by Marlow York
“What is that?” someone asked.
I looked closely at the nearest one. Some were black, others brown or yellow. Then I realized what I was looking at. They weren’t ropes at all.
“It’s hair,” I said. I picked one up. It was the long, heavy tendrils of the Warrior dreadlocks, each one tied together with a thick string.
The message was clear. We have the Warriors. We have stripped them of their dignity, and we will do much greater harm. If they hadn’t already begun to do so.
I looked at Saven, my eyes wide with fear. “We must send the snakes as soon as night falls.”
✽ ✽ ✽
The massive vulture was easy to see against the paling sky, but he didn’t travel far ahead of us. We hurried down the path towards Tarek’s home, then bypassed the house and continued into the forest again. My heart thudded, and my senses pricked at the slightest sound or movement. There was no telling if or when the City might attack again, and this anxiety pushed us onward as quickly as we could without exhausting ourselves.
Bjorn had offered to accompany us, but I declined.
“Your offer is greatly appreciated,” I told him. “But I don’t know what will be waiting for us beyond the trees, and I don’t want anyone else to get hurt because of me. You should stay here and help the villagers get ready to travel.”
Bjorn was visibly disappointed. The thick ink along his eyes was still fresh and a little red around the edges, just like the tattoo on my chest. “I understand,” he had said. “May the gods in the shadows watch over you. If you should need assistance, tell the birds. Someone will be here waiting for your return.”
It was reassuring to still have Grakkir allies, especially after everyone knew I was the reason for the City’s attack. Many people looked at me with disgust and hatred, and most were satisfied to know I would be leaving the village. There were a few, however, who were disappointed I had to leave. If I’d learned anything from the ordeal, it was that the Grakkir are highly capable of forgiveness.
As we travelled away from the village, the only thing that gave me the slightest reassurance was the fact that Saven was at my side. When I was a child, I feared the sounds of small creatures scurrying in the forest. For the first time in my life, I knew the woodland creatures were not something to be frightened of. Somehow, I sensed they were on our side.
“They are very interested in you tonight,” Saven told me.
“Perhaps they know who I am. Do you think they can sense the Ancient Fire within me?”
“It is possible,” he responded, his massive body slithering silently between trees. “Even when we first met, I sensed something in you that was not in any other human I had encountered. I sensed a similar energy in Tarek and Ysolda and the other members of the Elder Council. Perhaps she was correct that the Fiero and the Grakkir are distant cousins; you share similar energies but in a different…flavor, you might say.”
I suppressed a chuckle. “Flavor is an interesting way to describe it.”
I realized I had not been to my former home since the day it was destroyed. I feared what I might see when I reached it, but I knew I had to be prepared for anything. It was possible we would be ambushed as soon as we stepped out of the tree line. Saven sensed my tension and hissed.
I looked up and spotted Kalon’s form soaring high above us. We were told he would take us to rendezvous with the birds that had gone into the City, but I’m sure he was also there to make sure I didn’t run away without doing what I had promised. Once we reached the meeting point, Saven would call the snakes to our aid.
A faint light appeared through the trees. The lights of the City. I had once looked upon that familiar glow with awe and wonder, dreaming of what might lie behind the wall. We stopped just before the trees opened, waiting for Kalon to scout out the area to see if there was any danger.
“What do you think is out there?” Saven asked.
“Worst case scenario, the enemy is patrolling and looking for me. Best case scenario, just the destroyed remains of my village.”
“Neither scenario sounds very appealing,” Saven replied.
I bit my lip. “I know. You should call your brothers and sisters.”
Saven lifted his head, and I felt an unfamiliar surge of energy building within him. He concentrated and released a long, slow hiss that carried away on the wind. Or was his power causing the wind to blow? I felt the energy pass through me and disappear into the forest.
I looked around, but the trees were eerily still. “Where are they?”
“Patience,” Saven replied. His tongue flicked the air thoughtfully. After a few moments, he turned his head towards the east. “They’re coming.”
I turned, but it was too dark to see anything. Then, I sensed movement before my eyes noticed it, like small pinpricks of pressure against my skin. Energy was approaching quickly, slipping between the trees and around bushes. I heard a familiar rustling noise, quiet and secretive. I glanced down and saw the ground slithering around us. I felt the familiar texture of snakeskin on my ankles. Before meeting Saven, the feeling would have brought a terrified scream out of me. Now, it was almost comforting. Saven’s brothers and sisters were ready and awaiting their orders.
We heard the powerful flap of wings before we saw Kalon land in a nearby tree. He made a low noise in his throat. Saven flicked his tongue and hissed, communicating with the bird in ways I was not capable of. Saven turned his amber eyes to me. “He says the path is clear, but to be cautious. The scent of humans is everywhere.”
“Do you smell it too?” I asked. All I could smell were the trees.
“I do. It is relatively fresh, so we must be quiet and accomplish our task quickly.”
I nodded. “Right. Where are the birds who know how to get into the wall?”
“They are here. Can you not feel them?” Saven asked.
I couldn’t see anything in the foliage, but when I focused outward, I began to pick up the sensation of small bodies in the trees. It wasn’t quite as strong as the sensation I felt from the snakes, but it was similar. It was like the feeling one gets when they know they are being watched. Or, when you think you are alone and suddenly you realize there is someone else in the room, though you haven’t seen or heard them yet. You just know.
Kalon croaked low in his throat, and that’s when the trees and bushes came to life. Tiny birds jumped and fluttered from branch to branch, circling around us. A few peeped and chirped in hushed voices. Even if a person had been nearby, they likely wouldn’t have thought much about a bunch of birds talking to each other. They would have assumed the birds were chirping because a human had stepped too close to their territory.
We waited while the birds talked amongst themselves. Most of the conversation was silent, with only the occasional chirp or flutter of wings. Finally, Kalon released a throaty hissing sound, and the small birds dispersed. Saven looked up at the vulture, listening intently. I waited impatiently for the message to be passed along. It was sometimes infuriating to be the only one who couldn’t join in the conversation.
Finally, Saven turned to me. “The birds have located six possible entry points along the wall. There are small cracks in the southern part of the wall, which is closest to the prison. The front gate is in disrepair, but only a small creature would notice the hole. Also, there is a short section along the western part of the wall where a few stones have fallen out. On the other side is a rooftop that can be used as a ladder.”
“Alright. I think we should send most of the snakes in through the part of the wall closest to the prison, but not all at once. Tell them to space themselves out by a few minutes so they don’t draw any attention. We should also send some in through the other parts of the wall. Even if they don’t find a way into the prison, it could be useful to know what stands in the way from all sides.”
“Do you think we will ever have to go inside the wall?” Saven asked.
“If we are to ever take down the City, we may have to. But that will n
ot happen today. Right now, we need to get the snakes into the City and find the hostages. They’ve suffered enough.”
“Right,” Saven said. He leaned low to the ground and addressed his small brothers and sisters. My eyes had adjusted to the darkness and I could make out the shapes and sizes of the little snakes. They came in a variety of colors and breeds, but they were all venomous. I suspected they were not gods, but they were still Saven’s relatives. I feared for what they might encounter inside the City, but I knew, somehow, they would not hold a grudge against me. Even if they did, it would be my guilt to bear for getting them into this mess.
The snakes suddenly turned and disappeared into the night. I watched until they were too far away to see anymore.
“How long do you think we should wait?” I asked Saven.
“It is several miles from the north gate of the City to the prison, but they are fast. Perhaps a few hours, at most.”
I sighed heavily. I hated to stand out there while others went to fight for us, and I hated even more that we had no way of knowing if they were successful until they came back outside. If they made it back outside.
For the first hour, we stood and watched the City for any signs of distress. Saven stayed close to my side, periodically scenting the air for possible enemies. Kalon remained in the tree overhead, perched so still he nearly disappeared into the dark background.
In the second hour, I sat with my back against the tree, still watching the City and listening to my surroundings. There was no change in the City lights, and there were no sounds besides the breeze or a night creature looking for food. Kalon took to the skies and flew over the City, but when he returned he reported no change in activity.
“He says the snakes are nowhere in sight,” Saven told me.
“I’ll take that as a good sign for now,” I responded.
When I felt myself growing tired, I stood again and looked out at the remains of my village. A few blackened buildings stood in the distance, but there wasn’t much else to look at from where we were. All the bodies had disappeared, and I hated to think how the City chose to dispose of them. I had never made it to my house the day the City attacked. I wondered if it was still standing.
“I know what you are thinking, and it is dangerous,” Saven hissed.
“I know it’s dangerous, but it’s still dark. If there was ever a good time to go look, this would be it.” The logic made sense to both of us, but I wondered if I really should go looking around. Not because a City guard might be patrolling, but because I feared what I might find.
“If you let me go out there, I promise I won’t run away,” I whispered to Kalon. “I need to know if my home is still standing. I need to know if there is anything left there for me.”
The vulture stared down at me with small cold eyes. He must have thought I was a silly child, looking for answers where there was nothing but ashes.
“Please,” I said. “I just need to go look.”
Finally, Kalon let out a slow cackle.
“He will allow ten minutes, then we must return to the forest,” Saven translated for me.
“We?” I asked.
“I will never allow you to venture into dangerous territory alone.”
I smiled. I should have guessed as much. “Ten minutes,” I promised Kalon, and then I stepped out into the night.
The area should have been familiar to me. I had grown up in the fields, worked in the orchards since I was ten years old, and played in the trees nearest to the village. It was a game back then, to see how far the children could sneak into the forest, scaring each other with shrieks of “Look out, there’s a monster behind you!” and “Quick! The guards are coming!”
Now the fields were an unknown planet, stripped of all recognition by fire and destruction.
The ground beneath my feet had always been covered in lush green grass, which only turned brown in times of drought—something that rarely happened in our region. Now, the sparse grass was still dusty with ash, and occasionally crunched as I stepped on a piece of stone or wood. Or was it a bone?
We crept through the remains of the village, pausing behind the shells of buildings to look for guards. There was no one in sight. Still, the landscape was so different I couldn’t help but feel nervous. It was the type of anxiety that comes from stepping into enemy territory, or a graveyard.
My people had disappeared completely, almost like they had never existed in the first place.
“Try not to think about it that way,” Saven said comfortingly. “Some of them got away, didn’t they?”
“I think so,” I replied. “At least, that’s what Juliano said.” It wasn’t possible the City captured or killed everyone, was it?
No, I had to believe some of my people were still out there, including Jenassa. “Let’s keep moving. My house must be nearby.”
It was difficult to get my bearings when everything looked so different. Normally, if I was walking home from the orchard, I would enter the village from the northeast and head in an almost perfect diagonal path towards my house. I knew the families living in each of the homes I passed. I knew their names and faces, their occupations, their children and parents, and they knew mine. Sometimes I’d stop to say hello or play silly games with kids my own age. Sometimes I felt too shy or too tired to say anything, but I’d offer a friendly wave as I passed. Now, there was nothing. All the homes in that part of town had been destroyed.
Our marketplace had been directly in the center of the village. It was like the Grakkir marketplace, but larger and more circular. Sometimes I would stop on my way home to look at the food for sale, my stomach rumbling after a long day at work. Young children were not given any items to trade, not even from their parents. It was impossible to pay for anything until a child turned sixteen, and then we were given our own rations from the City.
When I was still very young, however, I would sometimes take a few small or ugly apples that couldn’t be sold to the City and trade them for something sweet. Glenna the baker told Jenassa and me it was our little secret and we had to eat our treats inside the store. I never knew pilfering those ugly apples was considered stealing from the City until I was a teenager. Theft was a serious crime that would have required harsh punishment.
The marketplace was barely recognizable. Only piles of rubble remained where there had once been tall brick buildings and wooden stalls. If there was anything under the rubble worth salvaging, I was certain the Grakkir or the City had already found it.
“This was once a beautiful, happy place, wasn’t it?” Saven asked. He could feel the emotions connected to my memories of the village.
“It was,” I said. “Back then, I never realized how we lived under the scrutiny of the City, and how restrictive life was.” I touched what had been the wall of the general store, or maybe it was the bakery. The fragile stone crumbled beneath my fingertips. “We’re getting closer to my house.”
“And closer to the City,” Saven observed.
“Yes, keep your eyes open.”
When I was a little girl, I used to look out my window and watch the City’s lights flickering in the distance. The place seemed so magical and mysterious back then, and I pictured each light representing a person or a family. There were so many people living there I had never met, and the idea of someday meeting them excited me. I dreamed of finding a reason to go within the walls and see for myself how amazing it was. Now, I wondered if the City Dwellers realized the awful things their City did to people. Was everyone within the walls cruel? Or were the City Dwellers just as oblivious to the City’s actions? I found it hard to believe, but then again, I was still figuring out exactly what I should believe about my old life.
The parts of the Fiero village closest to the City were the least damaged, but that wasn’t saying much. I suspected their reason for this was to lower the risk of the blasts damaging the City walls. Even so, the buildings had been severely burned, and the ones that remained standing were scorched skeletons of what
they used to be.
It was easier to get my sense of direction as I led Saven through this part of the village. I recognized the houses as I passed, if not by their outer appearance, then by their physical location within the village. This house had belonged to my classmate, and that one to Darvin. Juliano lived there, and my paternal grandparents had lived there when they were still alive. Finally, I located my own house.
“There it is,” I told Saven. Even as I thought the words, I had to pause to make sure I was certain. The shape was right, but the windows had been completely shattered. The whole structure was little more than a dark stain on the black background of night. One of the walls had completely collapsed inward, and as I placed my hand on the wall, I felt the wood give beneath my hand.
“You can’t go in there,” Saven told me.
“I know,” I said dejectedly. But I had to know if there was anything inside worth salvaging. Even an old shoe, a textbook filled with lies, or a scrap of fabric. Anything connected to my old life, something to remind me I had once had a home with a family who loved me.
Saven sensed my feelings and knew what I was thinking. It was impossible to hide anything from him, and it was in his nature to do anything to help me. “Let me go in,” he said.
“You weigh more than I do, and if the house collapses on you, I won’t be able to get you out. Besides,” I reasoned, “the sound may attract too much attention from the City.”
I felt a familiar sensation against my ankles, and looked down to see two of Saven’s siblings had returned from the City. “Were you successful?” I blurted.
The little snakes looked up at me and hissed. I tried to focus on their strange snake language, reaching into their minds with my own, but the connection wasn’t as clear as mine and Saven’s. They spoke too quickly and in thick accents I could hardly understand. I looked to Saven for clarification.
“They were successful,” Saven translated. “They went in through the low western wall and found their way into the prison easily. They only managed to find two Warriors before they had to disappear.”
