Scattered Ashes

by Megg Jensen

  Torsten didn't wait to see if his friend succeeded. He ran his thumb over the gem on his sword, blasting a wave of blue laser beams at the blob on his left. A hole pierced the tent, and Torsten briefly saw a similar creature fall backward. It moved, and Torsten hit the gem again.

  Something landed on his shoulder, took a bite out of his flesh, and then sprang away. Torsten staggered to the side, slicing the air with his sword and hitting nothing.

  "These things don't want to die!" Rutger yelled as he shot again and again from his rifle.

  The creatures charged. Five furry, ravenous beasts with deadly claws and sharp teeth leaped, taking bits of their flesh with them on every retreat.

  Torsten felt light-headed, blood dripping from so many places on his body that he couldn't even tell which hurt the most. Maybe his shoulder. Maybe his calf.

  His vision swam. The creatures multiplied, each one turning into three, then melding back into one beast again. He looked to his left, spying one creature. No, three. No, one.

  Torsten shook his head as the world around him began to spin. It was as if a drug pulsed in his veins, infecting his blood, confusing him.

  "Rutger?" he asked, reaching out to his friend.

  Rutger looked at him, his eyes glazed over. "Why are there three of you?"

  "I don't feel so good." Torsten looked down as he swayed and struggled to stay on his two feet. Or six feet. He wasn't sure.

  "I could be wrong," Rutger said, his hand with the rifle hanging uselessly at his side, "but I think they're venomous. They're waiting for us to collapse, and then they'll eat us alive."

  "We need to fight." Torsten sank to the ground, unable to hold himself up any longer. He tried gripping his sword, but his fingers only brushed over the hilt. He touched the gem once more, sending out a laser bolt.

  One of the creatures fell over, its legs jerking momentarily, then it didn't move anymore.

  "Good shot," Rutger said, slurring his words as he lay down. His rifle rested next to him.

  "Thanks," Torsten said. "Got 'em."

  "I think we're gonna die," Rutger said. "I'm glad Malia knows I love her, even though I act like a jerk half the time."

  "Half?" Torsten asked. He would have nudged his friend but couldn't muster the energy.

  "Shut up." Rutger's eyes closed. His chest moved up and down, but he stopped responding.

  "Rell..." Torsten said. Then his lips slackened. He couldn't say another word. It was almost over. The creatures would eat him soon. He just hoped he wouldn’t feel it.

  A cool breeze drifted over his body. Another effect of the venom? Torsten glanced lazily upward, seeing a stream of silver liquid floating over him in the air. It reached out with tentacles toward the cute, furry things that had attacked them.

  The creatures screamed in the night, their four voices creating a cacophony. Then they went silent.

  There were no more sounds as Torsten's eyes closed and he passed out.

  16

  Rell trudged forward through the sand, despite the setting sun. She pictured Hadar, pretending it was only a few steps away, if only she could keep going. She'd get there eventually, or die trying.

  Go left.

  She ignored the voice inside. The dragzhi had been silent since they'd escaped the tark. It had scuttled down to the depths of Rell's consciousness, leaving her to figure out the rest on her own. The more she lived with this thing, the more she realized it was a coward. Why else would it take her over instead of fighting on its own? It needed her, but she didn't need it.

  "No." Her lips cracked with the simple word. Rell regretted speaking aloud. Most conversations took place with speech and gestures. Not with this dragzhi. She could have thought her answer just as easily.

  LEFT!

  She stumbled as it shouted in her head. Sand bit at her bare body.

  NOW! Go left. There are others in need. The dragzhi. The one your friend found and held prisoner. It's out here. In the desert. I can feel it.

  Hope leaped in Rell's chest. If the other liquid dragzhi was out here, then Torsten was, too. At least, she hoped that was the case.

  Rell turned to the left. The sun was slowly setting in the west, reminding her she would soon have to find her way in the dark. She blinked, her eyes adjusting to the faded light. Soon enough, she was able to see a few meters in front of her feet.

  Rell continued her trek. It was quiet and peaceful in the desert, reminding her of her life underground. If she tried hard enough, she could almost feel as if she were in the tunnels again, a simple buried girl.

  Not this strange thing she'd become. The Key, part human and part dragzhi, with yet another dragzhi hiding inside her. What had happened to the girl who'd only wanted to please her gods, the Menelewen Dored?

  Anger built in her chest. When the humans crashed on Phoenix and discovered the Hamdal tablets, they had taken them as some kind of divine message. Humans attributed it to gods. Maybe it was their only way of coping with something beyond their understanding.

  Religion had often given hope to those on Earth. Now it gave hope to the buried. If only they knew the tablets were written by the tark. And not a message about gods, but a warning about the dragzhi.

  None of it mattered. Either they stayed on Phoenix forever, giving up hope of ever reuniting with their fellow humans. Or they took to space, as the dragzhi inside her wanted. Once there, more dragzhi would find them, and the war would begin again.

  It would be better to stay on the planet, hidden.

  I will never let that happen. I will kill you first, the dragzhi inside hissed.

  "Then find another body. Humans aren't as weak as you assume. You can't just take us over and expect us to do as you say."

  Yasmin did. The dragzhi's laugh made Rell sick to her stomach.

  So Torsten's mother had been the prior host to this dragzhi. It must have controlled her when she and Torsten were on the spaceship the first time. Torsten had witnessed his parents' murders as a child. It was still a mystery how the dragzhi had taken his mother, and the one inside Rell wasn't willing to share.

  Rell's feet grew heavier with each step. She stumbled, swinging her arms in the air to regain balance. It was too hard. She'd never reach them.

  Not much farther. Keep going. Don't give up.

  Rell felt the dragzhi inside stir, compelling her to continue moving, despite her muscles screaming for respite. Her feet moved of their own accord, and soon enough, she was able to see dark lumps on the ground in the distance.

  Tears streamed down Rell's cheeks. She’d found them. She wouldn't die alone out in the desert. Torsten had come for her, just as she knew he would.

  Rell held out her flaming hand, taking in the scene.

  A light silver dome rose just above Torsten and Rutger's bodies. She could see their chests moving. They were breathing, alive.

  "Torsten?" she said with a cracking voice.

  There was no response.

  "Rutger?"

  Neither of them stirred.

  My brother is protecting them. The dragzhi sounded surprised, almost curious.

  "Tell it to stop. I need to get closer to them." Rell watched the dome over her two friends shudder. Then it slowly retracted, landing in a puddle on the sand next to them.

  Rell knelt, resting an ear against Torsten's chest. His breathing was clear and steady. She pulled up one of his eyelids. His pupils were normal. Rell clasped Torsten's hand, holding it in hers.

  "What happened to the two of you?"

  Glancing down at Torsten's wrist, she saw his blood turning dark in his veins. "Venom." Rell recognized the poison from living underground. Occasionally, a venomous snake would make it down into the tunnels where she grew up. Without antivenom, she didn’t know how to help them.

  She sat back on her heels, taking in the two men. Folding her hands, Rell began to recite a prayer she'd been taught as a child.

  "On the eve of my death, I call out to you. Save me. Give this sinner one more chance t
o prove worthy. For I have loved you, I have called out to you, and you have rescued me. If you spare me, I will continue to be your servant."

  Isn't that sweet?

  "Shut up," Rell said. "I wasn't praying to you."

  You spent your whole life praying to me. The dragzhi inside chuckled. Isn't this what you wanted? Communion with your gods?

  Rell ignored its barbs.

  The second dragzhi swelled larger, looming over the men whose arms were swollen and purple from the venom.

  “Will that help?” Rell asked, looking up at the silver being spreading above her.

  Perhaps. Some of my brethren have skills in healing. It is possible it can heal them given time.

  Rell grabbed a large shred of tent fabric. She wrapped it around her naked body, covering the raw skin for the first time since the tark had taken her clothing. “Then I guess there is nothing I can do but wait until morning.”

  She lay down in the sand between Torsten and Rutger, holding hands with each of them. “We can't let them die. Not tonight. Reform the protective barrier.”

  The air underneath it was cool and devoid of blowing sand.

  "Thank you," Rell whispered to it as she finally let herself fall asleep.

  * * *

  Morning sun kissed Rell’s cheek, followed by the cruel fingernails of sand scraping across her face. Rell sat up, startled, and looked at her companions. The dragzhi above them had gone, and the boys’ arms were no longer swollen or purple.

  "Torsten?" She rested a hand on his chest. Still breathing. She tapped him. "Wake up."

  Rell held her breath as she watched his eyelids flutter, then open fully. He gazed up at her. Then a spark of recognition ignited in his eyes.

  "Rell? How?"

  She smiled, then shook Rutger's arm. "Wake up. You, too. You can’t sleep all day."

  Rutger stirred. "I don't want to, Malia. Not again. I'm exhausted."

  Rell's hand flew to her mouth as she held in a snicker. Torsten smiled and pushed himself up on his elbows. "Oh Rutger," he said in a high-pitched voice.

  "Not now," Rutger mumbled. "You're an animal!"

  Torsten burst into laughter as Rutger rolled over and opened his eyes.

  "Torsten?" Rutger sprang to sitting. "Rell? What are you doing here? Are we all dead?"

  "Not this time," Rell said. "You're lucky I found you two."

  "Those cute little bear things..." Rutger's voice trailed off as he took in the scene with wide eyes. "You're the one who killed them?"

  "No, they were already dead when I got here." Rell focused on Torsten, careful not to acknowledge the silver dragzhi who had slid back into its pack. "You guys must have fought them off, then collapsed."

  "I don't remember that." Torsten rested a hand on Rell's cheek. "You just happened to stumble upon us?"

  "That's amazing. We must be the luckiest guys on Phoenix." Rutger lifted a hand to his brow, shielding his eyes from the sun.

  "Yeah." Torsten rubbed his thumb on Rell's cheek. "Are you okay? How did you escape from Isobel? And what happened to your clothes? Why are you wearing a piece of the torn tent?"

  Rell bit her cracked lip, drawing blood. "Isobel is dead. I mean, who you thought was Isobel. It was that doll."

  "The doll? A doll did that to you?" Rutger asked.

  "It's not actually a doll. It just looks like one. Apparently we've never been alone on Phoenix." Rell rubbed her hands together nervously. "It’s part of a species called the tark."

  "What did they want with you?" Torsten asked.

  "It had something to do with my dragzhi side," Rell admitted. She hadn't spoken of it since the liquid dragzhi took residence inside her. It never allowed her. For some reason, it wasn't stopping her today. "They wanted to kill me, I think. I don't know. I got away from them, and then I found you. As for my clothes… it’s complicated. The tent scraps work fine for now."

  She realized how ridiculous it all sounded. Rutger took every word she said at face value, but Torsten's piercing gaze told her he wouldn't let the simple explanation slide. His silence also said he wouldn't press in front of Rutger.

  Eventually, Rell would tell Torsten everything, if the dragzhi let her. She wanted nothing more than to confide in him. Torsten was her best friend, the only person who'd ever really believed in her, despite all the strange happenings in her life.

  "We need to return to the marker, then." Rutger stood, wiping off his pants only to have them immediately covered in sand again.

  "Marker?" Rell asked.

  "It's a flag in the sand. We left it so Malia could find us again. She and Tatsuru went back for reinforcements." Torsten stood, holding out a hand to Rell.

  She placed her hand in his and stood. Her legs weren't as shaky as she had expected. "Tatsuru came with you to find me? The innkeeper?"

  "You made a big impression on him." Rutger winked at Rell.

  "He's old enough to be my grandfather," Rell said, glaring at Rutger.

  "Did you tell Tatsuru that Rell is taken?" Rutger asked Torsten.

  Torsten glanced at Rell, his cheeks pink. "I, um..."

  "No one has time for that sort of thing now, Rutger," Rell said, trying to shut him down. "We're too busy fighting for our lives."

  "Maybe you should tell that to Malia," Torsten said, nudging Rutger. "Sounds like the two of you have managed to make it work."

  "I guess she wasn't lying when she said I talk in my sleep." Rutger slung his pack over his shoulder. "Now let's move."

  "Should we salvage the tent?" Torsten asked.

  "Leave it. It’s only scraps," Rutger said.

  "Who killed the creatures?" Torsten asked. "I’d like to thank them. Those things could have eaten us."

  "I don’t know," Rell said, attempting to keep her eyes from Torsten’s bag. She assumed Torsten’s liquid dragzhi had something to do with the mysterious death of the creatures. "Want me to carry that?" She reached out for the pack with the dragzhi.

  "No, I've got it," Torsten said. "My responsibility. But I'm glad you're not scared of it like everyone else is.”

  Rell wanted to tell him exactly what that little blob could do, but her tongue was tied again. Instead, she reached out for Torsten's hand, holding tight. He looked at her, surprised. It was the first time she'd shown him any affection since the dragzhi had entered her. Of course, it confused him.

  "Let's find the marker and Malia, and go home," Rell said.

  17

  Rell watched out the window of the scout as Malia sped over the sand toward Hadar. Rell, Torsten, and Rutger had arrived at the marker only a few minutes before the scout appeared on the horizon. Without a word, they’d slid into the backseat. It was a far cry from the journey Rell had first made over the desert in Isobel’s barge.

  "Why didn't anyone other than Tatsuru come with you?" Torsten finally asked Malia.

  The question had hung in the air, unanswered, for the past hour.

  No one wanted to come for her. Leila had poisoned everyone in the tower against her. Rell understood Leila's anger. She had murdered Leila's boyfriend. Despite it being an accident, Leila wouldn't let it go. Ever.

  Malia's voice was soft. "They were all occupied with other responsibilities." She was a liar, though not a good one. Everyone knew exactly what she was saying.

  Tatsuru turned around. He reached into the backseat, patting Rell's knee. "This is a good thing. Less intaba fat was used than we anticipated. We've saved a lot by bringing only one scout. Besides, the three of you were there, waiting for us. We didn't need anyone else's help."

  Weary, Rell smiled at him. Then she turned back to the window. The sand stretched for kilometers. It appeared endless. But it wasn't.

  The tark were out there, and they couldn’t be trusted. They could easily set siege to the tower with multiple barges. No one would be happier than Leila to offer Rell up again. In fact, she'd be surprised if Leila even allowed her back into the tower.

  "I think you should drop me off in Hadar," Rell
said, her voice low.

  "No," Torsten said.

  "I'm a danger to everyone." Rell kept her back to him, refusing to acknowledge what was likely a pained expression on his face. "The tark may come back for me."

  "Come with me," Torsten insisted. "Help me communicate with this dragzhi and figure out how to use the tech on its ship. Nothing says we have to stay here forever."

  That was exactly what the dragzhi inside her wanted—to leave Phoenix. If Torsten took her with him, she'd only be putting them in danger again.

  "Drop me off. I need to find the rest of the buried. Let me offer them a chance to leave with you." Rell thought of her mother. Little love was lost between the two of them. Still, the others deserved a chance.

  "You mean with us." Torsten's voice was soft, but firm. "Offer them a chance to leave with us."

  "That's what I meant," Rell said. If the dragzhi wanted her to leave Phoenix, she would have little choice.

  Torsten rested a hand on her shoulder. "Do you want me to go with you?"

  Rell's heart ached. Of course, she wanted him to come with her, but the dragzhi wouldn't let her say it. "No, I'm fine on my own. Besides, you need to make the tech work. Get us off this planet. You can't do that if you're poking around Hadar with me."

  "I'll go with you!" Tatsuru was almost too eager.

  "Thanks, but no. I'll go on my own." Out the window, Rell saw the sand start to give way to random bits of vegetation. A herd of wild intaba grazed on the thin grass. They were almost to Hadar.

  In the distance, she could see the church. The place where the buried’s beliefs had begun, before they felt pressured to move underground.

  "Take me there." Rell pointed to the holy place. "Actually, drop me off here. I'll walk the rest of the way."

  Malia pulled to a stop. She turned, looking at Rell for the first time. Sympathy ringed her worried eyes. "Come back to the tower soon. I know you're afraid, but I won't ever let anyone hurt you."

  "Thanks," Rell said with a smile. She jumped out of the scout before Torsten could get a word out. Rell set off at a jog toward the church.