The Tattered Lands

by Barbara Ann Wright

  “There might be tracks. We won’t know until we look.” She let them babble, knowing they wouldn’t grab her unless they absolutely had to, as when Face-mouth had attacked. Her heart felt lighter than it had in a long time. She was doing something; she had a plan. It was a stupid plan, but it was hers, and she was doing it. Sick and tired of being told what she could and couldn’t do, what was possible, she kept putting one foot in front of the other and letting the twins argue until she stopped, ready to prove her point.

  They stopped too, continuing their diatribe until they seemed to notice where they were standing. No one had even noticed when they’d passed through the mist. Vandra smiled at her work in satisfaction.

  The tattered mist formed a bubble around them, the roiling wall of despair surrounding but not touching them, repelled by the stones. Faelyn was as pale as when they’d first found him in the woods. He trembled and wiped his lips on his sleeve as if seeking to cleanse his mouth of the taint.

  Vandra took his hand. In the past, Lilani had seemed much more affected by the tattered lands and the piece of metal than Vandra ever had. She didn’t know if it hurt him or simply crushed his spirit, but she wanted him to know she appreciated his sacrifice.

  As if shaken out of a stupor, Fieta held her spear ready, scanning the mist, and Pietyr drew his sword. Ever practical, he knelt to look for tracks. If they were in the tattered lands, they might as well find some clues.

  “This ground is like sand,” he said softly. “Except…mushier.”

  Vandra looked down, her own curiosity piqued. It seemed a little like sand and a bit like mud, though it didn’t cling as she lifted her feet. It kept the impression of her boot and put her in mind of a sack full of mud or some other disgusting substance. A sack of blood?

  She shook the thought away. “Any tracks?”

  “A few.” He frowned. “Some…very odd. But some could be seelie.”

  “Great.” She gestured for him to lead on.

  “No, we go back,” Fieta said, her angry voice low, the words spoken between her teeth.

  Vandra started to shiver. The cold from this place sank through her jacket, but the air was so heavy with moisture that a sheen of sweat coated her forehead and the back of her neck. Her skin crawled as if a thousand invisible stares drifted over her, and a litany of dreadful, self-defeating thoughts built at the back of her mind.

  But none of that would stop her now. “Pietyr,” Vandra said. “Please.”

  He swallowed and looked her in the eyes. “If I tried to go alone,” he asked, “would you follow me?”

  “Yes.”

  “Don’t be stupid!” Fieta said.

  “I’d follow as well,” Faelyn added.

  Pietyr sighed. “Fieta, go back and wait for the seelie.”

  “The gods can take that idea and cram it! Either we all go, or we don’t go.” She blinked as if hearing her own words and not believing them. “Shit.”

  Vandra smiled at her brother and sister, worried for them and proud of them at the same time. Keeping Faelyn’s hand in hers, she started forward while Pietyr searched the ground, and Fieta watched for danger.

  Chapter Twenty-one

  When the tattered seelie retired to their rooms, Lilani went to see Lucian again. They still hadn’t bothered to lock his door. He lay right where they’d left him with his leg broken. Lilani took a few deep breaths, determined not to weep at the hopeless sight. He would want her to act, just like a protector in a story.

  But it wasn’t a stupid story! Anger mixed with the fear and despair lingering in every crevice of this place. She balled her hands into fists and resisted the urge to scream, not wanting to bring the tattered seelie down on her head. She was so sick of feeling tired, of being hurt, of feeling as if she had to run, run, run from one crisis to the next when all she wanted to do was find a quiet place where her friends and family were safe, and she could snuggle up with Vandra to sleep for the next year.

  Thoughts of Vandra had her breathing deep again, her mind calming. She had no idea if the light in the distance had anything to do with Vandra, but ever since she’d first conceived of the idea, part of her had held on to it. Even if the light had nothing to do with Vandra, it could stand for hope. Vandra was out there somewhere, and she wouldn’t be giving up.

  Lilani muttered an apology before she turned Lucian over, grunting at his weight. He wound up half-on and half-off the pallet. Good enough, maybe, but she wanted him to be as comfortable as possible. She gritted her teeth, grabbed his uninjured leg, and pulled him fully onto the pallet. Her head and shoulder throbbed from the effort, and her cheek clenched at the pain. Lucian didn’t stir. Breathing hard, Lilani regarded his leg. She had to believe they were going to come through this ordeal alive, so she had to plan for Lucian to be well in the future; if his leg began to heal crookedly, it might stay that way forever.

  She thought through every book she’d read, but she’d never been attracted to medical texts or violent stories. She remembered when one of her friends had dislocated a shoulder; there’d been a sickening pop as Faelyn pulled it back into place. She recalled a few broken limbs among the seelie but hadn’t been there when they’d been treated, only seeing the heavy swath of bandages later.

  Well, nothing to do but to see what could be done. She felt along his healthy leg, trying to get an idea of how the knee aligned with the upper and lower leg. Maybe she should remove his trousers? No, she might not be able to get them over the injury. She’d have to do this blind. With shaky hands, she reached for his injured leg, her stomach roiling at the feel of the twisted joint. It seemed as if the kneecap tilted sideways, and she felt straining muscles and tendons while others felt unnaturally slack. Not broken then, only dislocated. At least that was something.

  “Lucian,” she whispered. “I’m so sorry. This is going to hurt so much. Please, stay asleep.”

  She sat between his legs and braced one foot against his thigh, lifting his injured leg onto her free leg. She put her back against the wall. Then, before she could think about it too hard, she yanked on the lower part of his leg while pushing away with her foot.

  Nothing could have prepared for the gut-wrenching crunch and pop as the joint resisted before sliding back into place. She felt the tremor travel up his leg before his eyes flew open, and he sucked in a great gulp of air. She pounced, cupping both hands over his mouth and keeping his screams inside.

  “I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” she said in his ear. “You have to be quiet, or they’ll come back and hurt you again!”

  His eyes rolled wildly before they settled on hers. It took a few moments for his breathing to slow, then he nodded, and she took her hands away. He took a great, shuddering breath, his entire body trembling, and Lilani trembled with him. If they lived through this, they’d be as close as siblings, closer even. She’d discovered a part of the seelie she’d always been missing: the connection that came with tragedy. This was why her mother had been so angry when Lilani insisted on visiting the humans; this was why her mother insisted that Lilani was playing with forces she couldn’t comprehend. It was something every other seelie knew: suffering.

  Now Lilani was part of that, at least a little. She saw Lucian’s face turn down in sorrow as if he realized the same thing. The last seelie child had finally grown up.

  But they didn’t have time for anger or grief or even pain. Lucian’s face settled into its normal resiliency. “They’re upstairs?”

  “Resting, I think.”

  He sat up, pushing her gently away. “Then we escape.”

  Her horror only intensified. “No! You can’t walk, and if they catch us—”

  “That doesn’t matter. I’ll walk if you help me.”

  All she heard was that he was still willing to throw himself on the guards while she got away, and she couldn’t have that. They couldn’t keep trying the same plan and hoping for a different outcome. She stood. Lucian held out a hand, but she backed away, shaking her head.

  “Lil
ani?” He shook his hand as if that would prompt her to take it. “Help me up, and—”

  “No, no. Wait. The time will come.” She felt behind her for the door, fumbling for the handle.

  “Lilani—”

  “No.” If she was a grown-up, she couldn’t rely solely on others to know what to do. “I’ll come back.” As he called her name again, she backed out the door and shut it behind her, leaning against it, listening to him swear on the other side.

  Lilani sank down to the floor against the door, telling herself she was guarding Lucian, but there was simply nothing left in her to climb the stairs. Out of sight of everyone, she thought she might weep, but her chin slipped down to rest against her chest, and when she closed her eyes, sleep rolled over her as inexorably as the tide.

  * * *

  Vandra thought their march through the tattered lands was the slowest on record. They crept through the mist, the comforting bubble moving with them through a land of endless fog.

  Pietyr’s eyes were glued to the ground, and everyone else stayed close enough to touch, Fieta behind Vandra and Faelyn. Several times, Pietyr paused and swore, and Faelyn took the lead with him. He wasn’t a tracker, he’d said, but he was more used to navigating the wilderness than either of the twins, both of whom would have been more comfortable seeking robbers along a dark street.

  But who would be comfortable here? Vandra was tempted to grab Fieta’s hand and hold on out of fear, but Fieta needed both hands to grasp her spear.

  “Your knuckles are white,” Vandra whispered. “If you hold on too tightly, your hands will go numb.”

  For once, Fieta didn’t have a snide remark. She loosened her grip, nodding as if Vandra’s advice wasn’t just coming from the need to say something. Vandra rested her hand on Fieta’s arm, taking comfort from the touch. Fieta didn’t shake her off, another sign that she was as nervous as everyone else. They couldn’t see beyond the gray. The sunlight barely penetrated the mist above them; Vandra didn’t know what they were going to do when night fell. Any light would be like a beacon. They’d heard various hoots and calls from the mists: strange, unidentifiable animal noises. She wondered if Face-mouth was one of them, if it remembered their scent.

  When a rumbling half-scream echoed behind them, they all froze.

  “Pick up the pace,” Fieta whispered.

  Pietyr grumbled, but he and Faelyn peered at the ground again. They moved a little faster, but if they lost Lilani’s trail, all the speed in the world wouldn’t help them. Vandra tried to breathe slowly, forcing the air through her nose so she wouldn’t hyperventilate. Something crashed off to the side. Vandra reached into her pocket and grasped one of the syndrium stones, hoping its presence would scare off any tattered creatures. Even incredibly large ones, by the sound of it. She kept her other hand on Fieta so she could move with them while staring into the mist, her spear ready.

  Fieta kept muttering, “Faster,” until Pietyr finally hissed at her to shut up.

  Instead of her usual comeback, she said. “We either run, or we stand.”

  Vandra swallowed hard. So, it was as close as that? She supposed Fieta would know better than she did. Maybe she’d hunted a criminal in a fog-shrouded alley a time or two.

  Pietyr drew his sword and stood with her as snuffling came from the mist, followed by a horrid grinding that could have been wood breaking or a pair of massive jaws working together.

  Faelyn continued to search for tracks, and now Vandra kept a hand on each of her siblings, backing them up as she followed Faelyn, her head whipping back and forth to keep everyone in sight. As she looked back again, she saw a shadow moving through the mist, coming closer, a massive shape as tall as the grand doors of the university, twice her height, at least.

  She reached back to give Faelyn a tug. “You should shroud.”

  “I’m not leaving you!” he said.

  “If that thing attacks, find Lilani, then lead your people to her.”

  He seemed stricken, looking at all of them and watching the massive shape come closer. At last, he gave a quick nod and vanished. “I’ll help if I can.” Only a rush of air marked his passing as he moved around her.

  Vandra set her pack on the ground. What did she have to fight with? Acid? If the bottle didn’t shatter, it’d be just like throwing a rock. And she didn’t dare fling it open. She couldn’t predict where it would land or who it might splash along the way. She could light some peat on fire and throw that. It might make a nice missile, but if the fire went out, that would be like another rock again. Maybe she should throw rocks.

  The fog had parted enough for a glimpse of a mottled gray hide. Vandra’s thoughts were stuck on throwing rocks, but what good would that do? On the heels of that thought, her panic parted like the mist, and she realized what she’d been trying to tell herself. Idiot! She took out one of her syndrium rocks and hurled it at the approaching creature.

  It shrieked, the sound echoing weirdly and making Vandra’s ears ring. The mist swirled as the creature turned, and Vandra caught two tails thrashing through the air. Fieta pulled her down as the tails whipped over them, and Pietyr knelt, peering into the mist as the sound of running feet pounded away.

  Silence reigned for a few moments until Pietyr turned a grin Vandra’s way. “Good thinking, Van!”

  Fieta huffed. “I’d rather have kicked its teeth in.”

  Vandra breathed a laugh. If nothing else, she’d given everyone some confidence back. She stared at where her stone had created a hole in the mist. She opened her mouth to say they should go get it, but the mist parted again, and their bubble slowly expanded. Faelyn blinked into view, holding the stone just before Vandra realized it was him. Fear really was a logic killer.

  Faelyn and Pietyr went back to tracking, but everyone walked a little easier knowing they could at least scare the tattered creatures away. And maybe some had been drawn to the one creature’s pain-filled cry and decided to follow it rather than focus on the strange aura that surrounded Vandra and her party. She supposed she should be grateful the creature hadn’t come close enough to be repelled by their bubble. She’d hated to have to carry the image of it in her mind any more than she already did.

  When Vandra saw another shadow rising above them, she readied a stone, but this one was much larger than the first; surely no amount of alchemy would chase it away. Still, she wasn’t as frightened as before. As large as the shadow was, everything about it seemed unmoving, and she prompted the others forward. “It’s either a hill or a building.”

  “The tracks go toward it,” Pietyr said.

  She nodded, and they walked more carefully. The shadow proved to be a twisted hill, an area of blasted rock with no signs of vegetation. The tracks became harder to follow as the spongy ground firmed, but after wandering through several craggy twists and turns, they reached a tower, a structure left over from before the tattered lands.

  Hope bloomed in Vandra’s heart. Lilani could be inside. Every part of her wanted to rush for the door, but she couldn’t, not yet, not without knowing what waited for them. Her eyes drifted to the broken-down building beside the tower; the gaping windows looked out on the tattered lands like lidless eyes.

  “What now?” Fieta asked. “We bust in?”

  “No,” Pietyr and Vandra said at the same time.

  “The door is no doubt secured,” Faelyn said. “But we can’t wait out here forever.”

  Vandra nodded toward the large building. “It doesn’t look like anyone’s in there.”

  “I’ll scout,” Fieta said.

  Faelyn tapped her arm. “Let me.”

  She seemed as if she might object before her brows lifted. “Invisible. Right.” She gestured for him to continue.

  “Wait.” Pietyr tried to hand over his blade. “In case you get into trouble.”

  Faelyn chuckled. “Thank you, but I’d probably do myself an injury before I wounded anyone else. If I get into trouble, I’ll be back here fast.”

  They smiled at eac
h other, and Vandra hated to break up their moment, but…

  “Don’t forget about the stones,” she said. “I don’t know if they’ll drive these seelie away, but it’s worth a try.”

  “Right. Throw rocks, then run.” He winked and vanished.

  Vandra stared, trying to track Faelyn by the ripples he created in the mist.

  “Come on, you two,” Fieta said as she dragged them behind a jagged outcrop. “I’m going to have my hands full with Vandra not knowing what she’s doing and Pietyr mooning around.”

  “I am not mooning!” Pietyr said.

  “I think I’m doing quite well, thank you,” Vandra said at the same time.

  Fieta grinned crookedly. “We’re all going to be moony corpses if we don’t stay out of sight and whisper.”

  Pietyr muttered something about Faelyn not being able to find them. Fieta rolled her eyes and elbowed Vandra in the side. “Enough,” Vandra said. “Watch the doors. Honestly!”

  They settled into silence, and Vandra began to count the seconds, not knowing what would be worse, if those doors opened and let loose a flood of seelie armed against them, or if Faelyn never returned. She tried to shake the grim thought away and imagined him returning with Lilani in tow. The tight feeling in her chest lessened at the thought, and she held on to it as the only ray of hope in this wasteland.

  * * *

  A scratching sound startled Lilani from sleep, her unconscious mind ready for danger even if she couldn’t remember where she was or what she was doing on the floor.

  It came back in a flash. She and Lucian were trapped in a tower inside the tattered lands, and a group of tattered seelie had made her part of a plot to destroy the pylons and bring the tattered lands into the south, killing everyone who wouldn’t go along with Camilla’s plan, whatever that was.

  She grimaced, wishing she hadn’t been able to remember. When she heard the scratching sound again, she sat up straighter. That had woken her up. She looked toward the steps, at the door behind her, at the door to the outside, but it sounded as if it was coming from the barred door that led into the building next door.