Raz motioned for Willow, and as she approached, he hissed, “Almost there. Flower is approaching the edge of the dead city.”
“What will we find? More wildlings? Other things?”
Raz frowned as Growl sniffed at the nearby stones. “You must both follow Raz very closely. During the day, the wildlings are sleeping in ruins. At night they hunt. It’s time we get to the dead lady.”
Before Willow could even ask Raz what in the world a dead lady had to do with anything, he turned and raced across the craggy landscape.
After a fifteen-minute sprint that took them past half-demolished buildings and the overgrown ruins of what was obviously a large city before the Great War, Raz slowed and then stopped.
Willow stared at the ruins ahead and a chill raced down her spine. Raz had obviously brought them to the dead lady.
She stared at the scene and sadness filled Willow as long-buried memories erupted from the dust-bins hidden in her mind.
Willow’s memories of another life poured forth. Memories of Willow walking through a thriving city flooded her. Another time. Another place.
Willow remembered the Statue of Liberty, a majestic woman holding the torch of freedom as a sign for all. A sign of hope.
The statue lying half-buried in rubble left Willow with a feeling of dread. The hope she’d promised was gone.
“Welcome to New York.”
Willow spun backward and Ramai stood on top of a large boulder; his gleaming white robes fluttered in the wind.
Growl whined.
“Mother. Two-legs smells of food.”
Ramai tossed a fist-sized hunk of dried meat toward Growl, who snatched it out of mid-air and began chewing noisily.
Ramai’s amused gaze turned to Willow. “The wolf calls you mother?”
“Yes, I found him—” Willow stopped mid-utterance and stared at Ramai. “How’d you know ... you understood him?”
Ramai tilted his head as he studied her
Raz scrambled to Willow’s side and whispered, “Ramai knows everything.”
Ramai shook his head. “Now I wouldn’t say that, but, yes, I have some skills here and there.”
Willow let out a barking laugh as Growl licked his chops and approached Ramai with tail wagging. “I found Growl when he was a puppy. His eyes weren’t even open. He’d been hunted by the Dominion’s soldiers and I thought he was dead, until very recently.”
Ramai nodded as he pulled from a hidden pocket in his robe another wad of dried meat and fed Growl by hand. “Well, that’s a good segue into why I have you here. There are places of power located within this city. First thing we’ll need to do is see if you can even use them.” He glanced to the west and sighed. “We only have an hour or so before the sun sets.”
Crossing The Barrier
With a grim expression, Raz crouched, dragged his fingers through the rocky dirt, and grumbled, “It’s bad being outside in the dead city at night.”
Willow turned from Raz and focused on Ramai. His cheeks were redder than usual as he gazed over the landscape with a sour expression. “Ramai, is the radiation affecting you?”
With a curt nod, Ramai pointed to the northeast. “Amidst the ruins of the city, there is large pile of rubble with a tall metal tower rising from it. You can just see the spire reflecting sunlight from here.”
“I see it!” Willow confirmed as her eyes focused on the steel tower. It looked to be no more than two miles away.
“I’m already feeling the pricking irritation of the poison in the air. I can’t travel with you....” Ramai dug into another hidden pocket in his robe and pulled out a shiny object. He curled his finger toward Willow. “Come here and put this on.”
Willow hopped onto the boulder that Ramai stood on and he gingerly placed a gold ring on her pointer finger.
“There, it fits fine.” Ramai showed Willow that he was wearing a matching ring on his pinky. “These are communication rings. An invention of a very old friend who taught me a thing or two long before the apocalypse that visited this land.”
“Dispocalypse!” Raz squawked, sounding annoyed.
Ramai gave a light tap to the ring on his finger and Willow’s eyes widened as she felt a vibration on her ring. “I felt that.”
“Good. Any squeeze or tap on your ring, I’ll feel; and any tap I make, you’ll feel.” Ramai stepped back and panned his gaze across Willow and her companions. “There are several places where powerful travelers have left their mark. These are locations between which some people can travel instantly.” He pointed at Willow. “I sense the ability to activate such places of power within you, but I may be wrong.”
Unease squirmed within Willow. “I don’t know anything about powers—”
“It doesn’t matter.” Ramai waved dismissively. He pointed northeast to the tower. “Go to the ruins of what was known as the Freedom Tower. When you get there, squeeze the ring three times and I’ll know to meet you. If for some reason you get into trouble along the way, just squeeze the ring. I can’t guarantee that I can help, but I’ll try.”
“The are bad places in the dead city.” Raz murmured ominously.
With a loud pop, Ramai vanished.
Willow glanced toward the west and cringed. The orange glow of the sun was dangerously low on the horizon.
“Raz will bring you there. He knows the bad places to avoid.” Raz launched himself toward the northeast, half-running, half-scrambling toward their destination.
Willow noiselessly raced after the fleet-footed wildling with Growl padding right beside her.
She silently prayed that there wouldn’t be a need to call Ramai for any reason other than their having arrived at the meeting place.
The shadows lengthened in the eerie concrete ruins of New York and Willow’s heart thudded loudly as their small group wandered through the dead city. The destroyed buildings and cracked streets made travelling even slower than it had been in the Forbidding’s forests.
Willow peered around the concrete wall of a half-destroyed building. Looming ahead was a tremendous pile of rubble, easily one-hundred-feet tall, and from it grew a giant metal-framed spire that threatened to pierce the clouds. Willow could only imagine how tall the building had been before everything had collapsed.
Gathered beneath the giant mound of rubble were four wildlings. They stood unmoving, as if waiting for something to happen. A knot of uncertainty twisted in Willow’s stomach. She wasn’t sure what to do. She could call Ramai because they were practically at their destination, yet he’d immediately appear in the midst of those dangerous creatures and she wasn’t sure how many others were nearby.
Growl sniffed the air and hunkered behind the concrete wall with her as Raz leaned closer and whispered, “Raz will be right back. Distracting them.”
Willow frowned and before she could dissuade him he’d scrambled out of earshot, darting between the shadows that lay between her and their target.
Minutes passed and Willow lost track of Raz as he approached the patrol of wildlings.
Suddenly, Willow’s ears perked at the sound of stone crashing somewhere ahead.
The wildlings heard it too and raced to investigate.
Materializing from the shadows, Raz appeared only a few feet away from where the wildlings had stood. He waved for her to approach.
Willow raced forward, ducking into the shadows as Raz had, and tapped her thumb three times against the gold ring Ramai had given her.
Seconds later, Ramai popped into existence just under one of the steel girders that stuck out of the base of the collapsed building. He waved frantically at Willow, and the group converged on the dwarf.
Ramai weaved through previously unseen cracks in the rubble and led them to a partly collapsed concrete corridor.
Willow wended her way across the rubble and noticed the gleam of metal at the end of the corridor. It was a metal wall that had burst open at one of its seams.
Ramai led them through the ruptured metal into a somewhat intac
t subterranean metal chamber no larger than ten feet by ten feet. The dwarf waved Willow closer. The white glow of a splayed hand shone prominently on the far wall and Ramai smiled. “You see it, don’t you?”
“You mean the hand?”
Ramai nodded. “Good. That’s all I need to know. Now bear with me a second while I study where this portal leads.” With a serious expression, he pointed a thick stubby finger for emphasis. “Don’t touch anything in the vault, especially the hand. You might find yourself transported into ... well, let’s just say, don’t touch anything. I need to trace where it connects to.”
The dwarf closed his eyes and Willow noticed that the barely perceptible glow she’d always detected coming off of him brightened.
With a confused expression, Raz’s gaze darted back and forth between Willow and Ramai. “Hand? Raz doesn’t see anything.”
Standing five feet from the glowing hand, Willow stared at it and a feeling of déjà vu washed over her. She remembered the same image on the back of Tristan’s locket.
Did touching the wall open a secret compartment? Maybe another train?
Willow crouched nervously and waited as Ramai stood like a glowing statue. He didn’t move. She wasn’t even sure if he was breathing.
Minutes ticked by and somewhere above, she heard shuffling sounds. Raz must have heard them as well, for he looked as worried as she felt.
The sun had almost certainly set.
Ramai’s eyes flicked open and he grimaced.
“Bah! The cave that this attaches to has collapsed. This is not a way for you to cross into the Dominion’s territory.”
A large scratching sound caught everyone’s attention and Ramai motioned for silence as he approached the ruptured entrance to the vault.
Willow watched as Ramai’s hands glowed brilliantly white. The air shimmered as if it was being heated from some invisible energy source. The whole entrance shimmered even as Ramai stepped back with a satisfied nod.
Raz pointed as a pair of wildlings walked toward the entrance, sniffing.
Willow’s heart raced, her muscles tensed as she silently drew an arrow from her quiver. In her mind, Rubyrend roared—ready for combat—as Willow gripped the bow and nocked an arrow to the bowstring.
Ramai motioned for silence as her nerves tingled and adrenaline raced through her.
Everyone remained still as the wildlings continued to sniff at the entrance to the vault. The shimmering barrier must have had one-way transparency, because seconds later, the wildlings slowly turned and walked away.
Willow let out a breath and Ramai motioned for Willow to come closer.
“I’ve sealed this chamber, and we should be safe from detection for the next ten minutes or so. I’ll be right back, I need to scan ahead and look for other portals that won’t lead to anyone’s death.”
Before Willow could ask a question, Ramai blinked out of existence.
Raz sniffed and spat on the ground. “Not liking this one bit.” He sat cross-legged and stared at the shimmering barrier.
Growl curled himself into a ball, resting next to Raz.
Worry flooded through all of Willow’s senses and with a frustrated huff, she crouched with her bow at the ready and waited.
Sitting cross-legged in the middle of the vault, Willow felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end as Ramai’s hands pushed some kind of energy into the barrier he’d created. When he’d reappeared only moments before, the barrier had nearly stopped shimmering and she’d worried that it would vanish before he returned.
With the barrier reinforced, Ramai turned away from the vault’s entrance and his gaze settled on Willow. “Did you say that the werebits had found a way across the Dominion’s barrier to the Forbidding?”
She nodded. “I think so. I even heard some of the soldiers from the barrier patrols talk about it once.” Growl settled his muzzle in her lap and she scratched between his ears. “Why do you ask?”
Ramai frowned. “Well, I found another portal. This one won’t get across the barrier, but it’s pretty close. Unfortunately it seems to be six feet underwater. I know your wolf can swim, but can you?”
Willow nodded.
He turned to Raz. “And what about you?”
“Like a newt.” Raz reported with a smile.
“What do you mean a portal?” Willow asked. “Are we going to just appear somewhere underwater?”
“A portal can be located almost anywhere, but it can only be created by someone with great power, and it is made to link one location to another. So, yes, upon using this particular portal, you will immediately disappear from one place and appear in another. Unfortunately, for this portal, you’ll appear underwater.” Ramai paused and held his finger up. “Let me try something with all of you. Maybe I can show you what I saw.”
Ramai closed his eyes and the white aura about him flared.
For Willow, it was as if her mind’s eye immediately woke and an image of an underwater glowing hand appeared. Her mind’s eye retreated from the portal and surfaced to see a large lake surrounded by thick woods. A shiver ran through her as the image brought back memories of her death and sudden reawakening. “I’ve been there. The werebits dragged me to that lake, and the water saved my life ... or maybe gave me a new one.”
With eyes still closed, Raz grinned. “Raz knows that water too. There are lots of fish in there. Raz talked to the man of the lake and he ... he ... Raz can’t remember anymore.” Raz’s eyes opened and he frowned. He turned to Ramai. “Raz remembers the man of the lake and then you found Raz and led him to the underworld where he stayed safe. Nothing in between.”
“Fascinating.” Ramai smiled. “That lake is imbued with an ancient power. The portal I’ll be taking you to was established thousands of years ago, long before cities even existed on this land.”
Willow asked, “Who made this portal?”
“It’s ancient, even by my own reckoning. Formed by the native people of this land. Going back thousands of years, the native Americans worshipped the spirits of the lake and believed that it contained the essence of their ancestors.” Ramai turned to Raz. “Maybe that’s how I found you in this city. One of the spirits possibly sent you through the lake portal into the city where I happened to find you.” Ramai stroked his beard and hummed. “Some things are coincidence, others are not. I’ll need to check the prophecies.”
Willow lifted herself out of a sitting position and crouched on the balls of her feet. “So how far is it to the portal?”
“Not far. It’s only about a mile, but let’s talk about a few things first. What are you really trying to accomplish? Is it just saying goodbye to your family? You don’t have any crazy ideas about trying to save anyone or do something rash, do you?”
Willow sighed. She’d given lots of thought to what she really wanted and it pained her to admit that there was no way for her to live with her brothers again in the Dominion-controlled areas. The Forbidding was poisonous to humans and dwarves alike. “No, I just wanted to say goodbye and tell them not to worry about me. There’s nothing I can do about the rest of humanity. They’re enslaved under the yoke of the Governor and the Dominion’s Steel Fist.”
With a sympathetic expression, Ramai patted Willow’s shoulder. “Unlike in the days of the great Exodus thousands of years ago, the Dominion is weak. It is the minority enslaving the majority. You can’t help the people unless they choose to help themselves.”
“I know that, but you have to understand. They’re afraid. They can’t stand up against the Dominion. They can’t let themselves cross them, because they know the consequences. People disappear. They die.”
Ramai raked his fingers through his white beard and asked, “Do you any longer care what the Dominion thinks of you?”
The question caught Willow by surprise. “I suppose not.”
Ramai smiled and gently cupped Willow’s face in his hands. “Freedom discovers each and every individual at the moment they lose concern over what others think
. When humanity is ready, they’ll cast off that yoke of oppression, but not before that.”
Willow weighed Ramai’s words carefully. She thought about all of the people she knew. How afraid they were of the Dominion and the sycophants like Mel who did anything they could to ingratiate themselves with the Governor and his people. She nodded. Humanity wasn’t ready for freedom. Not yet.
Ramai leaned closer and whispered, “If you like, I can welcome your brothers into the underworld. However, they’d need to understand that there’d be no turning back if they chose to take me up on that offer.”
With a sharp intake of breath, Willow replayed Ramai’s words and for the first time, she thought about the possibility of having her brothers live in the underworld with her. Finding a home away from the Dominion and starting over together. As a family. Her vision blurred and she engulfed Ramai in a hug as tears dripped onto her cheeks. “I don’t know what they’ll say, but thank you for offering.”
With a determined expression, Willow drew her dagger as Raz and Growl gathered around Ramai.
The formidable dwarf glowed brightly as the vault shimmered all around them. Ramai whispered, “I’ll walk slowly, but make sure you stay right next to me and remain utterly silent. The barrier I’ve raised extends only six feet in each direction. Outside of that, you’ll be seen.”
Raz nodded and Growl pressed against Willow’s left hip as she stood right behind Ramai.
Willow’s heart raced as Ramai began to slowly walk out of the vault, through the partially-collapsed corridor, and up into the rubble of the Freedom Tower.
The full moon cast an eerie light over the dead city as they carefully skirted a roaming patrol of nearly a dozen wildlings. The vicious-looking creatures sniffed the air and frantically scanned the vicinity as Ramai led them carefully through the open streets of New York.
Willow felt Growl shiver as he pressed against her, and she could only imagine what was going through his mind.
After nearly half a mile, and having avoided three other patrols, the ruins of the city receded and gave way to sparse undergrowth. As the group left the city further behind, they approached a half-dozen boulders arrayed in a semicircle. At its center was an oblong stone nearly six-feet long by two-feet wide. Dirt and underbrush had recently been pulled away. Assumedly Ramai’s work.
Dispocalypse Page 24
