by C. R. Grey
“How dare you?” she hissed. She did not move from where she stood—she would not give him the satisfaction of seeing her afraid. She held her hand out, gesturing to her guards to stay where they were.
“You’re not even the least bit amused to see me?” the Jackal said. His soldiers stayed in their ranks as he sauntered forward, swinging a metal cane. His voice rose, inviting the horrified onlookers to listen.
“Viviana Melore, your claim to the throne of Aldermere has very short legs—it can only run this far. I think after the people see what I have to show them, they will agree that I am the true ruler of this kingdom…and I always was.”
He walked onto the stage, and Viviana stepped back before she could stop herself. The Jackal paced in front of her, crossing to the metal tiger. Viviana’s nostrils flared as she watched him—so confident, so nonchalant. Oblivious to how powerful she truly was. Laughing, the Jackal tapped the tiger’s metal head with his cane.
“Seize him!” Viviana shouted to her guards.
The Jackal simply smiled. Viviana heard gasps from the audience, and saw fingers pointed toward the stage, at something behind her. Her guards halted.
She turned.
Facing her head-on was a white tiger—a real one, with fangs bared. It stood staring at her with its snowy-blue eyes, ready to strike. She backed away from the beast.
“I believe you’ve been looking for this,” the Jackal growled. “But as you can see, the white tiger, the herald of the true ruler of Aldermere, has chosen me.”
“No,” whispered Viviana. It seemed her body had begun to shrink. The tiger cocked its snowy head, fixed its eyes on her, and roared.
The Jackal stood in front of the white tiger for an unbearably long, silent moment. The tiger began to pace back and forth on the stage, whipping its tail in a menacing frenzy. Viviana’s guards scattered.
“Do it.” The Jackal was sneering through clenched teeth at the agitated tiger. “Do it, you filthy cur.…”
The tiger bared its teeth, clearly with no intention of doing anything the Jackal asked of it. Instead, it roared again.
Viviana steeled herself. This was nothing but a trick—an impressive one, but nothing she couldn’t overcome. She snapped to her guards, who recovered from their stupor and caught hold of the Jackal’s arms. She summoned her strength, and called her mechanical tiger to her. It arched its back, and echoed the real beast’s roar. Viviana grasped the ruby controller and pressed a button, and the Reckoning began.
FROM HIS HIDING PLACE behind the platform, Bailey heard the two roars, one real and one mechanical. Confused shouts tore through the crowd. Animals began twitching and trembling, yelping and hissing. Then, all at once, every animal in the fairgrounds attacked the Jackal’s men. With teeth gnashing and claws extended, the soldiers cried out in surprise. The people on the grounds did not understand what was happening: they tried to chase after their kin or restrain them, to no avail. But Bailey knew that, like the poor mouse in Lyle Clarke’s Science Club, these animals had lost their own will. They were controlled by Viviana’s murderous rage, now merely tools for the Dominae. Machines. He peered from behind the platform out into the crowd, hoping to hear the familiar clunking of Tremelo’s motorbuggy, or see his friends running to help him. But all he saw were the shocked faces of the citizens as they watched their kin do battle.
Bailey returned his attention to the stage platform. Two Dominae guards held the Jackal, but Viviana herself was watching the two tigers: Taleth and the automaton circled each other on the stage, teeth bared. Bailey heard the sound of heavy boots clambering across the stage—a handful of the Jackal’s mercenaries had broken through. They tangled with the guards, and the platform became a chaotic battleground.
Bailey closed his eyes and pressed his back against the side of the platform, hoping that, with enough effort, he could see the stage through Taleth’s eyes. He needed to find Hal, and he needed to find the Reckon, Inc. machine. But he couldn’t get a clear vision of anything—just a huge, catlike shadow that skulked in the corners of Taleth’s vision. A constant, high-pitched whirring rang in his ears, accompanied by a strange thumping, like a drumbeat.
Behind him came a violent shout. He looked up just in time to see two Dust Plains mercenaries leap off the back of the stage with the Jackal, while others fought the tide of Dominae guards in pursuit. Bailey tried to crawl backward into the safety of the shadows under the platform, but it was too late.
“You!” said the Jackal, seeing him. Two pairs of arms seized him under his shoulders, and dragged him away from the stage. The mercenaries marched him behind the Jackal toward the concrete fire pillars behind the stage. Once there, the Jackal turned to face him; his eyes were narrowed, and his cheeks were blotched and red.
“What have you done, boy? We had a deal.”
Up on the stage, the troop of the Jackal’s soldiers beat back the Dominae who had been holding the Jackal only moments before. The Jackal grabbed Bailey’s coat and pushed him against one of the pillars. These stood at Bailey’s shoulder height, and he could feel the heat of the coals on his face and neck. The two soldiers from the tunnels stood there, as well as the Jackal’s guards from the compound. One of the guards struggled with a barking jackal on a chain leash.
Bailey summoned up all his strength and pushed himself free of the Jackal, knocking them both off balance.
“Where’s Hal?” Bailey demanded.
The man holding the barking jackal rushed forward to grab Bailey. The animal pulled on its chain, jumping like it had gone mad. Bailey backed away from the snarling beast and looked toward the stage, praying that Taleth would feel him and help him.
“Hold him, idiot!” the Jackal yelled at his guard.
The Jackal pressed a small button on the base of his cane. A hidden blade popped out from behind the carved metal dog head. Bailey stomped on the foot of the guard holding his arms and lurched out of his grasp. He looked up to the stage to see Taleth pacing the top of the platform. Neither she nor the mechanical tiger had lunged. The clash between Viviana’s guards and the Jackal’s soldiers on the stage was nearly finished, but out in the crowd, the bandits still struggled against the onslaught of attacking animals. A flock of owls, ravens, and other birds from the fairgrounds dive-bombed into the melee. Onstage, more of Viviana’s guards approached Taleth cautiously, intent on corralling her. They had her surrounded, but not one of them could get close enough to strike without her immense claws slashing the air. Viviana herself circled the fighting, regarding Taleth with a hungry, wolfish stare. Bailey’s blood froze as he watched several of the guards raise their guns at her.
“Don’t shoot it, you idiots!” Viviana shouted to her guards. “We want it alive.”
The Jackal lunged at Bailey, brandishing the knife end of the cane.
“Little sneak,” he roared. His face was red with fury. He grabbed Bailey by the collar and pushed him against the concrete side of the nearest fire pillar. Bailey’s head hit the lip of the column with a thud. The flames behind him were close enough to singe his hair. The Jackal kept his fist at Bailey’s neck, holding his collar tightly.
“Where is Hal?” Bailey demanded again. “If you’ve killed him—”
“Ah, precious Hal,” growled the Jackal. “You’re in no place to bargain for lives anymore—not when you and your white beast ruined the plan.”
“She’ll never bow to you again,” said Bailey.
“You don’t think so?” the Jackal spat. “Look on the stage—look at your tiger.” Bailey looked. Viviana stood at the edge of the stage with her own mechanical tiger, one eye on Taleth, and another on the bloody melee on the grounds. Taleth, in a frenzy of anger, was bearing down on Viviana and her guards.
“If Taleth kills Viviana, then I will have my throne back,” said the Jackal. “You’ll be of no use then. But don’t worry—I’ll spare your tiger and train her to bow then. Any beast can be trained with the right whip.”
Bailey tried to wrench himself free, but the Jack
al was too strong.
“Good-bye, Child of War,” the Jackal said. The Jackal tightened his grip on Bailey’s neck until Bailey could hardly breathe. He kicked and grabbed at the Jackal’s arms. His panicked mind flew between his own vision and Taleth’s. One moment, he saw the Jackal leering at him, pressing him against the concrete column. The next moment, he was in Taleth’s mind, watching a frightened guard jump away from her unfurled claws. Taleth could feel Viviana probing at her mind, like someone poking pins into her to test her reflexes. Bailey could feel it too, and it dizzied him.
But then he heard an angry snarl; the guard had lost his grip on the chain that held the vicious jackal. It leapt forward and clamped its teeth onto the human Jackal’s leg. He shrieked and let go of Bailey. Bailey stumbled and pushed himself forward, away from the fire and into the dirt.
The animal leapt again, snapping, and the Jackal dropped his cane and held his arms up to protect his face. Bailey ran to the stage. Beyond the fire pillars was pandemonium—the fight between the animal army and the Jackal’s men had escalated into a full-fledged battle, human against animal. The citizens watching screamed as their kin clashed with the soldiers.
Bailey looked up to the platform, and his heart seemed to stop in his chest—Taleth was running toward him. Her eyes were wild, their pupils just narrow black slits in a fire of blue. She breathed in heavy snorts through bared teeth. Bailey felt no connection to her, no vibration of emotion between them. She was beautiful, poised to attack, and she could kill him with one gnash of her teeth.
Please no, Bailey thought. Not you too. He felt paralyzed by fear, caught in a terrible decision: he could continue trying to reach Viviana, trying to stop what was happening. Or he could run. He hated Viviana even more then—she was forcing him to fear the one creature in the world whom he loved the most.
Suddenly, the automaton, controlled by Viviana, head-butted Taleth, knocking her onto her side. Bailey crouched at the edge of the stage. Above him, Taleth swung at the automaton with her heavy paw; her claws screeched against the metal. Bailey cried out and put his hands over his ears. He had to help her. No matter what, he couldn’t leave her.
The Jackal appeared then, his meaty hands outstretched and his pant leg soaked with blood. Bailey, hardly thinking, scrambled backward.
“You little scab! You’re a scheming locust, you are!” the Jackal screamed. He came closer, but the ferocious jackal leapt again. Its chain jangling, it knocked the Jackal to his knees. The Jackal’s guard rushed to pry the dog off its master, but the animal was too strong. The Jackal’s legs kicked into the air, and he screamed for help. Bailey hid his face, not wanting to watch. He heard a loud thud and moved his fingers to see the guard holding a wooden club, standing over the body of the canine.
“Nature’s claws,” the guard gasped, rattled. The animal lay still and lifeless—as did the Jackal. His face was a bloody mess of bites and gashes that extended down to his neck.
But then, as Bailey and the guard watched, the back left paw began to twitch. Its front right leg moved, and slowly, terrifyingly slowly, the jackal’s body lifted itself up and stood facing the guard again.
“Ants,” whispered Bailey.
“What in Nat…” whispered the guard.
Bailey’s hands shook. He’d been certain the dog was dead, but it stood before the Jackal’s guard, snarling. Its head was covered with blood. It reared its body back with its teeth bared, and the guard lifted the club to swing down once more. Bailey looked away and crawled quickly along the underside of the stage.
His whole body quivered. The Reckoning was happening all around him, and the violence was unimaginable. He had to stop it—but he needed help. Where was Tremelo? If he didn’t appear soon, Bailey knew he would have to destroy Viviana’s machine himself. But the only machine he’d seen on the stage was the mechanical tiger, and it was nothing at all like the blueprint Tremelo had copied. If he’d learned anything from Lyle’s orb and Tremelo’s music-making machine, then the Reckon, Inc. machine had to be near Viviana. His only chance to find it was to get close to her. Perhaps, with Taleth’s help, he could restrain her…if Taleth would still bond with him. He could see no other way. He took a deep breath, stood, and pulled himself up to the stage.
VIVIANA WATCHED AS THE two tigers fought head-to-head. The Dominance that she felt pulsed through her like stormy waves crashing onto a shore. And now the white tiger—the beast she’d been searching for—had all but lain down at her feet. Its resistance to Dominance was remarkable, she had to admit. But it was growing weaker minute by minute.
One of her guards ran onto the stage and approached her.
“The Jackal is dead, madam,” he said. “Killed by one of his own dogs. The mercenaries have scattered.”
Viviana smiled. Her demonstration had gone perfectly: her military power was terrifying. No enemy would dare stand up to her. After today, she’d never have to endure the protests of the RATS or any other naive uprising against her. The people had seen that she could command their kin whenever she needed to.
“Time to rein in the troops,” she said, pressing the glowing red button on her controller.
Nothing happened. The light on the controller did not dim—instead, it began to glow more brightly. Viviana pressed the button again, and again. Still, nothing changed.
In the crowd, the screams of the people of Aldermere grew.
“What is happening?” she whispered. Her fingers buzzed with energy, almost as if the force she was sending through the Catalyst was flowing out of her without her control. The animals did not stop attacking—but now that the Jackal’s soldiers had fled, the animals attacked indiscriminately, snarling and biting at the citizens in the fairgrounds. Viviana backed away from the platform edge. She threw the controller away from her. It bounced against the wooden boards under her feet and slid across the stage. The building intensity within her did not cease. Her skin seemed to grow warmer and warmer, like a kettle over slow-burning coals.
“Are you all right, madam?” the guard asked.
“Of course,” she lied. On the fairgrounds, people fought off their own kin or tried to flee. She hadn’t intended this—but she could not help the way her blood began to dance in her veins at the sight of so much chaos, or the way her heart thrilled to see the furthest limits of her strength. “They will hate me for this,” she said, to no one but herself. But at least they will know never to cross me.
She looked at her fingers. They contained more power in them now than she had ever felt before. She smiled as she realized that, behind her, the automaton continued to fight, even without her pressing the controls on Clarke’s flimsy remote. No wires, she thought. Nothing but me and my will.
She turned, and that was when she saw the boy.
BAILEY GROPED FOR THE Jackal’s cane on the ground, fighting off the first of the Dominae guards to rush at him. He’d watched Viviana toss away the brass controller, and it had skidded to a stop only a few feet from where he stood. The whirring he’d heard earlier had grown into a terrible pounding that came from the mechanical tiger. He wasn’t even sure it was sound at all—it felt more like a vibration or a heartbeat.
A feral cacophony rose from the fairgrounds: snarls and yips, screeches and hisses. People were fighting off their kin in shock. He saw a young girl, crying, protect her face with her arm as a ferret leapt at her, its teeth bared. It was just as Gwen had said. People were terrified and confused. So many had been wounded, while others fought back against their kin, sobbing all the while as they reluctantly defended themselves.
The automaton landed a severe blow to Taleth’s right side, leaving four bleeding claw marks in her snowy fur. Bailey yelled out; he felt the splitting of her skin in his own side. He winced, but felt grateful—if he could feel Taleth’s pain, then she wasn’t lost to him. He focused on her, concentrating all his hope in her direction. Don’t give up, he told her. Don’t lose yourself. The energy of his bond radiated out from him—he could almost feel it.
But with each blow from the automaton, he felt his connection waver.
One of the Dominae guards seized Bailey’s arm. The Jackal’s cane was knocked out of his grasp.
“Who are you? What are you doing?” shouted the guard.
“Taleth!” Bailey cried. She lifted her eyes away from the mechanical tiger to meet his own. The mechanical tiger rammed its forehead into her injured side; she staggered. Bailey felt his bond with her disappear, as though a cord had been snapped. She snarled and leapt at the automaton, and Bailey reeled backward into the guard, suddenly afraid.
The guard dragged Bailey toward Viviana. Like a bird of prey, Viviana swooped downward to him and took his face in her hand, forcing him to look into her eyes.
“The tiger is your kin, isn’t she?” Viviana demanded.
Bailey said nothing. Viviana’s violet eyes searched him, darting across his face with mad intensity.
“You killed Joan—you’re the Child of War the Loon foretold.”
Bailey couldn’t answer; he could barely think. Behind him, Taleth continued to fight. Don’t give in, he thought, but he knew she did not hear him. At any moment, she could abandon the automaton, and come after him. He looked around for the discarded controller—if only he could destroy it; perhaps that would stop all this.
“You die today,” Viviana whispered, tightening her grip on his cheek. “Once the Child of War is dead, the prophecy will die with him. And the people will accept me as the true leader of Aldermere.”
“But you aren’t their leader,” whispered Bailey, straining for air.
Viviana squeezed tighter.
“Oh, no?” she said, gazing out on the chaos she’d caused. “Then who will challenge me?”
GWEN GRIPPED HER SEAT as Tremelo’s motorbuggy lurched through the fairgrounds. The battle among the soldiers, the Jackal’s mercenaries, and the animals had made traversing the grounds impossible—but even now that the Jackal’s mercenaries had dispersed, the crowds fleeing the grounds in the opposite direction did not make the way any easier.
