by L M Feldt
I see the hurt in his eyes and immediately feel like the worst jerk. He has exposed his heart to me, made himself vulnerable and I have just crapped all over it.
“I’m sorry.” I whisper. “I just have to focus on getting us all safely to the city right now. It is all I think about. I don’t think I have room for anything else. I don’t think I can feel anything else.” I look into Khane’s stormy gray eyes and I see recognition there. Even if he wants things to heat up between us, I can see that he understands where I am coming from.
“Friends for now?” He asks quietly.
“Friends for always.” I correct. I think he is going to push the issue but then his eyes open wide and he points.
“Keira, look!”
I turn and follow his gaze toward the small dome I’d tripped over. I can’t believe it. The dome is clear, about two and a half foot lengths wide and through it I can see what appears to be a lab down below. I fall to my knees and stare through. Strange mechanicals streaming wires like Aito used to have snake along metal workbenches and down to the floor. There are also huge clear tubes, standing vertically on sturdy bases and capped at the tops. Wires and flexible tubes sprout from the tops and inside float adult sized creatures, too far away to make out any more details. There are five of these.
“We have to get in there!” I am excited to have accomplished our goal but the creatures make me hesitate. I can’t see them well through the distortion of the curved glass.
“Here, you’ve fractured it.” Khane traces fine white lines across the smooth surface.
“Stand back.” He elbows me aside as he draws his great ax.
I’ve seen what it can do, I move. It takes three swings but finally the dome splinters with a loud crack. It looks like the top of an egg after it’s been dropped with the jagged edges pointing to the sky. Khane kneels and wiggles loose a section of the dome. The material is very sharp and together, we carefully remove the jagged pieces without loosing any fingers. We make sure to wiggle loose even the smallest pieces, the opening is small and if we are going to squeeze through safely we’ll need every bit of space smooth and clear. Next; how to get down there.
In the end we decide to go back and tell the others. We had started our journey with rope but somewhere along the way it had gotten lost. It is the blue boy, who, once torn away from his chat with the glowing face, shows us how to make a passable rope from the roots of the tall weeds growing in the shade of the building. It is hard work digging up the plants but once knotted together, the roots seem strong enough to hold a single person’s weight.
The day has slid into night as we worked and now I am exhausted. I manage to shovel down a quick dinner of dried fish and roasted tubers before falling instantly asleep. I sit bolt upright, covered in cold sweat, my wings quivering. I have been awakened by my reoccurring dream, the one with the monster chasing me. This time it got close enough that I could see it’s eyes, angry orange eyes with a tat just like mine. I wake with my heart pounding. I don’t like the what the dream suggests.
Taking calming breaths I realize it is full dark, sometime in the middle of the night. The black sky has some dark clouds but I can still see a dusting of stars. I wonder if I will be able to see the sky like this from the city of lights. Seeing the stars had been a major goal of mine so I leave my nest of blankets move further from the fire to see them better. They are brilliant, tiny points of white fire that glitter coldly. I stare at them, breathing in the night air, listening to the quiet.
Then I hear whispers coming from near one of the buildings. We had decided not to enter the labs once the new rope was finished. It had gotten late and no one liked the idea of getting stuck down there in the dark, especially not with those people/creatures suspended in the huge tanks. So who was over there now? I creep closer…
“I think I’ve found one. An Ark. Yes, I am sure I’ll be able to get at least some of the equipment working. I’ll let you know if they have a cryo-freeze. Otherwise….. I know! I know the stakes. You have been very clear. I’ll test her, then we’ll know for sure.”
I follow the sound of Aito’s unmistakable voice, edging closer as quietly as I can. This is not the first time I have woken to hear him talking to someone, yet the memory of the other time is vague and unclear. I am careful not to make a sound as I approach the corner of the building and peer around. I see him then, crouched down, cupping a strange looking thing in his hands. It’s glow removes all the softness from his face. He looks like a man in this light, all hard planes and angles.
“And if she’s a match?”
A breeze ruffles my hair, a strand tickles my cheek but I don’t move.
“Yes, but…no. No I understand.”
The strange object looses it’s glow and collapses in on itself. It is the bracelet we’d found on Micha that had supposedly belonged to Khane’s sister. Somehow Aito has been talking to someone through it. His face dissolves into darkness and he sits unmoving.
I am suddenly aware of my position, he will have to pass by me to return to camp and I will be discovered. The strand of hair flutters and whips into my left eye, surprising me. I move without thinking…the barest whisper of my arm against my leather strap….
It is morning and I am awake, staring up at a rose colored sky as the sun rises. My head pounds and I am aware that I have lost time. This is what happened before, when I’d come upon Aito and the strange bracelet and it confirms my deep suspicions. Aito, my angel, the small golden haired boy who befriended the angry girl with orange eyes, is a tempest, the very worst of the worst. His twist is mind control. As if that isn’t bad enough, he is working with someone, someone that has an interest in either Naoaki or I.
But who are they and what do they want?
Twenty Six
What should have been an orderly decent into the labs quickly deteriorates into chaos. Micha and his creature are holding up the line, leaving Naoaki to stand guard below by herself as the remnant refuses to go first or allow Micha to shimmy down the rope alone. I would have thought a dead thing would be a lot less emotional but the partially decayed creature refuses to be wrapped in rope and tries to bite anyone that approaches Micha. Meanwhile, the blue boy, who is supposed to be heading back, has slithered down the rope before we could stop him. Far too curious for his own good. Through some misdirection and quick thinking on Khane’s part, Micha is tied and lowered leaving the remnant to leap to the floor in a single bound. It lands unharmed. Apparently, being dead really does have some advantages.
Finally, I slither down the rope and hop to the hard, white floor. Everything is white down here, white or metal and it feels cool and dry. I wonder if this is the first time in decades that fresh air has reached this place. Naoaki has already scouted the two doors leading from this room and they both open easily. We decide to lock them for now so we won’t get surprised by something sneaking up on us.
I want to check out the tanks with the people/creatures floating in them but Aito is standing before them and I don’t think I can hide what I know from him right now. It is still too fresh. I am afraid that if he realizes I am aware of him and his twist he will just wipe my memories again. I need time to think. There are so many little things that I hadn’t taken seriously before. Now, I wonder. Was our escape planned much further in advance than I’d been led to believe? If so, why? Who is he really working for? Is it our government or someone else? Why were they trying to take him apart when I’d found him? If he is a double spy then he plays a dangerous game.
My head is whirling and still aches from Aito’s mind manipulations so I am short tempered and irritable. I must tend to be this way a lot as no one seems to think anything of it. Stomping to one of the doors I just manage to prevent the blue boy from unlocking it and wandering off. A small red light I hadn’t noticed before sits just below the door lock. It is blinking.
“Did you press that? Never mind. You are supposed to be headed back.” I scold. I do not need the fisherman coming after me.
/> “I just want to see.” The boy pouts.
“You are spoiled. Most people are not allowed to do as they please whenever they want.” I take him by an arm, a less effective measure when there are six to choose from, and steer him back toward the room. I can feel time slipping away. The boy needs to go now or I will have to face the wrath of his people in the form of my former sparring partner. I don’t think he’d held back when we’d fought but I have no wish to know for sure.
“But…” Two arms grab a table leg and I am forced to stop.
“No. No buts….you are going back!” I see the tremble in his chin and sigh. “Look, it is for your safety. We don’t know what we will find here. And if anything happens to you it will be taken out of my skin.”
“I don’t want to go.” Insists the boy. “You are the biggest thing to ever happen.” Big eyes stare into mine, liquid and full of feeling.
I groan and run my hand over my face. Displays of emotion are not something I am comfortable with, they have no place in survival and they are not often discussed in the Warrior’s Code. I am trying to think of something to say that will convince this willful and well loved child that he needs to go home when Naoaki pops up, pulling her invisibility trick.
“Ahh!” The boy looses his grip on the table leg and stumbles back, startled. His feet tangle and he dances backward, flailing all six arms as he tries to catch his balance. He is headed toward the rope, if only by accident. Unfortunately, directly between him and the dangling, woven roots is the remnant. Funny, I wouldn’t have thought a dead thing would care so much about being stepped on.
What happens next has us all standing with our mouths open. Somehow, in the tussle, the boy and the hissing remnant and the rope become entangled. They wind together, a twisting mass of blue arms and hissing dead thing. They finally come to rest hanging suspended off the floor with the decayed creature snapping at the air and hissing like mad. The boy is squealing and Micha moves in to help before I can stop him. His weight, added to the mass of squirming boy and creature are too much for our makeshift rope. With a sharp crack it snaps off at the hole in the ceiling, dropping the whole writhing mess to the floor.
Naoaki rushes over to help unravel them but I am rooted. I stare at the small circle in the ceiling as my mind tries to calculate where another exit might be. First priority, now, is to search for another way out. I just hope I can find it before the fisherman comes for the boy. I am not afraid so much as duty bound, that and our discovery of the fisher people is a wondrous, bright spot in my otherwise stress filled life. I don’t want to darken my memories of them by betraying their trust.
I look across the room at the tall vats, see Aito looking my way, and quickly turn my gaze as though I haven’t noticed him. A chill washes over my skin and it takes effort to keep my wings settled. Aito, my friend, may have become a very real threat.
“Shit!”
Startled, I turn to find Khane standing next to me. I had been so wrapped up in my thoughts I hadn’t sensed him. I nod, acknowledging our predicament.
“I’m headed out to look for another exit. Coming?” Khane breathes at my ear.
“I think you should stay here. Naoaki and I are going. She’s best at scouting.” I answer. I catch Naoaki’s eye from across the room where she is still working on the tangle of blue boy and remnant.
“Have I made you uncomfortable?” He asks quietly, still standing closer than I’d like. I shrug. Right now Khane and his burden of emotional needs isn’t my biggest concern.
“Don’t worry about it. Right now we have jobs to do.” It isn’t just his needy pressure for a deeper relationship I want space from. I need to avoid Aito too.
“Looks like we need to find a new way out, eh?” Naoaki joins us and rolls her eyes at the mess of rope and remnant and blue waving arms. The situation is serious but I appreciate Naoaki’s light attitude. She may still blame me for her cousin’s death but she pulls her weight and even manages a joke now and then. I admire her quiet strength.
We slide through the door the boy had nearly opened and I follow her down a long corridor. I let her check out various rooms as we pass but she just shrugs and moves on. Nothing. The walls and floor are white here too. No signs designate the rooms or their purposes. It is sterile and only a fine layer of pale dust indicates any passage of time. I wonder how long it has been since any human, twist or otherwise has passed these halls. We come to a split, needing to choose either left or right.
“Which way?” Naoaki asks as she sniffs the air.
I look. Both ways looked identical to me, white followed by more endless white.
“It all looks the same.”
Naoaki pauses and turns to me, her eyes gleam darkly.
“Are you going to tell me the real story? We thought you had drowned.” Accusation coats the tone in her voice and I am mildly surprised. I find that as sad as it makes me, I had gotten used to the idea of her hating me, blaming me for Fish’s death.
“Would you care so much?” I respond. I choose the hall to the right and start down, not waiting for her to scout ahead.
“Look. Stop ok, just stop.” Naoaki’s hand reaches out and lightly brushes my shoulder. She huffs a breath and runs her fingers through her short red hair as she struggles with what she wants to say.
“I liked it better long. The red braid was fierce.” I say. I don’t want to continue the way we have. At this rate I’ll be avoiding the entire group all the way to the city of lights.
“Yeah, I miss it.” She says but I sense she means more than her hair.
Do I tell her I think Fish is really Ash and doing just fine, alive anyway, and risk her disbelief and anger? Or, do I let it slide and risk her anger later when he reveals himself and she realizes that I must have known all along? She sees me hesitate.
“Spill it, already. Better to be honest up front no matter what.”
I sigh, lean back against the wall, folding my arms across my chest. Easy for her to say. I debate what to share. I had suspected that at one point she and Aito might be growing closer but that seems to have cooled. Still, I didn’t really know where her loyalties lie.
“I have only suspicions. I could be wrong.” I hedge.
Naoaki nods and mirrors my stance, leaning back and folding her arms.
“It’s time we had this out. It is stupid, charging through dangerous country and not trusting each other.” She glances away and continues. “I was really mad at you for a while, for Fish. He was my only family and we were pretty close. He depended on me and I guess when he fell into that black pool…..” She draws a breath, “Thing is, I idolized you. I thought you could do anything and when he fell and you weren’t able to save him….”
“I tried!” My sudden anger makes my wings shift in response.
“I know! I know that but…loosing him was too much. I didn’t handle it well.” She pauses. “And I’m sorry.”
I remain quiet. I am still unsure. What if I am wrong and I am giving her false hope?
“Oh shit. It’s big isn’t it?”
I nod.
Naoaki grins evilly.
“Now you have to tell me. Warriors code number nine; ‘Any information having to do with a minion’s safety must be conveyed immediately.’”
“That’s not exactly right….” I start then settle back against the wall. I don’t recall any such code. She’s poking fun at me. “Fine. But no ripping my head off. Also, you are not a minion.”
In the end, I tell her. I tell her about Ash drawing the sign of a fish that first night after he’d led us to the river. I tell her about the creature that I’d thought to be a second serpent, huge and black, sweeping past me just moments before I’d lost consciousness, deep underwater, fighting the silver serpent off. I tell her about finding the fish sign drawn in the sand when I’d finally woken alone on the beach. Through it all Naoaki just stares at me, her face unreadable.
Twenty Seven
Naoaki is quiet as we continue our search for
an exit. The idea that ‘Ash’ may in fact be Fish is shocking. Most twists go through a mutation phase of some kind, usually something small like a change in skin texture or maybe not even anything visible. Fish’s metamorphosis, if it is really him, is beyond anything I have ever heard of. I wouldn’t blame her if she didn’t believe me.
Naoaki pops up beside me, her face tense.
“There are more of those huge clear vats on the other side of this door. Another lab….” She hesitates. “Inside are….” She doesn’t finish but from her expression I can guess.
Abomination. It is not a term we use lightly. Those of us that are mutated have a hard time pointing the finger at others that are clearly not ‘normal’. I push past her and enter the room. There is more light here, small white globes are scattered about and throw strange, elongated shadows. It is sterile here too, everything white, but it feels more lived in somehow. Glancing around I can see apparatus still connected rather than put away or broken and there are notebooks strewn about. This lab looks to have been operational right up until everyone disappeared. The tall vats are bubbling away, not stagnant like the first ones we’d found. I hope this is not an indication that the creatures inside are alive because Naoaki is right. These beings are the result of madness.
