A Girl From Nowhere

by James Maxwell

  Taimin’s friend had needed him. Griff had called out, and Taimin hadn’t been there.

  More tracks confirmed it. Taimin saw Griff’s opening stride. He hurriedly followed the trail and saw where Griff had tried to pull round sharply. Callum had savagely turned the wherry onto the path he wanted.

  Taimin was finding it hard to breathe. He heard Lars’s voice, and turned his head to see Lars and Selena both watching.

  “Why didn’t he kill us?” Lars asked in wonder. “He could have.”

  “He just wanted Griff,” Selena said. She gave Taimin a look of mingled anxiety and sympathy. “We shared our food with him. He thinks he’ll outrun us easily.”

  Taimin shook his head. “No, he won’t.” He set his mouth in a thin line. “I’m going to track him down.”

  “Let me try,” Selena said.

  As she became still, Taimin began to pace.

  His eyes kept returning to Griff’s tracks. He threw frequent glances in Selena’s direction. The moments passed. He realized he was breathing too fast, but there was nothing he could do to control it. He clenched and unclenched his fists. His jaw was so tight that it felt like he would grind his teeth into powder.

  Selena put her hand to her temples. But as Taimin looked at her in hope and desperation, she shook her head. “I’m sorry,” she said sadly. “I need more time.”

  “I don’t have time,” Taimin said. He returned his attention to the tracks. “I’m going.”

  “It’s a hopeless task,” Lars said.

  “Taimin, let me help you,” Selena called after him.

  He ignored them both and strode away as quickly as he could manage.

  Taimin stood in the middle of a vast stretch of rock. Like a smooth, rippling blanket, it spread out to coat a great portion of the plain. There wasn’t a blade of desert grass or a patch of dirt in sight. The tracks he had been following had vanished as soon as he had reached the area.

  Callum was wily. He knew the terrain he had been traveling in. To confuse any pursuit, he had taken Griff to a place where he could change his path and anyone following wouldn’t be able to track him.

  Taimin’s despair combined with his frustration and guilt. His eyes burned. He wanted to scream and cry. As he stood and turned in circles, his entire body ached. Without warning, his right leg collapsed underneath him. He crumpled to the ground and blinked away his tears.

  Griff was his last connection to the life he had left behind. Taimin had looked after Griff, and in turn Griff had taken care of him. Griff had helped him to look forward to life. He could still have hope, as long as he had his friend and companion by his side.

  He remembered the day he had found Griff. The wherry had been alone and afraid, but Taimin had rescued him and brought him back to health. He knew he would give anything to see Griff’s grin and his soft, mournful eyes . . . to have his spirits lifted by Griff’s eager, boundless energy.

  Taimin had failed. He was alone. A harsh world awaited him. His aunt’s warnings about the difficulty of life as a cripple came back to him with force.

  More than anything, he missed his old friend.

  It was almost completely dark when Taimin finished retracing his footsteps. With bowed shoulders, trudging wearily, he approached the gnarled tree. He didn’t expect Selena and Lars to have waited for him, but he had no other plan.

  Filled with despair, he was surprised to see the cheerful light of a fire. The flames were tall and provided a guide so that even as dusk settled on the plain, he could easily find his way. He hobbled slowly, painfully. Each step made him grimace.

  He soon saw the tree’s trunk, and the fire nearby, silhouetting two figures.

  His eyes widened. He came to a sudden halt.

  It couldn’t be. There was a third shape, but it was low and sand-colored, with four legs.

  As Griff came racing toward him, Taimin’s exhaustion didn’t stop him from shifting into a lumbering run. He bent down and opened up his arms.

  Griff slammed into him. The wherry growled and whined. He pushed into Taimin with his head, and then drew away to circle around Taimin before crashing into him again, as if the wherry was unable to make up his mind what to do. Taimin hugged Griff over and over. He had never seen Griff so excited, but also knew how he felt himself. He realized he was crying, and a surge of warmth kept bursting throughout his body. With wet cheeks, he wrapped his arms around the wherry and tried to pull him close, but Griff was so animated that Taimin could barely catch hold of him.

  When at last he looked up, he saw Selena and Lars watching him.

  Taimin straightened. “I don’t understand,” he said. He wiped his face and tried to control his expression. “How?”

  Selena smiled. “It’s always easier if I know someone. Even a wherry.”

  “You found him?” Taimin asked in wonder. He glanced at Lars, who still hadn’t said anything. “What happened? What about Callum?”

  “It was all her,” Lars said with a nod in Selena’s direction. “Seems Callum was struggling to stop your wherry from turning back. We found them both pretty quickly.” He shook his head. “I didn’t have much choice. She said if I didn’t help her, she wouldn’t guide me anymore.”

  “Selena . . .” Taimin said. “I don’t know how to thank you.”

  “You would do the same for me,” she said seriously.

  Taimin tried to put everything he was feeling into his next words. “I would.”

  He would move mountains for her, if she asked him to. In that moment. Taimin realized that he wasn’t alone at all. He had Griff. He also had her.

  Lars harrumphed. “It’s been a long day for us all. Come on, lad. It’s time for a meal.”

  “Callum got away, then?” Taimin asked as he followed the skinner. He still kept one hand on Griff’s back. The pain in his foot was bad, but inside he felt as light as a feather.

  “Something like that,” Lars said.

  As soon as the skinner spoke, Selena’s face became pale. Something crackled in the fire, and Taimin looked past them both.

  He saw an empty pack by the fire, and a thorn-studded cudgel, burning at the edge of the embers.

  9

  “The key is to get access to the heart,” Taimin said. As he spoke he knelt directly in front of the broad green trunk of the lifegiver cactus and used his knife to widen a hole the size of his head. “Watch out for the spikes.” He tossed chunks of pale green flesh to the side while he worked. “They’re even sharper than they look.” He glanced at Selena, standing nearby, to see if she was following what he was doing.

  “You make it look easy,” she said with a smile.

  “It takes some practice, but I’ll let you have a go when we find another.”

  He reached deep into the hole he had made and felt around. There was wetness, but not as much as there should be if he had reached the heart of the cactus. He was forced to focus his full attention on his task as he cut slabs away from the interior of the sturdy plant. Something burst and a gush of liquid poured out. The sweet-smelling water then flowed directly into the depression he had carved near the entrance to the hole.

  “Got it.” He turned around and grinned.

  But then his smile faded.

  High in the sky behind her, Taimin saw a pair of spread wings that supported a lean body and a narrow head. Open jaws revealed rows of sharp teeth. The wyvern was already swooping. As the creature plummeted like a stone, its eyes were focused on Selena.

  The wyvern’s claws would grip her shoulders in moments.

  “Look out!” Taimin cried.

  Fear coursed through him, heightening his senses. He ran toward Selena as quickly as he could. Wings snapped and cut through the air. He heard a piercing shriek. Grasping talons flexed.

  Taimin launched himself forward. He crashed into Selena and threw her down until she was lying on her back. He stayed on top of her while the swooping wyvern cried out in frustration and shot into the air again.

  Taimin watched t
he wyvern and stayed where he was. The winged creature soared through the sky until it disappeared behind a tall peak. Taimin checked for a few moments longer, searching warily, and then he knew it wouldn’t be back. They were at the bottom of a cliff that rippled with a multitude of alcoves. The wyvern had probably gone back to its nest.

  “It’s gone,” Taimin said. He focused on Selena. “Are you all right?”

  She nodded, and that was when Taimin realized that he was lying over her, with his face just above hers.

  Her lips were moist. His heart began to race, and it was nothing to do with the wyvern’s failed attack. She stared up at him, directly into his eyes. Her chest was rising and falling, just as quickly as his.

  “Anyone hurt?” Lars called out, approaching from the direction of the cliff where he had been hunting for lizards.

  “We’re fine,” Taimin replied. He rolled off Selena and returned to his feet. He put on a smile and held out a hand to help her up.

  His heart was still pounding. She had been so close, right underneath him. He looked back at her. She didn’t appear to be angry. He cleared his throat. “Selena,” he said softly and then hesitated. “Sorry . . .” He faltered, unsure what to say next.

  She frowned, perplexed. “For what?”

  Lars was now close enough to interrupt. “There’s a snake behind you,” he said.

  Selena whirled. “Where?”

  “Ended your conversation, didn’t I?” Lars barked a laugh. “Come on. We need to keep moving.”

  Days became weeks as the three travelers navigated the wasteland. They followed gullies carved by long-vanished water, crossed broad plains under the shadow of mountains, and skirted the edges of escarpments where cliffs dropped away for thousands of feet. Selena farcasted. Taimin hunted and Lars skinned. Griff began to follow Selena around nearly as much as he followed Taimin.

  As Selena walked beside Taimin, she was surprised to realize it was now the way they usually traveled. He was the first man to make her feel safe. She liked it when he taught her about survival in the wasteland. But at the same time, they often argued.

  “Have you ever wondered if your aunt went too far?” Selena asked. She glanced over at him. “She thought she had to make you strong, so now you think strength is everything.”

  Taimin frowned. “Perhaps it’s safe in the white city, but out here, without strength, a cripple can’t survive long.”

  Selena’s lips thinned. “I hate it when you call yourself that,” she said. “And strength isn’t everything. I can’t fight the way you can, but here I am. I’ve managed to survive.”

  “By getting other people to do your fighting for you,” Taimin said.

  She struggled not to flare up. He had a way of making her angry; it was the way he always thought he was right. “Yes,” she said. “What’s wrong with that? Humans form groups, in case you hadn’t realized. If you’re strong, but you don’t understand people and how to work with them, you won’t last long.”

  “When I’m healed, and within the walls of the white city, then I’ll relax my guard.”

  Selena felt frustrated. She understood what he was saying, that the wasteland was always dangerous, but he wasn’t even trying to understand the point she was trying to make.

  She let out a slow breath as she focused her attention on the terrain. It had been unnerving in the plains, exposed where anyone could see them, but now that they were in a region of cliffs, canyons, and ravines, threats might come from anywhere. They were following the edge of a rocky slope that climbed and then leveled off. Deep wrinkles carved the treacherous heights.

  Then something strange happened. A voice spoke to her. And the voice was inside her head.

  Please. Help me.

  Selena realized she had stopped. Taimin was calling her name.

  “Selena?” His face was alarmed. “What’s wrong?”

  Rather than reply, she shook her head. She turned toward the graveled slope and then her eyes glazed. An indistinct impression came to her: a stick-thin creature with a triangular head.

  The voice came again; it spoke in staccato tones, but sounded female. I can sense you. Your power is so strong I felt it as soon as you were near. Please.

  “Lars!” She heard Taimin calling.

  Selena shook herself and saw that both Taimin and Lars were staring at her. “Someone needs help,” she said.

  Taimin’s face was puzzled, but Lars soon realized.

  “Another mystic?” The skinner tugged on his thick black beard and then shook his head. “It could be a trap. Ignore it.”

  Selena returned her attention to the hillside that climbed and climbed until it leveled out in a plateau. “I think it’s a mantorean. She’s up there.”

  “We should stay out of trouble,” Lars insisted.

  Ignoring Lars, Selena slipped her pack off her shoulder so that it thudded to the ground. She began to walk, and as soon as she reached the treacherous slope, hopped from one rock to the next to take herself higher.

  She heard Taimin’s voice. “I’m going with her,” he said.

  “Then you’re as much of a fool as she is,” Lars growled. He raised his voice to call out to Selena. “How will I find the white city if you’re dead?”

  Selena glanced over her shoulder and saw Taimin hurrying to join her. He had also left his pack with Lars, and rather than trust his footing, he used his hands to steady himself as he climbed.

  “Griff, stay there,” Taimin said.

  Lars stood next to Griff and called after them. “I’ll be here when you get back.” His tone became ominous. “If you get back at all.”

  The mantorean was stuck in a crevice, her thin body wedged tightly as she stared up at the two humans peering down at her. Selena had no idea how long she had been trapped, but she was in a wretched state. Her antennae drooped. Her bone-colored carapace was covered with dirt and tiny bits of gravel. The expression she gave Selena was pleading.

  Selena’s first thought was to offer her flask. She leaned over the narrow defile and stretched down her hand, while the mantorean’s insect-like limb stretched up to take it. “Here,” she said.

  The mantorean’s multifaceted black eyes gave nothing away but she drank thirstily; her mouth was tiny, but it could open up surprisingly wide. It took a long time until she was done, and then she stretched her limb as high as she could to return the flask.

  Taimin was in the same position as Selena, flat on his stomach as he gazed down to assess the mantorean’s predicament. “What happened?” he asked. “Have you broken anything?”

  “My group was attacked by trulls. We scattered. Anyone who made it probably thinks I’m long dead.” The mantorean’s antennae gave a swish that Selena instinctively knew was an expression of agitation. “I hold on to the hope that my hatchlings are still alive.”

  “I think I can pull you out,” Taimin said, “but it might hurt.”

  “Please. I am desperate,” the mantorean implored as she stretched her arms toward the sky.

  Taller than Selena, Taimin leaned down as far as he could. Rather than clasp hands, he gripped the mantorean’s forearms as she took hold of him between the wrist and elbow. Taimin drew in a breath, held it, and then his face began to turn red.

  It was too dark near the mantorean’s legs for Selena to see, but she heard something shift. The mantorean gave a cry of pain. Taimin froze.

  “Do you want me to stop?” he asked anxiously.

  “No,” the mantorean said with force. “Please. Keep going.”

  Once more Taimin tensed as he prepared himself. When he began to pull, veins stood on his neck and forehead. Selena bit her lip. She heard rocks moving against each other, and then the mantorean began to move upward. His forehead coated in sweat, Taimin drew in another breath to bring the creature higher, and now Selena could help. She grabbed the mantorean under her arms and heaved.

  All of a sudden, the three of them spilled out onto the rocky ground beside the crevice. Then everything bec
ame still. A warm breeze blew across the ground. Two suns, one red and the other golden, beat down from overhead. The sound of heavy panting filled the air.

  Selena stared up at the sky. She heard clambering, and turned her head to see Taimin standing beside her to offer her his hand. She gripped his palm and he pulled her up. The mantorean’s limbs unfolded as she brought herself to her feet.

  “Nothing is broken,” the mantorean said in her stilted voice. “I am fortunate.”

  Selena nodded toward the direction she and Taimin had come from. “We have food and water. Will you come with us to rest?”

  The mantorean shook her head. “I do not eat the same things you do. I must try to find my hatchlings.”

  “Then—” Selena began.

  “Wait,” the mantorean said. She looked from one human to the other. “You saved my life. I owe you a debt. I realize I have little to offer, but there must be something I can do.”

  Selena opened her mouth to say that she only wanted to help, but Taimin spoke first, forestalling her. He had a strangely thoughtful expression on his face.

  “You’re a mystic?” he asked.

  “Yes,” the mantorean said. She rested her black eyes on Selena. “I do not have this one’s power, but I have trained since I was young.”

  “Can you help her?” Taimin asked the mantorean.

  She tilted her triangular head. “In what way?”

  As Taimin met Selena’s eyes, his expression was deadly serious. “Selena . . . Ask her.”

  Selena finally realized what Taimin was talking about. She knew that when she asked her question, whatever the answer was, it would change everything. “Can you remove my power?”

  “Remove it?” The mantorean’s voice was surprised. “No, that is not possible.”

  Selena felt a catch at the back of her throat. For a moment, she didn’t trust herself to speak. “Oh.”