Defiant

by Aaron Hodges

  Breath hissed between his teeth as he staggered back from the blow, wheezing as he suddenly found himself unable to breathe. Gasping, he clutched at his stomach, and barely looked up in time to catch a second blow to his face.

  Red flashed across his world, and when it cleared Rydian found himself flat on his back, his vision swirling as he looked up at the brutish faces of two men.

  A cry tore from his lips as he threw himself to the side, scrambling away across the grimy bricks of the alleyway. Laughter chased after him as the pair followed, one clutching a baton, the other empty-handed—though his fists were larger than any Rydian had seen.

  “What do you want?” Rydian gasped as they approached, still struggling for breath.

  His ears rang from the blow to his head and he felt strangely detached as the men came to a stop above him, as though he were afloat in some great expanse of water. A throbbing pounded against his skull—in his entire body, in fact, seeming to radiate from a fiery heat that gathered in his hand.

  It was a moment before Rydian realised his Manus reader had activated, providing his body with some small measure of healing Light. Blinking, he found his vision able to focus once more, though the pain still gripped his skull in a vice.

  Laughter sounded in Rydian’s ears as the thugs loomed above, but they did not answer his question. A fresh set of footsteps sounded on the bricked street. Arms clasped behind his back, a man appeared between the thugs, skeletal in appearance, his cheeks sunken, his face more skull than flesh. He wore a freshly-pressed suit and clasped a wooden cane before him, as though without it a strong gust of wing might blow him down. The velvet top hat perched upon his head might have given the man a comical look, under different circumstances.

  Instead, Rydian’s heart tumbled into his stomach as he recognised Carlos, the merchant he’d stolen from.

  “Mr. Holt,” Carlos said softly. His lips twisted in a tired frown, as though he found the circumstances that had brought him there distasteful. “I had thought one of your…reputation would have the wisdom not to meddle in the affairs of your betters.”

  A groan rasped from Rydian’s throat as he forced himself to his hands and knees. The pounding in his head redoubled, before his Manus reader grew hot once more, providing blessed respite from the pain.

  Only then did the true extent of his danger strike him. Carlos knew who he was, knew he’d been the one stealing from his shop. The man might appear softer than leaf before the autumn fall, but that was only a ruse, an illusion of gentle calm created for the Alfur. The creatures associated the strongest humans with aggression and violence—distasteful traits for their trusted servants. So the merchant class strived to maintain the opposite appearance.

  But of course, what need did men like Carlos have for muscles, when they could employ thugs like the two that stood with the merchant now? Noticing Rydian’s attention, the man with the baton patted the weapon with a soft hand, as though to remind him of his power. The other only smiled, displaying a set of mangled and broken teeth. The sight sent a shudder down Rydian’s spine.

  “I…I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he managed to cough, slumping against the cobbles to conceal his anger. If he could appear weak and unthreatening, perhaps the merchant would not take things further.

  Carlos said nothing, only stood with his hands clasped around the cane, staring down at Rydian from beneath the brim of his top hat. Swallowing, Rydian held his tongue beneath the power of the man’s gaze. If Carlos wanted a confession, he would be waiting a long time. Rydian wasn’t about to get himself sentenced to several months of hard labour.

  After a minute had passed, Rydian shook his head. “Well, if you don’t mind, I’ll be leaving now.” So saying, he placed his hands to the dirty stones and made to push himself up.

  “I suggest you stay where you are, Mr. Holt,” Carlos said softly. “Lest you find yourself experiencing another unpleasant fall.”

  Rydian froze, his head jerking up to catch the hard eyes of the merchant fixed on him. His thugs made no overtly threatening move, but there was no mistaking the threat behind the words. Grinding his teeth, Rydian eyed the two men. A fight was obviously out of the question, but if he could put distance between himself and the thugs, it would not be difficult to outrun them, as he had the night before.

  “I’m needed elsewhere, sir,” Rydian said, doing his best to adopt a respectful tone. “If you don’t mind, I would rather take my leave…”

  “I’m afraid we must first have a conversation, Mr. Holt,” the merchant spoke over him, before making a gesture with his hand at Rydian. “Get him up, boys.”

  A curse slipped from Rydian’s lips and he leapt to his feet before they could reach him. Heart racing, he turned to flee, but a hand caught him by the collar and yanked him back. He felt something tear in his shirt, then something hard slammed against the side of his face.

  Light burst across his eyes and the strength went from his legs. Rough hands caught him beneath the arms as he fell, and though Rydian struggled pitifully against them, they had soon dragged him back to where Carlos waited, one finger tapping idly against the handle of his cane.

  Clenching his fists, Rydian felt the warmth of his Manus reader thrumming in his palm. The device would be nearing the limits of its Light by now, but his vision still cleared a little, enough to see the face of Carlos twisted into a scowl.

  “I see my belief in your wisdom was misplaced,” the merchant said. Lifting his cane, he hobbled closer in the dark alley. “Perhaps you are in need of a more traditional lesson.”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about, merchant bastard,” Rydian snarled, dispensing with the calm act. “But you’d better let me go, or I’ll—”

  “You’ll what?” Carlos interrupted, raising an eyebrow. “Call the Enforcers?” The merchant gave a soft chuckle, though there was little mirth in the sound. “Be my guest,” he said, gesturing to Rydian’s Manus reader. The device could call the authorities to his location, should they be needed. “Though, before you do, know that I will be showing them this.”

  At that Carlos lifted his hand, activating his own Manus reader. Even through his pain, Rydian’s heart lurched to a sudden halt as he watched the Light stream from the merchant’s device to form an image of Rydian himself. He watched himself race from a shop, loaf of bread in hand, and dart down the street. As he ran, the scarf he’d used to cover his face slipped, revealing his features to the hidden camera.

  “After your last few dalliances in our neighbourhood, my fellow merchants and I became concerned,” Carlos explained as the Light died away. His tone remained soft, but there was no mistaking the edge to his voice now. “The Alfur depend on us to distribute goods impartially between cities, to maintain economic integrity. We could not in good conscience allow a thief to undermine the credit system we have worked so hard to create.”

  Rydian could only stare at the merchant, unable to believe what he was saying. “It was just some bread,” he managed at last.

  The thugs still held him by either arm, though his legs could support his weight now. His Manus reader still throbbed in his palm, its warmth flooding him as he stared at the merchant, his anger rising. How dare he stand there and lecture him about fairness and impartiality? What right did Carlos have to lord himself over other humans, to pretend he cared about his fellow men, about his planet?

  The people called Rydian’s family traitors, but Carlos’s kind were the true traitors. It was not his mother, but the men and women who served as merchants and Enforcers who facilitated the rule of the Alfur, who allowed them to reign over all of humanity.

  “Yes, yes, it was only a loaf today. But you see, if I permit one thief to rob from me, tomorrow there will be another, and the next more still.” He spread his hands. “You see, soon I would have nothing left. What would the Alfur say then? They do not take kindly to such disruptions, even amongst their most loyal followers.”

  “Loyal slaves, you mean,” Rydian s
napped.

  His anger had risen with each lie from the traitor’s mouth and now he found himself straining against the strength of the men who held him. Blood pounded in his skull and for a moment he felt a new heat from his hand, a searing, burning—

  The heat vanished, and with it the warming touch of the Manus reader. Abruptly, the pain of his injuries came flooding back and he cried out, slumping against the hold of the thugs.

  His Light had run out.

  It was said that Light existed in everything, that it was the source of all life in the universe. But the energy was not distributed evenly between creatures. The Alfur claimed to be higher beings, consuming Light itself for sustenance, and so their abilities with the Manus reader were near infinite beside lesser species like humans. So while an Alfur would have recovered near instantly from the beating Rydian had taken, Rydian himself was far more…limited.

  Or at least, that was how the Alfur explained the discrepancies between the devices.

  Others suspected that humans were simply given different Manus readers, ones that could not unleash the same terrible powers possessed by the Alfur.

  Carlos offered no response to Rydian’s outburst, only stood staring at him with a look that said he was above the insults of one so far below him.

  “I will tell you the truth, Mr. Holt—I had hoped you were merely a confused young man. I might have helped you. It would have been an honour, to mentor the son of a patriot like Jasmine Holt.” He shook his head, even as Rydian’s gut churned at the sound of his mother’s name on the merchant’s tongue. “Alas, I see none of her wisdom in you. It pains me, but it seems I must ensure you are dealt with in the harshest manner.” He smiled, a wicked, dark thing, and in that moment, Rydian saw the rot that lurked in the heart of this man.

  “Wait,” Rydian gasped, struggling through his pain, “please, I understand, I won’t—”

  He broke off as a fist caught him full in the stomach. This time with no Manus reader to aid him, he folded in two, wheezing as he slumped to the cold stone bricks. Shadows loomed above as the thugs grabbed him, dragging Rydian back up even as he strained to draw breath. Lungs burning, panic taking hold, he struggled. Gone was all thought of the examinations, of his plan or his mother’s exoneration. Only one thing mattered in that moment—escape. He needed to get away, to get free…

  …but even as Rydian struggled, another blow caught him, driving him face-first into the ground. Laughter sounded around him, pounding along with the drumbeat in his ears. A groan slipped from his lips and he strained to coast some sliver of energy from his Manus reader, anything that could help him, that might save him from the fate the merchant had in store for him.

  But the device remained cold, and a moment later, stones crunched as a figure crouched beside him.

  “Perhaps it will sage your pain somewhat, Mr. Holt,” Carlos’s voice rasped in his ear. “When the Alfur drag you to their labour camps, when your back is breaking and you long for the warmth of a Manus reader to heal you, at least you will know that your punishment serves as an example to all in Goma, a reminder that Carlos the merchant is not to be trifled with.”

  The words sent a chill to Rydian’s core and he felt a flicker of something within, of a desperate, primal strength. He struggled to rise, but before he could even lift himself half an inch from the ground, something hard and unyielding struck the back of his head.

  And Rydian collapsed into darkness.

  4

  The darkness gave way, a flicker of light calling Rydian back from the abyss, from the depth of unconsciousness. Stirring, he groaned as the pain returned, an aching deep in his body, throbbing through his skull, a heat setting his entire chest aflame.

  Blinking, he opened his eyes and found himself seated in a room of…Light. It burned all around him, unrelenting, as though he were imprisoned in a cage of pure power. The brightness of it sheared through his skull, reigniting the pain. Groaning, he scrunched his eyes closed to escape it, but the brilliance found him even there.

  He raised his hands, trying to shield his eyes, only to come up short. Squinting through his eyelashes, he saw that bands of Light enclosed his wrists as well. His heart sank, the hairs on his neck rising as he forced himself to look around again, to take in his surroundings.

  Rydian sat at a table in the centre of the brilliance. Its metallic surface appeared to be the only truly solid object in the room, other than the matching chair in which he sat. Straining against the brightness of the room, he glimpsed shadows beyond the walls of Light. The blood roared in his ears as he watched them. It was impossible to know whether they were human or Alfur, but…he thought perhaps Carlos had brought him to an Enforcement centre.

  Clenching his fists at the thought, Rydian was reminded of his Manus reader. Drawing in a breath, he forced himself to concentrate on the device. It was more than a healing device or portable map; it could also be used for communication. Heart hammering, he focused on his father, on reaching out for the familiar connection. He needed to warn him, to tell Rafael what had happened, in case…

  …he shook himself, continuing to concentrate on the Manus reader, but nothing happened. Frowning, he looked back to his cage of Light. Could it be interfering with the device? Drums still beat against his skull, but the brightness was more bearable now. Even so, his heart sank as he looked again at his imprisonment.

  There would be no escaping from this. The Lightcuffs alone would have been enough to hold him, for no human had the power to remove the devices. Despite that knowledge, he clenched his fists and strained against the Lightcuffs, testing their connection to the metal table. The white glow encircling his wrists appeared to have no substance, and when his skin pressed against them it did not burn or harm him. The Light did, however, remain quite unbreakable.

  Rydian shivered, turning his attention to the shadows beyond the Light. If Carlos and his goons had dragged him to an Enforcement centre, it was only a matter of time before they brought his case before the Alfur. The creatures left the policing of lower Goma to their human servants, but they preferred to supervise prisoners and would-be criminals themselves.

  Anger touched Rydian as he recalled the words of the merchant. His insults had stung far less than the comments about Rydian’s mother. To think she would ever support the actions of a man such as Carlos…heat flickered in his palm at the memory, seeming to imply his Manus reader had reactivated. Yet when he reached out again for his father, Rydian found only silence.

  His concentration was broken by a soft hissing from the walls of the Light cage. He swung around, watching as the power began to ripple and change. A moment later, his heart tumbled into his threadbare boots as a creature he feared more than any other stepped through the Light into his prison.

  Rydian sat frozen in his seat as the Alfur came to a stop across the table from him. Rarely had he come close to one of the creatures—like most humans, he avoided the Alfur at all cost. Now though, he found himself alone in a room with one, so close he could see the individual veins of Light shining from beneath its transparent skin. The creature wore a light green tunic and pants of fine silk, its silver hair grown long. From its slim face and broad brow, Rydian could tell it was one of the males of its species, though both sexes moved with an inherent grace no human could match.

  The Alfur themselves appeared humanoid in shape, claiming the form was common amongst intelligent species across the galaxy, a type of convergent evolution—whatever that meant. Something about vertical movement freeing upper limbs for tool use.

  Though, there were other features that marked the Alfur as distinct from humanity. Apart from their translucent skin and Light flowing in their veins, the creatures possessed elongated ears, and their eyes were twice the size of a human’s, giving the Alfur a stare that could put even the boldest of humans at unease.

  Thankfully, this individual seemed more interested in the stack of notes it carried than Rydian himself. Its overly large eyes fixed to the papers, the Alfur m
ade to sit, and a chair abruptly emerged from the Light of Rydian’s cage to support it.

  “Mr. Rydian Holt?”

  The creature did not look up from its notes as it spoke, and it was a moment before Rydian realised it was asking him a question.

  “I…what?” he said belatedly, his mind struggling to function as those terrible eyes turned in his direction.

  Sitting there in the cage of Light, Rydian found his mind frozen. Gone was his grand plan to graduate as a scholar, to clear his mother’s name. Suffering beneath the gaze of a creature that could incinerate him with a gesture, Rydian found himself wishing he had listened to his father, that he had simply accepted what so many others had told him. Only now that he found himself within the power of the Alfur did Rydian realise the truth.

  There was no resisting these creatures, no grand plan that would clear his family’s reputation, or free their planet.

  Rotin had proven it on the sands of the Goman Arena, just hours ago.

  No human could stand against these beings of Light.

  “It says here you are Rydian Holt,” the Alfur repeated, a frown creasing its perfectly symmetrical features.

  “I…yes,” Rydian finally managed.

  The creature tsked, and began to flick through the pages in front of it, shaking its head. Rydian watched, a lump lodged in his throat. As it went, stealing a loaf of bread was not the most heinous of crimes. But the Alfur loathed rule-breakers—regardless of the crime. It was a quirk of humanity they couldn’t seem to understand, that so many of their subordinates simply refused to obey the rules of their society.

  Maybe if the creatures spent some time in the shoes of their slaves, if they could feel the hunger gnawing at their stomachs, the hopelessness of knowing their lives were not their own, perhaps then they might finally understand.

  “Oh dear, oh dear,” the Alfur muttered as it paused on each page. It hardly seemed to notice his presence. “Theft? Resisting arrest?” It tsked some more, then looked up at Rydian. “You understand these activities are unlawful, Mr. Holt?”