which doesn’t mean she’s with us,’ I warned.

  ‘No,’ he agreed, ‘I didn’t sense any particular warmth, I mean, apart from her acidic steam – and keenness for a meal obviously.’

  I frowned.

  ‘Oh not me, thankfully, a couple of nearby deer filled the breach, but I’m not sure she’s overly fussy.’

  ‘She’s there now?’

  ‘I think so. I think she senses it’s your home. Or what’s left of it anyway. She’s waiting there for you? Cassius? Armageddon? Who knows, maybe a mix of all three?’

  I nodded. We both knew our one hope lay within my blood. And for once I thanked whatever curious alignment of stars and science had occurred, to ensure this responsibility had fallen to me alone.

  ‘Then we have the start of a plan,’ I signed.

  One ancient mythical creature to face a whole army. They were my kind of odds. Outsider odds.

  Chapter 23

  The Arafel survivor camp was a small cave system set in the side of an old-world quarry, about a kilometre into the dense outside forest. It was a part of the forest we’d avoided most of our lives, partly because of its proximity to the Dead City and Lifedomes, and partly because of the near impenetrable jungle. But it seemed a good choice now, especially since we needed to keep a strict, round-the-clock watch.

  We arrived quietly, the jubilation of the survivors far outweighing our own emotions, which were shadowed by the certainty that we’d only escaped the battle, to bring a war to their door.

  I cast a swift look around the low-ceilinged rock cavern. The survivors had done their best by salvaging what they could from Arafel, but it made the ghosts more obvious.

  There were so many missing.

  I swallowed, knowing this was the hardest point, actually facing the loss. And I was so bone-achingly weary.

  ‘Talia! Is it really you? Sit by the fire, all of you … Bring food, water! Eli, Augustus Aquila … and new friends! You are, all of you, most welcome … And Max?’ Seth’s face lit up with hope before I shook my head. His expression faded before brightening again, and I realized our arrival meant everything, a flame we had to protect. For everyone’s sake.

  My gaze ran over the mingling mix of people as they were plied with food, drink and a barrage of questions. I didn’t ask about Art. I’d seen the blackened roots of his treehouse with my own eyes, and as Seth was the only surviving member of the Council of Elders present, he’d clearly taken on the position of leader. He was young for the job, fifty at most, but it was welcome continuity.

  ‘Thank you,’ August muttered, taking a plate of broth and settling down opposite me.

  I swallowed to ease the burn in my chest. He’d lost his status, home, friends and now the only sister he ever knew. Where could we possibly go from here? Would he even stand beside us against Cassius?

  ‘Talia … Max?’

  It was Carah, Max’s mother.

  She pushed through the small crowd as I stood up to meet her. She was a thin wiry woman, a keen hunter with a ready smile. But the events of the past months had taken their toll, and her face was lined with shadows and anxiety. Max’s father stepped in beside her, his eyes darting between mine and Carah’s, already guessing the truth.

  ‘He’s not here.’ I forced a small smile. ‘But he’s alive and the only reason we made it back …’

  ***

  Our small group of escapees brought the Arafel survivors to little more than one hundred. And it was a lively, mixed community, especially given the addition of various rescued domestic animals plus three teams of Komodos and Friskers the griffin. But we were still nothing like the number needed to take on a myth army.

  Could scars make up for numbers?

  They would have to.

  Seth insisted on an abridged version of our story, and while their shock was evident, it was a relief finally, to share it all.

  I wasn’t deaf to the whispers. This mixed group of survivors were the first to know the full truth about Thomas’s cipher, the Voynich, Lake, and my blood. I could feel their outrage as I related the story as best I could, despite Grandpa’s request. But I believed every last man, woman and child deserved to know the whole, if they were to stand beside us, and that Grandpa would have thought so too.

  ‘So where is this Voynich … this Book of Fire?’ Seth asked, once I’d recounted everything.

  ‘It’s lost and that’s for the best,’ August filled in quietly.

  I nodded, recalling the moment the gorilla had paused to look back on the balcony. I hoped with all my heart he’d taken the book to the topmost branches in the forest, and ripped and scattered its pages to the wind.

  ‘And Hominum chimera … Lake as you call her … she’s a mythical legend? Re-created from this ancient book?’

  It had been the hardest part, describing the blood connection between myself and Lake – something I still didn’t fully understand myself, let alone how I knew she was essential to facing Cassius’s myth army. Yet most were Outsiders, who’d lived side by side with animals and understood how complex instincts could be. And although this relationship was unique, trust made up for the rest.

  ‘And to think the Book of Arafel – our village book charting every decision since Arafel’s beginning – actually hid Thomas’s research into the Voynich? Extraordinary!

  ‘Did you ever manage to retrieve it?’

  I shook my head.

  ‘Then we start a new Book,’ Seth announced resolutely, ‘and it will be a record of our second beginning! Not defying the dust clouds of the Great War, but defying the corrupt vision of one man who thought he had the right to rid the world of our kind. Human kind.’

  There was a brief silence before a soft harmony began echoing through the cave; and I closed my eyes. It was the sound of warriors – Arafel, Komodo, Lynx, reaching over the stamping beat of renegade Pantheonites and Prolets, and their meaning was clear. We stood together, come what may. And whether it was the small cave accentuating the noise, the courage of those present, or the ghosts whispering through the trees, I felt a momentary flicker of belief.

  ***

  August’s rush hammock was empty when I awoke. Seth had insisted the new party rest while battle planning continued. No one objected. I’d never felt so weary in my life, we had no real idea when Cassius would come, and none of us were any use exhausted.

  Sentries were posted, and shifts set up for food foraging and weaponry, while Seth and August had begun auditing all the weapons we already had between us. There were hunting machetes, spears, axes, knives, a couple of Diasords prised from unwilling Pantheonites, and a pile of agricultural tools that had been salvaged from Arafel. I eyed the small growing heap with apprehension, knowing the number of claws and teeth they would likely have to face.

  Toray, a male Lynx warrior, and Saba were swift to distribute airborne weapons to the best archers, together with a small harvest of
Black Bryony berries to tip arrows and darts. The venomous bats in Isca Prolet came to mind as a small Prolet group sat and patiently tipped them, Pantheon had its uses.

  Arrow-shaping and paring was another swift production line, with Outsider and Insider heads bent together, working furiously. I could feel Grandpa nodding approvingly, and there was no question that we weren’t all one army now. And yet, even though this was Outsider territory and many of us were seasoned hunters, my bones knew we would need every stick, stone, and ounce of courage to face the darkness coming our way.

  Which left finding Lake and persuading her to our cause, small words for a herculean feat.

  ‘Did you see him leave?’

  Eli was outside feeding Friskers, who seemed blissfully unaware of the impending doom.

  ‘Said he needed a walk to clear his head? That he wouldn’t be long,’ Eli signed. ‘Asked me to make sure you rested your arm.’

  My eyes flickered to the new bandage Carah had carefully wound around my wound. I hadn’t it paid much attention since leaving Isca, and it was aching less since she cleaned it up. But August’s absence filled me with agitation. He didn’t know the outside forest, not like me, and it wasn’t the sort of place in which you just took a walk.

  ‘I’ll find him,’ I signed, ignoring Eli’s expression. ‘We need more berries for the arrows anyway.’

  It was mid-afternoon, sentries were changing and dusk wasn’t far away. If there was any strike, I was more than convinced it would come at night. Cassius had kept an entire army in the darkness; it made some semblance of sense he would use its cover to set it free.

  ‘You’ve got the flight of an arrow,’ Eli signed, gesticulating towards the sun hanging low in the sky. ‘And … what of Max?’ he questioned carefully.