by Sage Sask
I search futilely for proof to substantiate Victoria’s claim. “There’s no fire,” I assure her. “You were right about this mountain.” Sure her fear is driving her imagination, I say, “We’re safe.”
“No, we’re not.” She tilts her head to the side and listens. “It’s coming closer.”
I repeat that everything is fine and we are moving away from the fire, not toward it, when a clap of thunder jolts us. Seconds later, lightning bolts paint the sky. A muted scream glides toward us, but I can’t pinpoint from where.
“It’s a storm,” I say. “The rain will help control the fire below.”
“It’s strong, malevolent.” Victoria’s face clouds over with fear. “Move now!” Her directive is too late. Lightning strikes right behind us. The brush catches fire and spreads in a straight, thin line around the mountain, cutting us off from every other route.
“Go!”
We drop our packs and axes to race away from the burning flames toward a clearing ahead. The fire lights up the sky, casting everything in an orange glow. Blood trickles from my fingers where thorns pierced my skin.
“The flames are moving diagonally.”
From higher up, we have an unobstructed view of the surrounding mountains. Everywhere, people rush upward to safety. At the foot of the mountain, the flames dance in victory. The fire continues to march upward. In muted horror, I watch as the blaze rushes toward the other side of the mountain, where Hudson, Melanie, and Cassia are standing.
“They need to move,” I whisper. The fire’s roar drowns out my voice. Helpless, I can only watch as the fire hunts them down. In seconds it surrounds them, trapping them in place.
They start to jump over the flames when Melanie screams. The fire threatens to climb up her legs, engulfing her in its inferno. Cassia and Hudson slap at the sparks with their hands. Hudson scoops a handful of dirt and throws it on the dancing flames. Cassia yanks off her jacket and wraps it around Melanie’s legs, cutting off the oxygen source and extinguishing the flames. Scooping Melanie into his arms, Hudson jumps over the line of fire to safety. As Cassia readies to jump, the fire surrounds her from behind, trapping her.
“No,” I whisper, and then scream, my voice joining all the others.
Our cries are futile. The flame grows, engulfing the area Cassia was standing in seconds ago. My screams go silent. I stare in horror, my breathing slowing down until I am gasping. My lungs beg for oxygen, but I can’t take a breath. I stare at the ground and then up again, hoping that the scene will change, that somehow what I saw wasn’t the truth but instead a hallucination caused by the flames. But in the place that Cassia was standing, there’s only blackened earth left. The fire that raged fierce only moments before has now lost its anger. Instead, it laps at the ground, admiring its work.
“Alexia,” Victoria says quietly, “you need to breathe.”
“She’s gone.” I wait for Victoria to tell me I’m wrong. That somehow, with her limited vision, she witnessed something different. But Victoria stays silent, and in her silence, I hear the truth.
She pushes aside the shirt that binds us to clasp my hand. I grip it, and in that one second, we mourn together.
FIFTY-FOUR
The smell of burning foliage fills the air. Plumes of black smoke rise from below and circle us. I swipe at the tears flowing down my face. With each step, I replay the last few days in my head – the grief, the hardship, and the never-ending loss. Above us, high on the ridge, the sun mocks us as it sneaks behind a cloud, bathing us in darkness. Needing to move faster, I allow the logical part of my mind to take over, numbing my emotions temporarily.
We move faster, desperate to get away. As we get closer to the top, there’s moisture in the air. We climb until we reach a cliff with a straight drop into a sprawling river. The rushing water pounds against the other side of the mountain. The only way off is to jump. Victoria will never survive it. Without her sight, the fall will kill her.
“Victoria.” I consider our options.
“It’s here.” She yanks off the shirt binding us together and drops to the ground, both palms on the earth, searching.
“What is?”
The fire follows us slowly up the hilltop. It takes its time, as if it knows we are cornered with few choices. I search the area for any other path, but the only way is to jump.
Ignoring me, she continues to search. Her hand lingers over a pile of rocks before she starts tossing them aside to unearth a small box.
“The crystal?” I breathe.
She opens it, but instead of the crystal is a key. She wraps her fingers around it. “The key to the box holding the crystal.” She stands and walks to the edge of the cliff. Sadness flitters across her face. “The crystal is down there.”
“You can’t make the jump,” I say. Victoria shakes her head in agreement. The phone. I reach for my back pocket, belatedly remembering I put it there. My heart pounds until I feel the rectangular shape. I pull it out and stare at it, and then the key in her hand.
“I have a call.” On her look of disbelief, I explain, “Serafina gave it to me before we left. She said to use it only in an emergency.”
“Serafina?” Victoria asks.
Shock and sadness cross her face. To her, it must seem like Serafina has chosen me over the others. “She said it wasn’t fair that I hadn’t trained as long as the others…” I trail off in my explanation.
“I can’t take the call from you,” Victoria says.
“For the key,” I correct her. It’s a trade-off. Her life for mine.
She drops her head, and though her eyes remain translucent, I see the disappointment in her face. I refuse to react to it, however. She doesn’t know of my battle, nor would she care.
“Will you give the key to David?” she asks. My silence is her answer. She walks to the edge of the cliff and bends to touch the ground. She closes her eyes as she tries to get a reading on the situation.
“It’s too high,” I tell her. “You need your sight.”
“So you get what you want,” she murmurs, rising to stand in front of me. Face-to-face, we are two sides of a coin. “Your team gets to go home.”
Disgusted, I laugh bitterly. “None of this is what I want.” I hold out the phone. “You need to make a decision. Chance the fall or go home.”
She turns again toward the ridge. I see the moment she makes her decision. Her face fills with disappointment. I harden myself against reacting.
“He doesn’t know who you really are,” she says. “He’s fooled by what he hopes.”
Ryan. She must be speaking about him. I think about what I saw on the ledge and wonder again at the truth in it. I feel guilt at her statement. Trying to convince her and myself at the same time, I say, “Ryan doesn’t care who I am. We mean nothing to each other.”
“He cares more than either of us want to believe.” She holds out the key. “It’s yours to do with what you wish.” She pauses then says, “I hope it’s the right thing.”
Refusing to respond to her, I open the phone and place the call. Remembering Serafina’s dictates about it, I say simply, “I need help.”
Within a few minutes, there’s the familiar rumbling and then the sound of the capsule cutting through the air. Every face from every mountain turns toward the noise. They watch as the capsule locks in on the coordinates to land beside us. Damian jumps out of the cockpit.
“What’s the injury?” he asks, perusing us.
“Victoria,” I say. “She needs to go home.”
Damian glances at her in question, then the ridge. He nods and leads her toward the capsule. Without a word to me, she slowly climbs in with Damian’s help. The doors shut behind her. The engine spurts to life, and seconds later, the capsule disappears within the clouds. I step to the ridge, unsure whether I can do it. I laugh bitterly at my own personal test of courage and strength. A
t the moment, I wonder whether I have either.
FIFTY-FIVE
Below me, the fire gets stronger. I stare at the water, imagining its depths and the darkness beneath it. I drop my head for barely a second to process the emotion. I count myself down, then close my eyes and leap off the cliff. The fall feels like forever. The wind rushes past my face. For just a brief moment, I feel the freedom of weightlessness. The cliffs rise up to embrace me. My mind goes into sensory overload as the sights rush past me.
The water surges up in welcome. Seconds from impact, I remind myself to breathe. I slam into the water. The momentum pushes me past the surface of the water and into its recesses. Water fills my mouths and lungs. Flashes of the day I was lost in the water, waves crashing over me, inundate me, sapping my strength.
Inside the water’s depths, everything falls quiet. In contrast, the roar inside my head gets louder as the water rushes into my eardrums. I look up toward the surface and then down toward the endless bottom. I shut my eyes as the momentum pushes me further down. Images of my mother transcend the pain and panic.
But she’s alive.
The reminder comes from the deepest part of my brain fighting for survival. The words jerk my consciousness into action. If I fail here, then I am free. But if I survive, then my fight is just beginning. My mind weighs the options. But one thought outweighs the rest — only if I live will I see her again. I have to be stronger than the memories.
I kick my legs, my lungs burning with the effort. Rays of sun sift through the water. I increase my strokes as I reach for the surface. My oxygen reservoir depletes. Just when I am sure I can’t make it, I break the water’s shell. Next to me, there’s a splash and then another. We swim in unison as the force of the water pushes us. The water gains speed and energy as we move downstream.
“There’s an overhang,” someone yells.
Seconds later, I plummet over the waterfall. I keep my head above water as we land in a pool. Others fall around me. The rushing water makes it impossible to find footing. I hold my breath as I swim through a small school of fish. Rocks and small water animals litter the sandy floor. A crab crawls quickly away when I get near it.
We swim past more falls and into treacherous terrain. Rushing water pulls us into its abyss, throwing our bodies around like rag dolls. I bury the memories of my past in the deep recesses of my mind as I fight the current to keep control. I push my arms harder. Just as I get my bearing, there’s a tug on my foot. I reel back as river weed circles my foot. Desperate, I struggle to undo it. Water rushes over my face and into my lungs. I scream for help, but the rush of water drowns the sound.
“Hold on to me,” Jackie yells, treading water next to me.
Amazed to see her, I grip her shoulders to keep my head above water. With the reprieve, I try and catch my breath. She gulps a mouthful of oxygen before dipping below the water to free my leg. I battle the current fighting to pull me down. She comes up, her face worried.
“It’s tangled around your foot.” She raises her voice over the roar of the water. A gushing wave throws her against the current, and she swallows a mouthful of water.
“I’ll get it,” I yell when I see her struggling. I’m lying. Without her help, I will drown in the currents.
She rolls her eyes. “I’ve got one good hand, so I’m going to need your other one.” On my nod, we both take a deep breath and dive.
I twist my body, and with one hand each, we work in tandem. Jackie tugs on the tangled strands around my ankle as I pull on the other side. Another rush of water threatens to overtake us both when my foot dangles free. Jackie inhales deep gulps as the force pushes us forward. We land on the shore nearly at the same time. We straggle onto the beach with others.
“Thank you,” I say when Jackie starts ahead of me. She stops, and we stare at one another. “You could have just left me back there. Would have been smarter for you.”
“But not better,” she says. “With everything that happened…” She pauses and takes a breath. “You were my friend. And I hope one day you will be again.”
She walks away to join the others. The sun beats down on me as I stand in place, staring after her.
“The water?” Ryan comes up from behind with a group of other swimmers. Having no idea what just happened to me, he asks, “Were you ok?”
“Yeah.” The others give us a nod as they follow the crowd inland. “I survived.”
“I see that.” He grins before he glances at the mountains then back at me. “What happened with Victoria?” The only two left on the shore, we stare at one another. “How did a capsule come for her?”
“There was a phone on the mountain.” I think quickly, afraid to tell him the truth. His face clouds over with doubt. A shout interrupts whatever he may have said.
“We found the box,” Melanie yells.
The crystal, I think. Victoria had said it was below. We both run toward the group.
“The final crystal,” Derrick murmurs when we reach them. He points to a small box set atop a table of rocks. “It has to be.”
“That’s it?” David stares at the box, disappointed. “No fighting or danger to escape from?”
“You want more than what we’ve already dealt with?” Jackie demands. “Wasn’t all the loss enough for you?” She shakes her head in disgust. “Just when I think I can’t hate you more.”
“It’s the Evaluation,” David says, emphasizing the word. “Time to grow up.”
“You first,” Jackie says sweetly.
“Both of you? Shut up.” Ryan’s gaze locks on the box. “We were led here. The fire pushed us up the mountain and forced us down the river to this place.”
“How do we open it?” Samira asks.
“No matter how we do, our team found it. The crystal belongs to us.” David stands next to the box and puts a hand over it possessively.
“You are kidding, right?” Samira asks. “We all found it together.”
“Not how I remember it,” David returns. “I was the first lead agent to find it. My decision.”
“No,” I say. “It isn’t.” Everyone jerks their head toward me as I hold up the key. “Victoria and I found a phone and the key on the mountain,” I repeat the lie easily. “She chose the capsule.” I leave the rest unsaid, but it’s enough for the groups to know the key is ours.
“Victoria chose the capsule?” David repeats incredulously.
I feel Ryan’s doubt but ignore him. Instead, I stare pointedly at David’s hand on the box until he removes it. As I slip the key into the hole, my gaze finally meets Ryan’s, and then Derrick’s. They watch me as everyone else waits. I am the final step in settling our fate and survival.
Ready to claim victory, I suddenly remember Serafina’s words—the Evaluation is more than a test of strength. It is a test of character. The words echo in my mind, urging me toward an action that chances everything. I seek out and find Jackie. Without her help, I wouldn’t even be here.
“Your turn.” I motion Jackie toward me and the key. Her eyes widen in shock.
“Alexia,” Ryan says. “What are you doing?”
“We all go home,” I say.
“If we do this, then everyone may lose,” Jackie says. “No one gets to go home.”
In one glance, I take in the group, and then focus on Jackie. Images of Levi lying on the ground take center stage in my mind’s eye. Then I stood by and did nothing. Now, I refuse to leave the rest of them behind. Not here and not after everything they have done to help me.
“But isn’t it worth taking a chance?” I ask softly.
The others wait while Jackie decides. They know their fates lie in our hands. Jackie searches my face. She considers the box then lays a hand on the key. I put a hand on one side as she turns it. There’s the sound of metal turning as it unlocks. Together, we place a hand on either side of the box.
“Are you sure?” Jackie asks one more time. “You and your group could go home.”
“We are all here together,” Samira says slowly. “Cassia…” Her voice breaks. “I can’t help but wonder what she would have done, what she would have wanted.”
“For everyone to go home,” Ryan answers. “She never would have left anyone behind.”
The decision solidified, I say, “On three.” I count us down as the entire group watches. On three Jackie and I both push the lid open to reveal an empty box.
“What the hell?” David frantically searches the box, but it’s empty. “Is this a joke?”
“There is no crystal.” Ryan considers me then addresses the group. “There was never a crystal.”
“What are you talking about?” Cameron asks.
“It wasn’t about the crystal,” Derrick answers, understanding. “It was about the decision. About doing the right thing.” He gives me a quick nod of approval. “Now, we wait.”
FIFTY-SIX
The jeep arrives within the hour. The exhaust releases puffs of carbon monoxide into the air. Michael follows Serafina out. Her long skirt wraps around her legs.
Serafina’s gaze runs slowly over the group. Her face tightens when she counts those missing. She finally settles on first Ryan then me. Ryan takes the lead and meets her at the jeep.
“There was no crystal,” Ryan says.
“No, there wasn’t.” Serafina searches our broken faces. “It’s unprecedented for both groups to end up at the box at the same time.”
“But we did. And we made a decision,” Jackie says.
“Either everyone goes home, or no one does,” Serafina says. “You took a chance.”
“Was it the right one?” Ryan asks.
“Who thought it would be?” Serafina asks.
The group falls silent. No one outs me as the one at fault. Even David stays unusually quiet. Finally, when the silence lingers, I speak.
“I made the decision.”
