Blood Rain

by Nancy Gray

  Erebus looked around as though he was afraid someone could be listening in. “Making a blood pact is more dangerous than you know for my people, especially with someone not from our colony. If a beast person dies in a pact with someone who isn’t one of our people, the pact breaks. It doesn’t go the other way around. If you died, I would still be bound not to tell your secrets.”

  “Really?”

  “Don’t misunderstand me. You would still suffer severely if you killed me, but not as intensely as one of my people. We take our blood pacts very seriously for a reason. I couldn’t turn against you even if you died. Your father asked that of me when we made our pact as well, so now if I were to betray you at all, it would kill me.”

  “I see. That’s why you said it was nothing you weren’t already going to do.”

  “Exactly. I trust you, Mercy, more than you trust me. Even though you promised not to hurt me or kill me, that doesn’t mean that someone couldn’t do it for you. Mirilee could kill me at your request.”

  Mirilee was silent. Mercy just stared at him, bewildered.

  “Is the fact that I just told you such a dangerous secret that leaves my life in your hands enough to make you trust me?”

  “Yes.”

  “Good. We need to trust each other if we’re going to find the cause of this rain. Let’s keep going. We’re wasting time arguing when we need to focus on reaching the colony safely.”

  “Erebus, I hate to ask this but when we get to the colony will you please try to find out what happened to my brother?”

  Erebus seemed relieved at the change of subject. “I’ll do what I can. I can’t promise I’ll be able to get him back if he’s still alive, but I’ll try.”

  “Thank you.”

  They were mostly silent for the rest of the journey. Mercy was lost in her own thoughts. From what she could tell, everything that Erebus told her was true. She thought about a town of Blood Wings in a huge cavern under her village and shivered. They never would’ve known about it if the entrance really was hidden that well. Perhaps the Blood Wings were somehow able to camouflage the opening similar to the way that they changed the coloration of their wings. Her tribe suspected that the Blood Wing beast men had to live close by in order for the raids to be effective, but if that was the case, why did all of the slaves go to the main cavern?

  Mercy thought, “So if they escaped, they wouldn’t be able to tell the tribe that the beast men were keeping them as slaves to farm their blood. So, the town must’ve not had any slaves and probably didn’t send slavers. But, where did they get the blood they needed?”

  Mercy decided to keep her questions to herself. She glared at the back of Erebus’ neck. He had changed from his human disguise into the bat creature that she had met that night in the village.

  She knew why she was angry at him, and it wasn’t because of the lies or the secrets. She was angry because he was right. “I nearly sacrificed our safety and the safety of both of our people just because I was so angry. I was ready to turn around and tell my village everything, damned with the consequences. Why can’t I control my emotions, especially concerning him?”

  Their fight left her feeling drained and frustrated. She sighed miserably and rested her head against his back, suddenly feeling the need to sleep again.

  It seemed her injuries were more severe than she realized and she tended to pass in and out of consciousness. The next two days of traveling was a blur of awkward breaks where everyone stayed mostly quiet or reviewed the plan again while Mercy tried desperately to stay awake.

  18

  Mercy was awakened by Erebus urgently whispering, “Mercy, come on. We need to leave the animals here.”

  She muttered some sort of question.

  Mirilee whispered, “Because we’re here. That’s why. We’re close to the cavern and there are two beast men waiting in the trees up ahead. We don’t think that they’ve seen us yet, but we don’t know.”

  Mercy looked around as she dismounted. The trees were all evergreens and the mountains were looming much closer. She had never seen a mountain close up before and was surprised at how rocky it was despite the fact it was so covered in foliage. As she squinted in the direction of the mountain, she noticed a large wall of boulders in the distance that looked like the result of a recent rock slide. From the way Erebus was staring at it, she knew that wasn’t the case. It had to be the sealed off entrance to their underground lair. Mercy shielded the light from her eyes and noticed that the rocks were too artfully placed for a simple rock slide, and the foliage above the boulders looked relatively undisturbed. It wasn’t something she would’ve noticed if she wasn’t looking for it.

  Mercy slid off of the horse as quietly as she possibly could, landing lightly on the balls of her feet. She was surprised at how quietly Mirilee was walking as well. From her puzzled expression at the needles around her, it was clear she wasn’t used to walking in a forest. Mercy winced as she equipped her quiver of arrows and her bow. It hurt less than she expected. Erebus wasn’t paying attention. He was tying the animals to a nearby tree and staring at the canopy above them.

  He said in a whisper, “Get close to me. I’m going to try to shield you from their eyes. Don’t move, don’t speak, and don’t even breathe if you can help it. The watchers are approaching.”

  Mercy moved close to his right side and Mirilee went to his left. He put his large, leathery wings over them and pulled them close. It was an odd sensation as she looked around. Everything was blurry as though she was underwater with her eyes open. She could see the pattern of the forest on the underside of the wings, and assumed that was how they looked on the outside as well. She heard a rush, like the sound of a vitula gliding to a stop, but it was a thicker sound. Mercy realized it was the sound of a Blood Wing landing in front of them.

  To her surprise, the Blood Wing spoke in common instead of the screeching bestial language that she often heard during the raids. “Erebus, welcome back. Were you successful on your mission?”

  “Does it look like I was successful?”

  Another voice said, “Ah, your father’s medallion. Well done. The leaders will be pleased.”

  “Well, I don’t wish to be rude, but I’m in a hurry. I was promised a reward, after all, and after my journey I’m very thirsty.”

  Mercy heard a wet snuffling sound, like that of a wild dog sniffing out the trail of a rabbit. The sound was much too close to her to be comfortable. She instinctively leaned a little closer to Erebus.

  The first voice said, “It smells like you already got a bit of blood on the way, very recently. From the scent of things, a young girl, possibly even a gifted. I’ll bet she was delicious. You don’t run across many of the gifted anymore.”

  Mercy held her breath. She was so afraid that she felt nauseous. She imagined herself throwing up on the ground and the swift death she would encounter if she did. The thought of the beast men ripping her throat out was enough to keep her meager breakfast rations down. She never knew that the beast men could determine that much about a person just from a scent. It might’ve been a blessing that she was wounded since they literally smelled her blood. Otherwise, they might’ve noticed that it wasn’t blood that they smelled at all, but her living body.

  “Yes, she was quite the rarity. I ran into a small encampment of forest people and desert folk on the way here. They were just what I needed, but I’m afraid I did frenzy and made a mess of myself, and I injured one of my wings.”

  The first voice said, “That’s too bad. Do you need an escort?”

  “Nah. The colony is just up ahead. Besides, do you really think I’ll run into any trouble that I can’t handle?”

  The second voice laughed. “Nothing ever happens around here. We won’t hold you up. Best be getting back to the colony to freshen up. The leaders are going to want to talk to you.”

  Mercy felt wind rush around her feet for a moment as the watchmen ascended into the trees above them.

  Erebus whispered, “T
hat was a close one. Walk with me. When I step, you step. Stay under my wings. We’re almost there. When we get to the rocks ahead, we’ll be out of their sight. There’s a crack in the rocks that should be just big enough for you to crawl into. While I’m distracting the guards, you crawl through. I’ll say when.”

  Every minute felt like hours as they slowly approached the false rockslide ahead of them. Mercy could occasionally see ahead when Erebus’ wing didn’t cover her entirely, but mostly she just concentrated on her feet and the motion of moving in perfect step with Erebus. She was careful that her foot hit the ground at the exact same time that his did, like a pair of horses matched to draw a carriage. It could’ve been the result of the blood binding or her gift, but she felt like she knew when he was going to move. Keeping pace with him was clearly easier for her than for Mirilee. She could feel Mirilee’s frustration at the occasional misplaced footfall, but from Erebus she felt nothing but confidence as they got closer and closer to the rock face.

  As soon as they reached the rock wall, Erebus stopped and walked slowly to the side.

  He said in a whisper, “I’m going to lift up my wings. Tell me if you see the opening.”

  He lifted his wings above them as though he was stretching his arms out. It took her a moment, but Mercy noticed a very small hole that it looked like she would be able to crawl through on all fours.

  Mercy pointed. “Is that it?”

  “Yes. Go, now. Follow the tunnel all the way to the end and then the abandoned barracks should be on the left. Be careful, though. Hide if you hear anyone coming. Wait in the barracks until I call for you. I’ll be back in a few hours when I’m finished speaking to the elders.”

  Mercy heard a voice shout, “Erebus, is that you? What in the world are you doing down there?”

  Erebus shouted back. “Bramble, even your ugly face is a sight for sore eyes after what I’ve been through. Be right up. I’m pissing, what does it look like?”

  Mercy felt embarrassment somewhere above her as Bramble said, “Oh, sorry. I’ll just leave you alone.”

  Erebus’ whisper was almost too quiet to hear. “Now.”

  Mercy didn’t wait any longer. She crawled through the hole in the rocks. She had never felt so cramped or claustrophobic, especially since the rocks rubbed against her skin and she couldn’t see up ahead of her at all. She winced in pain as she accidentally rubbed her bandaged back against the top rock hard enough that she could feel her wounds reopening. She heard a few arrows snap within the quiver as well.

  At first, there was thick, rich soil beneath her hands, which slowly was turning into more rock, but the rocks beneath her hands were smooth and she realized they were placed on purpose. It was a cobblestone floor, but it was covered in slimy moss. She kept crawling. She felt Mirilee bumping into her from the back, clearly just as ready as Mercy to get out of the enclosed space. Mercy tried to crawl faster. Finally, she felt the opening widen out, and she was able to stand up. It took her eyes a moment to adjust, but she saw a very dull light at the end of the tunnel, and the top of the tunnel swirled with patterns that looked like the reflection from a lit surface of water somewhere up ahead.

  Mirilee whispered, “Quick, let’s go. There’s no telling what we’ll find around here.”

  Mercy whispered back. “Wait until your eyes adjust. I don’t want to slip, especially if there’s a sheer drop at the end like Erebus said.”

  Mirilee was silent, but after another minute, Mercy felt confident that she could keep going. She was glad that she waited. The cobblestones were in disrepair. Many of them were covered in slick moss and others were broken, leaving holes that made her stumble as they walked slowly and carefully towards the dim light. As she approached the edge of the tunnel, Mercy just barely saw the door to her left, and Mirilee motioned to it, but Mercy edged closer to the reflected light on the ceiling, overwhelmed with curiosity.

  She got on all fours again to make sure that she wasn’t approaching a drop. The cave bottom began to slope downward, and she could feel grooves along the ground from where many clawed feet dug into it for a takeoff. Mercy could tell that Mirilee was cursing in another language, as she began crawling towards her. Despite Mirilee’s irritation, Mercy felt her excitement and anticipation as well. It made her wonder if Mirilee’s frustration was from the fact she wasn’t the one who thought to look over the edge first. Mercy slowly edged forward until her head was just over the lip of “the plunge” as Erebus had described it, but nothing could’ve prepared her for what she saw.

  The cavern beneath her was as tall as a small mountain and wide as the entire city of Concord. What created the dazzling patterns on the ceiling was the refraction of light of a magnificent island city in the center of a massive underground lake. Everything seemed to be carved out of rock as black as coal, but as shiny as a wet seashell. Oil lamps burned along the streets and on the sides of buildings like fireflies perched on symmetrical leaves. Huge statues were also carved into the black stone, tall enough to be the height of some of the buildings. The buildings seemed to climb higher and higher into steep towers. The tallest tower was almost eye level with them, and she could see a staircase spiraling up to the top for those who couldn’t fly, and areas to perch for those that could.

  Beast men were flying above their city like ash gulls over the waters near Concord, but most of them were simply walking over elaborately carved bridges, smooth streets and, to her surprise, they looked entirely human. The citizens weren’t wearing loincloths like the raiders and they didn’t look savage at all. Many wore silken clothing that flowed as they walked, while others wore what looked like cotton or wool clothing, but everything was dyed in rich colors. The most popular designs seemed to be dyed in black and red patterns. The guards were wearing dyed leather or painted chitin armor and were carrying bows and arrows as well as long spears. Families with children were buying things from street side vendors or sitting in front of restaurants and talking. Erebus wasn’t exaggerating. If this city was any indication, and if there were others like it, his people did outnumber hers at the very least five to one.

  The style of the city was metropolitan, not tribal. She did notice that there were some beast men and women leading what looked like slaves, possibly from her tribe, but even the slaves were wearing nice clothing. Some of them were even smiling in a way that seemed genuine. Mercy wasn’t sure what she expected, but the city beneath her definitely wasn’t it. It looked as developed as the Ashen section of Concord, if not more so, and she could even smell very appetizing aromas wafting up from the closest restaurants that made her mouth water.

  Mirilee whispered, “I wonder if there’s a way to get down there.”

  “I wouldn’t dare. They would smell that we were different the second that we tried.”

  “They look so human. If it wasn’t for the fact we smelled different and were wearing these clothes, we would fit right in.”

  “This just can’t be right. We always thought they were barely smarter than animals. This place, do you think they really carved it?”

  Mirilee pointed to one of the statues and said, “Definitely. That statue is a Blood Wing in bestial form. They had to carve it. It looks like it’s in the same style as the human looking one. And, those buildings are designed for people that can fly.”

  “We’d better hide in the barracks. Someone will see us and we probably look pretty suspicious gawking at the city like a couple of tourists.”

  Mirilee looked wistfully at the city below. “I wish I was a tourist.”

  “I don’t care if their city is beautiful. They keep my people as slaves. I’m glad we can’t risk going, or I would probably lose control and do something reckless.”

  “Sounds like fun to me.”

  Mercy chuckled. “You just love trouble don’t you?”

  “I just get bored easily and when I’m bored, I have to find a way to entertain myself.”

  As Mercy opened the door to the abandoned guard barracks, she realized the
first problem with their plan. The Blood Wings could see in the dark as easily as if it was daytime, but Mercy and Mirilee could not. With the exception of a strangely luminescent mold and mushrooms growing along the floor, the room was as dark as the buildings outside. She felt around the walls until she found a group of lockers and carefully made her way around the center of the room as well, trying to get an idea of where the beds were. She would need to know as much about the room as possible if she needed to hide.

  Mirilee sighed miserably. “Great, so we get to kill a few hours hiding in the dark. I like your idea about doing something reckless in the city better.”

  “That wasn’t my idea. In fact, I said that going to the city would be a bad idea because I would do something reckless.”

  “We’re so close to good food and new experiences, and we’re sitting in a moldy old room.”

  “I wish I had brought my flint and tinder. I didn’t even think about it. That wouldn’t work anyway. The room would fill with smoke. Do you have anything we could use as a light?”

  Mirilee shook her head. “No. I think Erebus intended for us to sit here and wait in the dark. I’m going to have words with him when we see him again.”

  “I’m not going to be too hard on him. He probably didn’t even think about the fact we couldn’t see in the dark, and if I had been thinking straight I should’ve brought a candle or something.”

  Mercy and Mirilee sat in opposite corners of the room. Mercy could tell that Mirilee was sulking, but she didn’t care. All she could think about was the city that she had just seen. It was so easy to kill the beast men when she thought of them as monsters or animals. Seeing them all acting so human, in such a magnificent city made her realize that all of those raiders she killed were someone’s family or friends. It made her glad to think that she had stopped the bloodshed, at least temporarily. But, as long as they needed blood there wouldn’t be an easy truce between their people, especially as long as they had slaves that were once part of her tribe.