The Outerlands - Sedition

by Aleigh Schuster

  There was a cacophony of hoots and wails. Dera grabbed me, jumping up and down. I walked over to retrieve my knives, taking the first one out of the 60 marker post and then over to the 100 marker post where all five remaining knives had landed, destroying Devlyn’s face.

  Transfixed, I stared at what was left of the face responsible for everything I’d lost. Dera and Quinn had joined me while I extricated my knives.

  “I can’t see his face,” I whispered, trying to piece back together the slivers of torn paper. “I need to see his face.”

  Dera grabbed my arms and Quinn hurriedly reached in his back pocket and pulled out another flyer. “Hey, it’s okay. Here. I have plenty. I’m sorry…I thought you knew what Devlyn looked like. His face is plastered all over in almost every major town.”

  Dera squeezed my upper arms. “Henley, you did great. You completely destroyed the bastard. Now come on, grab the rest of your knives. You’re drawing a crowd.”

  “Yes, Henley,” Cali snipped when she finally made it over to us. “Take your knives. No one likes a show off.”

  Coming out of my stupor, I replied, “Oh right, that’s your thing.” I pulled my knives out, pieces of the flyer blowing away with the wind. That was when I noticed there was indeed a crowd surrounding us. They were holding up their fists and yelling, “YAWP, YAWP, YAWP, YAWP!”

  I couldn’t help but smile as Quinn shouted over them, “The best praise you can get around here, which I believe Dera is familiar with from the other day. Henley, you should be proud.”

  He then raised both his arms in the air and the crowd quieted. “Everyone listen up. For those of you who don’t know, this is Henley, one of our new recruits…and so far, she has the best score with knives. Now get back to your training.”

  As the crowd slowly dispersed, Quinn slapped me on the back. “Well done, Henley. Well done. All right Dera, you’re up.”

  Quinn walked back with Cali and some kind of argument ensued. They talked too fast and all I caught was Quinn asking, “What’s your problem?”

  Dera picked up her knives and stood one foot behind her mark. Bending over, she set two knives to her right and two to her left on the mark line. Rising with a weapon in each hand, she took a deep breath.

  After a short nod from Quinn, she pivoted, raised her right hand, and threw left, hitting the 60 mark. Raising her left hand, she threw right, hitting the other 60 mark. Then with lightning speed, she picked up a knife on either side of her and repeated the process, hitting the left 80 foot and then the right. It all happened in under a minute.

  Picking up the last two knives, she turned left, raised her right arm, and focused on the 100 foot mark. With her arm still up, she turned her head and looked directly behind her at Quinn, then threw, hitting the post dead center.

  She quickly transferred the knife from her left hand to the right. Reaching in her left pocket, Dera pulled out a strawberry and threw it up in the air. She took her stance and as the strawberry started to descend, she threw the knife. It hit the strawberry and landed in the 30 foot marker post.

  Cali, Quinn, and I ran over to the post and the tip of the knife was embedded in the wood, the strawberry’s juice dripping down just as the berry split in two and fell to the ground. Apparently the crowd didn’t go far because they were back, but this time there were murmurs as one by one they each came over to have a look.

  Cali bent down and picked up the sliced strawberry and held it up for everyone to see. She turned to Dera with a raised eyebrow. “Very impressive.”

  Dera took an elaborate bow.

  And the crowd went wild: “YAWP, YAWP, YAWP, YAWP, YAWP!”

  * * *

  Quinn, Dera, and I sat on the sidelines as Cali directed everyone off the site. “Sorry, Henley. You know how competitive I am.”

  “Dera, please, I knew you had something up your sleeve. Or should I say, in your pocket. You were great, but you do realize bows are next.” I smiled.

  Quinn just stared at us. “I’m not sure you can top that, girls. I mean, that was pretty awesome. There’s not much you can do with a bow and arrow except aim, shoot, and hit your target.”

  “Exactly,” Dera and I said in unison as we got up and started toward the archery area. Quinn joined us, shaking his head.

  There were at least a dozen recruits in line ahead of us. Quinn grabbed some bottles of water from a wash tub and handed each of us one. “Looks like it’ll be awhile till you girls are up. I’ll let you know when it’s your turn.” Quinn walked off so Dera and I took a seat by the fence.

  Cali stood on a large rock explaining the rules. “Choose your bow and six arrows. There are four targets, beginning at 400 feet and progress to 1,000. All right, let’s get started. Barbette, you’re up.”

  Dera looked at me, grinning, “Well, this should be good.”

  Barbette, standing tall and fierce, struck the 600 mark three times in a row and the last three arrows hit the 800 mark. Dera smiled and was about to say something when Ford suddenly appeared in front of us. “Ladies, I’d just like to congratulate you on that performance back there.” He nodded in the direction of the knife area.

  Sitting up straight, Dera replied sarcastically, “Gee thanks. That means sooo much coming from you.”

  Seemingly contrite, Ford looked directly at me. “Henley, I’m really sorry about the incident the other day with Drew. I need you to know that I not only laid into him after Graff did, but I also sent him packing. I don’t tolerate that kind of crap, ever. Please accept my apologies.”

  So that must have been what he and Rafe were discussing the other day in the mess hall.

  “Huh.” Dera still sounded unconvinced.

  Taking my silence as a refusal to accept his apology, Ford added, “You don’t have to say anything now but I swear I’ll make it up to you.” He hesitated a second before turning to walk away with his head down.

  I glanced at Dera. “That was a little unexpected.”

  “Yeah, I don’t really trust him either, although I’m not sure why.” Turning toward the archery site, she jumped to her feet. “Hey, Quinn’s waving us over. Looks like we’re up.”

  After Dera and I picked up a bow and gathered our arrows, she whispered, “I’m still pumped so I’ll go first and get this over with. But Henley, do you see that tree just to the left of the 1,000 foot post, about fifty yards on the other side of the fence?”

  Looking in that direction, I nodded. “Yeah, but it’s not in the training perimeter.”

  “Oh, come on. When I get done just knock ‘em out, would you?”

  Before I could respond, Dera took her bow, set an arrow, and shot. One after another, all six arrows hit the center of the 800 foot post. She had confided in me a few days ago that 800 feet had always been her limit due to her size.

  Quinn sat up straighter on the fence, impressed because 600 feet was passing.

  Bow at the ready, I nocked the first arrow, aimed, and shot. I repeated this five times.

  Dera jumped up and down, yelling toward our instructors, “What do you think of that?”

  Quinn half-stood on the fence, looking at all the posts. Seeing no arrows made a target, he shielded his eyes from the sun with a hand as he squinted farther. He jumped down from the fence, marched past the 1,000 foot post, and climbed the opposite fence. He reached the tree fifty yards away and turned around, a huge grin on his face. “Hey Cali? I think you might’ve finally met your match.” He turned our way and lowered his voice. “Cali’s the only one of us who can hit straight and true over 1,000 feet.” Retrieving my arrows, Quinn handed them to me before climbing back over the fence.

  Cali took his place, looking as if she had never seen me before, and maybe she hadn’t. She held out her hand for me to shake. “Henley…I have to say I’m impressed.”

  Stunned and a bit wary, I extended my hand half-expecting her to pull back.

  Laughing, she shook it and said, “Don’t look so shocked. I’ll grow on you.”

  “Li
ke a fungus,” said a deep voice from behind me.

  I turned to see Graff smiling, twirling a blue band around his finger. “This slipped from your hair during your testing.”

  He was here and actually saw me doing something good for once. I smiled back at him, smoothing my hair behind my head as I took the tie from him. “I didn’t realize it had come loose.”

  “Jonas wants a word. I’ll walk with you.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  After saying goodbye to Dera and the others, I followed Graff to Jonas’ house. Just as we passed my cabin, he turned right, taking us down the path Dera and I had run the other night to the pond. He had been quiet up until this point so it surprised me when he cleared his throat.

  “So…I’ve wanted to talk to you about Keegan for a while but it never seemed like the right time. I thought maybe we could do that now.” When I turned my head his way, he continued, “You wouldn’t know this but your brother was—is—a very good friend of mine and one of my best and most trusted lieutenants.”

  “What?”

  “Henley, no one outside the GW, with the exception of the council, is allowed any information concerning us. It has always been this way. It’s a method that has served us well.”

  “Yes, of course,” I replied but came to a halt when I started putting two and two together. “Well that certainly explains the hostility towards me from a lot of people here—especially your team. Of course they would blame me for Keegan’s capture. I blame myself, too.” I walked ahead.

  Graff caught hold of my arm before I’d taken two steps and turned me to face him. “No one blames you. Well…maybe Cali, but she’s wrong. Everyone here is devastated by what happened to him…to your entire family. Especially me and my team. The only person to blame here is Devlyn. And trust me, I will do everything in my power to get back Keegan and everyone else that man has imprisoned.”

  I stood there for a moment, speechless. It was scary how he could make me see the truth of every word that came out of his beautiful mouth. “I believe you.”

  “Good. That’s good.” Graff sighed, running a hand haphazardly though his hair. “Because I also need to ask…well, is there anything Keegan’s shared with you…about me, maybe? Or about him? A secret he’s asked you to keep…?” He briefly met my eyes but turned away as I stared up at him in question. He seemed unusually nervous.

  “Uh…no,” I replied. “Not that I can remember anyway. Why? Does this have anything to do with you guys needing information to get him back?” I hoped he would tell me they already had a plan.

  “No, no. Sorry. The men we sent to your sector didn’t find your father or any message your brother might have left for us. We would have told you. And to be honest, we’re still searching for Keegan’s exact location. Until we have that, it’s pretty hard to formulate any sort of rescue attempt. This has more to do with me personally. I just thought, knowing how close the two of you have always been, he might have shared a few secrets with you—”

  “No,” I said adamantly, cutting him off mid-sentence. “Keegan would never do something like that. He’s loyal to the bone. You say you know him, then you should know if it isn’t his to share, there isn’t a thing I or anyone else can do to drag it out of him—especially if it has to do with his family. And he always considered his unit his extended family.” I whispered the last part, remembering how much Keegan always treasured his team.

  “I know. Please don’t be offended. The Council for the Sectors and I just needed to verify…” Bristling, I tuned out the rest of his words.

  “The Council. Oh right,” I said, feeling silly for thinking anything else. It was always business with him.

  He put a hand on my shoulder and gently pulled me to a stop. I turned to him, thinking maybe he was going to say something comforting, but he simply stepped off the path and walked in the direction of a large log cabin, urging me to follow.

  “We’re here.” He motioned from a few feet away but pointed to the woods along the perimeter of his home.

  “Wait. Isn’t this your house?” I quickly caught up to him.

  “It is, but we’re headed to a clearing behind that tree line over there. That’s where Jonas will be waiting.”

  “I wasn’t aware anything else was out here.”

  “This is my personal training area. It’s on my property and not well known because no one else has ever had access to it. Well, not until now anyway. Jonas thought it might be better if you worked on developing your gift away from the others. In case there are any accidents,” he said, eyeing me like he it was to be expected. I wasn’t sure if I was offended or scared.

  “Accidents?” I questioned, my voice an octave higher.

  He looked me over, possibly trying to decide how much he wanted to say. “Jonas will inform you of anything more you need to know. Now come on.” He picked up his pace, managing to get a few steps ahead of me in the process.

  We passed the cabin and walked through the trees in utter silence. I swore Graff was so hot and cold he was going to give me whiplash.

  We came out of the foliage and, as promised, I spotted Jonas standing in the middle of a large field waiting on my arrival. His eyes were closed, arms raised as he slowly spun in a circle. I was beginning to think he wasn’t even aware of us moving closer until he spoke.

  “Graff, Henley, thank you so much for joining me today.” He opened his eyes to look between the two of us. His expression was kind and instantly put me at ease. “I brought you here, Henley, so we can go over a few things that were left out of our conversation the other day. What I am about to divulge to you is completely confidential, secrets known only to the Council. Things that, in the wrong hands, would be detrimental to our kind and winning this war.” He stopped, letting his words sink in.

  “All right,” I said. He had my absolute attention.

  “Before I begin, I’d like for you to call upon and wield your ability here in this field. I need to see that you are in fact what we’ve all believed you to be: an Electrokinetic.”

  “We?” I asked.

  “Your parents, myself, the other Council leaders, and Graff,” Jonas answered, voice soft at the mention of my mother and father.

  “Um…” I couldn’t find the words. I really had no idea the Council knew who I was other than being Marvin Brooks’ youngest child. An arm came around my shoulder and it was only then that I remembered Graff was still with us.

  “Hey,” he whispered, briefly squeezing me to his side before dropping his hand altogether. “Don’t let any of this frighten you. Jonas is here and so am I. We just need to see what you can do. That’s all. No big deal.” He smiled and walked about twenty feet to a nearby tree. Judging by its tattered trunk, it had definitely seen better days. “Why don’t you try to hit this tree from where you’re standing? It’ll give us an idea of your initial range and then we can adjust from there.” He said it as if I could just use my ability without effort..

  I glanced at Jonas, who had been silently studying me. Why did he always do that?

  “Henley, in our last conversation you mentioned that both times your ability revealed itself, you were afraid. Whether for yourself or others, it seems to be the common factor for bringing it forward. I have an idea how we can use your fear, but we need to trigger it first. Do you trust me?”

  “Yes,” I said, and I really was beginning to. It also made sense because the last time it happened with Drew—which no one knew about—I had also been scared.

  “All right, I want you to adjust your position until the tree Graff is standing by is directly in front of you. Oh and Graff? You should probably get out of the way.” Jonas chuckled before continuing to instruct me. “Close your eyes and focus on where that tree still stands. Now, this is going to be painful but I need you to recall the attack on your sector…the way you felt when your brother went back alone to help the people in town.” I sucked in a breath, but he only continued with his careless words. “How frightened you must have been w
hen the soldiers then went on to capture Keegan while you hid just yards away.”

  “Stop,” I whispered, tears streaming down my face.

  He was relentless. “How agonizing it must have been for there to be nothing you could do to help him.”

  My body trembled with fear and anger alike. How dare he bring up Keegan when he’d done nothing so far to aid in his return? “Just stop!” I cried out, this time throwing my arms forward and feeling the prickling heat of electrical currents soaring through my body then out my limbs. The action sent me flying backward and I collided with a hard chest. Graff, I thought fleetingly. He quickly righted me and stepped away. I opened my eyes and cursed the sight in front of me.

  “Oh, no.” I tried to cover my face but immediately lowered my hands because of the charge they still produced. “What have I done?”

  Electricity continued to course through my palms but it had become so faint that I could barely see its blue brilliance bouncing from fingertip to fingertip. I stared, mesmerized, for what felt like forever before it started to sputter and finally dissipate altogether. The newness of seeing this coming from my own body had nothing on the disaster lying in front of me.

  A three to four inch jagged crack in the ground traveled from just under my feet, all the way to the edge of the target I had been focusing on. The tree I was supposed to hit was completely uprooted with large splintered pieces and chunks of dirt strewn across the field, a crater the size of a bus where it used to reside. Several trees on either side of it were now charcoal with remnants of ash and smoke dancing around the skeleton-like trunks before blending into the sky above. I could not believe I had caused this. Graff came to stand in front of me, a huge smile on his face. He completely ignored the momentary static charge that flowed between us as he cupped my cheeks with his hands. Instead, he looked down at me with an expression similar to adoration or maybe even pride. “Now that,” he said, dropping one hand to motion in front of us, “was even better than my first time.”