A Girl From Nowhere

by James Maxwell

  The crowd roared.

  Taimin heard a grinding sound and saw that the portcullis had been raised. Ignoring the cacophony, he walked out of the fighting pit, and the portcullis closed behind him.

  27

  Selena sat in the hard-backed wooden chair while the eyes of the two mystics, Arren and Merin, bored into her. She hadn’t been seated for long but already she felt her back ache and calf muscles twitch, as if in anticipation of how she would feel after she was stuck in place for hour after hour. When the thin-faced mystic, Arren, pulled his stool a little closer, she remembered Tika-rin, the mantorean who threw herself off the tower. After that experience, the Protector and his followers wouldn’t take any chances with her.

  Nearby, the gray-haired Protector waited impatiently as the short-haired servant entered the observation room, carrying a tray bearing three ceramic cups filled with steaming liquid. As the auburn-haired woman set the tray down on a table, Selena watched her carefully.

  “Thank you, Ruth,” the Protector said curtly. “That will be all.”

  Selena saw Ruth cast a quick glance her way. Their eyes met. But then Ruth broke the contact and departed down the steps set into the back of the floor.

  The Protector picked up a cup and brought it to his lips to blow across the top. Selena guessed it was some kind of tea as he took a careful sip. The other two cups would be for Arren and Merin.

  Selena again wondered about Ruth. At the very least, Ruth wasn’t under guard like her. Something had passed between them.

  Returning her attention to the two mystics, Selena decided to try something. She focused on Merin’s thick neck and brought up memories that made her feel revulsion. Imagining a black, eight-legged insect climbing Merin’s sleeve, moving toward his collar, ready to bite, she formed a clear thought.

  That is the biggest spider I have ever seen.

  Nothing happened. Neither Arren nor Merin reacted in any way. Whatever the two mystics were doing now and planned to do soon, they weren’t reading her thoughts. Her experiences with Rei-kika told her that if they did, she would be aware of the touch.

  Her mind was always working. She had been in difficult positions before and had always managed to find a way out of her predicament. Galen had said that she would be granted more liberty as time went by. She would search for an opportunity, and, in the meantime, lull her captors into believing she was more passive than she truly was.

  The Protector wanted her to keep his city safe. She had yet to find out what that meant, but his plans for her must relate to the conflict between Zorn and the Rift Valley. Perhaps she could use her talent to save lives, on both sides.

  As she waited in the hard-backed chair, her mouth went dry when the Protector approached. Tall and stern, he stood over her, between the mystics seated on stools on either side.

  A stiff, dry breeze blew against the tower. The observation room possessed an unparalleled view of the city and the barren plain, but Selena couldn’t take the sight in. She didn’t know where to look. On her left, there was Arren’s pinched face and small eyes, staring holes into her skull. If she turned to the right, Merin’s round face would be waiting. Directly in front of her, the Protector’s pale blue gaze was the worst of all.

  “Tell me, Selena, what do you know of our great city?” the Protector asked.

  Selena fixed her gaze on the Protector’s gray vest. “Nothing,” she said. “In the vastness of the wasteland, no one knows you exist.”

  The Protector snorted. “I am surprised there are humans still living out there. So, let me tell you of Zorn. Long ago, my great-grandfather founded this city.”

  “Found, you mean, not founded,” Selena said. “You can’t tell me humans built this place.”

  As the Protector gave her a thin-lipped smile, Selena bit down on her tongue.

  “You are, of course, correct,” he said. “My great-grandfather discovered this city. It was mostly abandoned, occupied only by a few trulls and bax, despicable creatures who lived in their own filth.”

  While the Protector spoke, Selena looked down at her hands, resting on the arms of the chair. She was free to move them, but what could she do? Even if she made it from the observation room, at the top of a tower guarded by the Protector’s soldiers, where could she go? She couldn’t even farcast and leave her body. As a test, she tried to touch her power, but the two staring mystics prevented her; they had put up some kind of wall.

  “My ancestor gathered followers and freed the city,” the Protector continued. “Humans finally had a place where we could live free from the dangers of the waste. His name was Zorn, but he gave his name to the city and instead took the title of Protector. After he died, my grandfather became Protector, then my father, and now it is my turn to defend this haven from those who would seize it for themselves. I will do whatever it takes to keep Zorn safe. I hope you understand me, Selena. I will stop at nothing. No one life is more important than this city, and that includes yours.”

  While the Protector was not a young man, he was still young to be without his father. It didn’t take him long to answer her unspoken question.

  “My father—” His piercing blue eyes narrowed. “My father taught me about the dark nature of the other races. Ten years ago he traveled to the Rift Valley to trade with the bax who live there. He left his group for just a moment.” He paused and Selena heard a catch in his throat. “His men discovered his headless corpse, sliced neatly above his shoulders, but his head . . . that was never found.” He cleared his throat and recovered his composure. “Despite all my father taught me, even he never understood the true savagery he was confronting. Zorn will only be safe when those outside the city wall are destroyed.” The Protector bit his next words off. “Every last one of them.”

  Selena had to say something. “You can’t judge everyone who isn’t human the same way.”

  “On the contrary, they all mean us harm. If Blixen and those like him are allowed to thrive, we put the entire human race in peril. Surely you, as a wastelander, understand the constant threat that humans face outside this city? Blixen wants to grind us into the dust and seize Zorn for himself. Other races are joining his cause. We must defeat him.”

  “Have you tried talking?”

  The Protector scowled. “Talk would get us nowhere. Our conflict will only end when it is humans, rather than bax, who occupy the Rift Valley. Your role, Selena, is to help our struggle, willingly or not. You may earn my trust, but until then, you have little choice in the matter.”

  Selena swallowed. Arren and Merin didn’t move at all and continued to stare. Still trying not to meet their eyes, or the intense blue gaze of the Protector, she looked directly ahead.

  “I can always refuse,” she said.

  “I disagree,” the Protector said. “Arren and Merin will see that you perform.” He turned his gaze toward the plain that surrounded the city, before focusing on Selena once more. “Our enemies are in the Rift Valley, but we do not know how many there are, and we do not know where to find them. Blixen is clever, and no doubt his warriors are scattered throughout the canyon. I realize this makes our task difficult. Yet we also have an advantage. The soldiers of the city guard are swift on their wyverns. My plan is to destroy one band after another until there is no threat remaining.” The Protector gave a sharp nod. “Now begin.” With a last glance, he left his mystics to their work.

  The Protector had only just left when Selena felt a growing pressure in her head. It was a penetrating sensation she had experienced once before, out in the wasteland when Group Leader Vail had ordered Rei-kika to invade her mind. Arren and Merin were trying to channel through her.

  She gritted her teeth. She wished more than anything that she knew how to stop what was happening. People had always been afraid of her. They thought that a mystic like her could hurt them. It was something she had never done, but now, she wished that she might be the one to cause her captors pain.

  As the pressure increased, the ache between her te
mples became stronger. Invisible fingers peeled away layers, trying to worm their way inside. The touch was far from gentle as it tried to tunnel its way in. She grimaced and tried to push it away, but then the touch became a hard blow that drove into her skull with the force of a hammer. She looked down at her hands but couldn’t move them; the pressure in her head was too great. Her lips parted. Her breath caught in her throat. If the chair hadn’t been supporting her, she would have fallen. The eyes of the two mystics continued to bore into her.

  She had no choice. She had to escape the pain. As she sought refuge, there it was: the glowing sphere inside her, the source of her power. She surrounded herself with the radiance. For a time she felt peace. But the pain was closing in. The pressure was unstoppable.

  The radiance knew that she wanted to escape the agony, but when it tried to take her free there was a barrier. The wall that the mystics had erected was still there. But even as the barrier frustrated her, it melted away. Caught between the pressure and freedom, there was only one option available. She grabbed hold of her power and used it to pull herself free of her body. She experienced the familiar sensation of being unfastened as she left her physical form.

  Selena found herself floating, but rather than relief she felt panic. She looked down at her body, which was still and unresponsive in the chair. She tried to return.

  She couldn’t. The wall was back up, barring her from entry. As her panic grew, she sensed two entities with her, hovering in the air above her body.

  One of the mystics spoke. We can force you from your body, just as we can prevent you from returning. We can make you stay here forever, conscious but unable to interact with the world, watching yourself waste away until you die. Or we can give you sustenance, so that you never know when it will end. We can do terrible things to you physically and make you see us do them, knowing you won’t feel the pain until you are whole. We can do all of these things, and more.

  Why? Selena said, unable to take her eyes off the young woman with the coal-black hair, so close yet so distant. Why would you do this to me?

  To break your will, of course. She recognized Arren’s voice. We cannot have you fighting our control. You are an important tool. You are going to find our enemies in the Rift Valley.

  Why can’t you find them yourselves?

  We don’t have your power, Merin replied, so we must leverage yours. Arren, are you ready?

  I am.

  Selena’s perception was diverted. As with the first time this had happened to her, she felt violated not to be in control of her own casting. She was forced to look out from the height of the tower, past the fields, and across the plain, in the direction of the immense canyon that lay at the foot of the mountains.

  She was made to fly forward. Only vaguely was she aware of the bright sunlight that lit up the white stone buildings below. People scurried about, but their figures were indistinct; the mystics were uninterested in them. The two men were like parasites, traveling with her as she soared over the city and then left it behind altogether. Her speed increased. She tried to fight what was happening to her but the two mystics beat her down easily, causing pain to stab at her mind.

  What I wouldn’t give for her power, Arren murmured from somewhere nearby.

  She isn’t close to reaching her limit, Merin replied.

  The plain sped past until the red dirt and scattered boulders became a blur. The mountains grew in size until they dominated the landscape. The first hint of the gorges and ravines that made up the Rift Valley were soon visible.

  Selena was forced to rise into the air and hover. The vista spread out below, a great expanse of thin seams, wide valleys, deep gullies, and towering cliffs.

  Selena, we are going to wear you out, Arren said matter-of-factly. Look back. She turned and saw a faint white line that traveled as straight as an arrow over the plain, heading directly toward the city. If you become weak, your lifeline will return you to your body.

  Such length, Merin murmured. Much longer than Tika-rin could manage. The Protector will be pleased.

  Don’t be too hasty, Arren said. Let’s find our enemies first.

  With her power at our disposal, we will find them, have no doubt of that, Merin said.

  The sooner we start, the better, Arren said.

  Agreed.

  The two mystics directed Selena to investigate the immense canyon, pushing her to explore the network of ravines, one after the other. They were looking for tents, fires, and piles of animal bones. Most of all, they became excited when she saw anything that moved or had arms and legs, even if the first few times it was just the silhouette of a sentinel cactus.

  Time trickled by as Selena swiftly explored, darting along one winding passage after another. She knew that back in the tower her body would be aching, but it was the state of her mind that troubled her more. The two mystics were using her ability with no regard to what it was doing to her. She was fatigued after two hours and exhausted after a third. Still they maintained their pressure on her, sending her along the seams of the Rift Valley.

  After a time she saw a place she remembered. She was following a thin ravine that began to open up and she recognized the narrow gorge between two opposing walls of rock. She sensed Arren and Merin’s excitement when dozens of tents came into view, along with rising smoke from several campfires and an expanse of dirt scuffed by the passage of many feet. Close to a hundred bax busied themselves with one task or another. Warriors sat on rocks sharpening their weapons, fletching arrows, or grilling meat on skewers. Discarded bones lay scattered along the base of the cliffs. A returning hunting party weaved through the camp, carrying a dead firehound on a pole.

  Selena scanned the area. She saw the slight hill where she had met Blixen, but the pavilion was gone, and there was only a third as many tents as there had been before. Blixen was wise enough to keep his warriors scattered throughout the caves and hidden ravines. The skalen under Vail were also nowhere to be seen.

  Excellent, Arren said.

  There was once a greater number here, Merin mused. Where are they now?

  We will find them. Mark the place.

  Selena flew higher, rising at a constant speed until she was above the ravine. The two mystics took a bearing from some of the oddly shaped rocks and a withered tree that clung tenaciously to the top of the cliff.

  That’s enough for today, Arren said. She’s nearly done in.

  Relief flooded through her at the thought that she could return and rest.

  Wait, Merin said. There’s something moving in that gully, the one between the two bigger ones. Do you see?

  Selena was forced to travel farther until she was floating above the area. She peered down and saw that Merin wasn’t wrong. There was definitely movement at the base of the gully: small figures that darted back and forth. The two mystics made her descend, taking her to the cluster of figures. Once more, walls of rock enclosed her on both sides. She plummeted until she saw that there were just four little shapes.

  Her heart sank. They were bax young, playing in the red dirt near the base of the cliff. An older female watched from the mouth of a cave while she sat on a rock and skinned a lizard. As Selena looked on, three other females and half a dozen more infants exited the cave. The excited younglings ran past their mothers to join the others.

  The pain in Selena’s head increased. She was exhausted. She couldn’t keep going.

  We’ve seen what we need to see, Arren said. If we want to use her again today, she’ll need rest.

  Take note of the location.

  Got it.

  Selena? Selena! Return to the tower.

  Selena heard the voice from a distance. She turned and there was her pale lifeline, fainter than before, begging her to return to her body. She took hold of it and pulled with the last of her strength.

  “And the second group?” A strong male voice jolted Selena awake. She was still in the hard-backed wooden chair. She didn’t know how long she had been unconscious.
>
  Galen was nearby, speaking with Arren and Merin. From their manner, the pattern of their conversation was familiar. Arren and Merin found anything that moved beyond the city wall, and the commander was the one who did something about it.

  “Bax females,” Arren said in answer to Galen’s question. “There’s a patch of blue rock on a cliff, above a gully. At the base of the gully you’ll find some caves. I counted at least four females, along with their young.”

  The fog finally cleared from Selena’s sluggish mind. With a growing sense of horror, she realized what Arren had said.

  “We’ll fly out immediately,” Galen said.

  Selena stared up at the commander as outrage washed away her fatigue. “I thought you were after enemies. Why go after the females? It’s the warriors you want.”

  “Females breed warriors. It’s not a complicated concept,” Galen said.

  Selena felt sick. “I won’t be a part of this.”

  Galen raised an eyebrow. “Do you care more about bax than your own race? Surely you have more sense than that.”

  Selena thought about Blixen and his warriors, dispersed throughout the Rift Valley. What chance did they have? The city guard rode wyverns. Galen and his men could shoot arrows from the sky, picking off enemies below until there was no one to stand against them. She finally understood Rei-kika’s words: Have you not realized that everyone in this canyon is in hiding?

  What, then, was Blixen’s plan? He must be biding his time, waiting until he had the numbers to rush the city. But with Galen hunting down every bax in the Rift Valley, Blixen’s army would break up and flee.

  Arren’s next words filled her with dread. “Come, Selena. Find us some more.”

  When Selena found a group of six bax hunters, the city guard flew out to make the kill. The two mystics made her travel to the mountains, and, when she came across some skalen, Galen rode forth with his men.