by Jill Cooper
“I’m right here.” He gripped the sleeve of my cloak until our fingers found each other. “I won’t let you fall.”
“And if you fall?” I whispered.
He smiled at me, and his brown eyes warmed like a fire. “Let’s not find out.”
I nodded and started forward again. The end was nowhere in sight, and at my feet was debris of long pieces of metal, rock, and soot. Moss grew on top of the suspension cables, and instead of touching it I straightened my arms out to keep from falling.
“Careful!” Ella called out in fear ahead of us. Her voice jarred me, and then when the bridge shifted with a gust of wind, I screamed and fell forward onto my knees.
Don’t look down, she said, but it was all I could look at as everything swayed back and forth. Vomit rose in my throat, and I felt the need to rid myself of it as I slowly crawled along. “Abby!” Sebastian called in desperation, the first time he had called me by my real name since we had met.
He gripped my shoulder, and I reached for him, raising up to my feet. “Thanks,” I said as we started moving again.
A bird flew high against the destroyed skyscrapers, its wings wide. It glided in flight in such a way, it seemed effortless and like magic. My eyes were on it as we inched along with a sickening feeling in my belly. What if it brought the hunters over to the bridge?
What if they found us out on the bridge? Stupid as it was, I feared they were looking for me, and somehow, they would know who I was.
“Move a little faster,” Sebastian said, and stress presented in his voice. His cast his gaze up at the bird as we made our way along. We found Ella stopped and waiting for us over at the exit. I breathed with relief as we made it the final extra steps to her. She didn’t say anything as she moved off the bridge.
She started up a hill covered in the foundation of destroyed and ravaged buildings, wrecked rubble, and stone turned to piles of sand. We followed silently behind as she lay on her belly and pointed over the ridge. I followed her finger and saw what looked like a camp. An old fire smoldered beneath some ash, and there was a makeshift tent.
“Scavengers,” Ella whispered, and she slipped her goggles off her head and down over her eyes. “They’ll eat and do anything to survive.”
“Even people?” I asked with wide eyes.
“If that’s what it takes, and those ones, you don’t want to meet. It’s wrecked their brains. You think life is easy out here beyond your cushioned little cities?”
I had never thought of my life as cushioned, but I guess compared to the life of Ella and scavengers, it was.
“We’ll go around,” Ella pointed along the hill, “but stay low to the ground. We don’t want them to sniff us out.” Ever still, she removed a switchblade from her boot and started along the cliff to keep distance from the camp.
Staying low, I chased after her with Sebastian on my tail. I felt better having him close by, stupid as that might’ve been. I barely knew him, and he had allowed George to sacrifice himself for me, but having him around had been nice, even if I wasn’t sure how to vocalize it to him.
“Sorry if I blamed you when I thought George was dead.”
Sebastian did a double take. “Excuse me? I don’t expect such kindness…”
“It needed to be said. It wasn’t right to blame you. George made his choice and… let’s just leave it, all right?”
He nodded. “Thank you, Tarnish. It takes a weight off. I should’ve known how dangerous the valley would be. We should’ve taken him somewhere safe first. I just was in such a rush to show Father I had succeeded in finding you.” Sebastian rose his eyebrows.
Markus and the others. I worried about them, too. I hoped they were out of harm’s way more than anything and found a new place to settle.
“We’ll find him. One day when this is done, we’ll rescue him,” Sebastian said. “You have my word.”
“If you two Chatty Cathys are done, we’re here.” Ella jumped down the hill and started running toward what looked like an old tunnel. The structure was partially exposed in the dirt, sticking out like an old cylinder out of a cement block. On the top was a twisted fence containing overgrown bushes and trees.
Sebastian and I ran after her and entered the tunnel. It was beyond dark, I couldn’t see the other side, and the stench was beyond anything I had smelled before, like molded and rotten flesh. I had to imagine it was a smell meaning death and decay. Nowhere I wanted to linger.
“It’s a tomb. How do we even know there’s a way out?” Sebastian asked.
Ella rolled her eyes. “I use it all the time to avoid the scavengers. It’s the quickest way to cut across the land and get you where you’re going. You can leave if you want, but it’ll take twice as long to clear the city.”
“We go this way, then,” I said. Getting out of the city was the only thing I cared about. The sooner we found the missing remnants, the sooner we could find the library, and maybe the secret to defeating the ministers and their hunters.
I stumbled in the dark and braced my hands on a big, metal object. Using my hands, I walked around it and stepped into goo, and something cracked beneath my feet. I cringed and dreaded to think of what it could be. Remains? Human remains?
Shuddering, I cleared the car and heard a deafening bang off in the distance and then a woman’s scream.
“Ella!” I called out and rushed towards her.
“Tarnish!” Sebastian warned, but I couldn’t stop as I slammed into something.
Or someone. He smelled like sweat, and he was wearing some sort of strange leather. I felt it with my hands as he wrapped his arms around my torso and his hand covered my face. It was salty and tasted like rotted fish.
“Sebastian!” I screamed as the scavenger squeezed my lips shut and bent me back, beginning to drag me toward something. My hand shot out and slammed him in the chest, driving him backward. His grip on me loosened, and I shoved him away, driving the heel of my boot into his foot.
“Hey!” he yelped as someone wrapped their arms around me from behind. I kicked and flailed as someone grabbed my legs and carried me out of the tunnel. I fought and screamed, but it did no good. Once free of the tunnel, they tossed me onto the ground, and I rolled in the dirt. There was tall grass growing in the distance, two bikes parked beside a small fire, and two tents made out of simple sheets.
The bike looked exactly like the one Ella had been riding.
I glanced around and clutched at my shoulder, looking for my satchel, but it was gone. It had come clear off me.
One of the scavengers picked it up. “What’s all this trouble about?” His voice was rough as he approached me.
I scurried backward, kicking my heels and moving my arms fast to get away from him, but I bumped into someone. Gazing up, I saw Ella’s smiling face, but instead of being afraid, she was happy. She offered me a wink as the scavenger handed my satchel over to her.
She hadn’t been leading us around the scavengers. She had been leading us straight to them.
****
My eyes were still on Ella as they tossed a wheezing Sebastian on the ground beside me. I couldn’t get over the cool look in her eyes as she smirked at me.
“Interesting,” she said as she went through the contents of my bag and pulled the books out. “Well… well… aren’t you a little rebel? Didn’t anyone tell you these are outlawed, mate?”
So, her quirky way of talking, sounding like a naïve simpleton had been an act. And I had fallen for it, hook, line and sinker. Ella played me, and I let her. I wanted a friend. I wanted to save her.
Now I was going to have to save myself.
I made a move to stand and several spears shoved under my chin. “You played me.”
Ella rolled her eyes. “I gave you more than one chance to get away, but you kept coming back for more. I didn’t see much choice other than to lead you to my boys. You liked little Ella, didn’t you?”
She laughed, licking her teeth like it was all a game.
I wouldn�
�t answer her, give her the satisfaction of my admission. Instead, I took in the sight of the men for the first time. They weren’t dressed much different than Ella, but their faces were darkened and their skin coarse. Unkindness marred their brown eyes, and they snapped their teeth at me to scare me.
Jumping, I wished to slither back, and Sebastian rolled over so he lay between me and them. “Leave her alone. If you’re going to hurt anyone, let it be me.”
The look on his face showed he meant what he said.
“What’s so special about her, huh?” The lead boy grunted at me and tossed his head.
“She’s going to rid the world of the hunters.” Ella laughed, barely able to contain herself. She tossed my books onto the ground in front of the boys. Her boys joined in, and my cheeks flushed with embarrassment.
Even more, I was angry. Those were my books. I wanted them back under my care.
“Those will get us killed.” He pointed at the book on top as the cover blew open. “Bring the hunters, they will.”
Another one sniffed. “We need to destroy them, that we do. Books deserve nothing more than to be burned.”
“No!” Anger rose in my throat, and I scampered up to retrieve my books. “These words are magical, they can transport you to different worlds and fill you with such amazing feelings. You can’t destroy these books.”
“Destroy them.” Ella laughed and paced the area, my satchel still tight in her hand. “Rip the pages apart like confetti.”
Her boys bent down to pick up the books, but I deftly retrieved my staff and twirled it around to reach my books first. As a breeze kicked up and the pages flew open, I slammed the edge of my staff onto the pages. The words lit up and the glow went up the staff I wielded as power built inside my gut. Wind blew through my hair, and with wide eyes I gazed at Sebastian. His eyes were transfixed on Ella as the satchel glowed.
Ella gasped and stared at the bag. “What is this?”
“Read!” Sebastian whispered with manic passion. “Read!”
“Once upon a time, in a galaxy far, far away…” As I read, my words strengthened and intensified. The air around me stilled, and a soft blue hue lit up around the book.
The movements of the men decreased to half-time, and as their hands swiped at mine, I spun from the book, using my staff to hit them in the torso, force them back. The underlayer of my robe lit up blue as I twirled, and I forced my free hand into the air at the attacking scavengers.
A blue light shot out from me and shoved them back. Flying through the air, they tumbled to the ground, their head slamming into the dirt, sidelining them.
Magic was real.
And it was mine.
I wasn’t able yet to comprehend the magnitude of events, as behind me Sebastian ran into Ella. He body checked her and threw her backwards. I scooped up my books and grabbed the satchel from her limp hand.
“Run!” I screamed.
I shoved my books into my bag and slung it over my shoulder. Sebastian followed, walking backward with his cross bow aimed at them. I placed my staff back into its holster as we made a quick run for it. Sebastian kept up with me as he untied his bonds with his teeth, and we jumped onto one of the men’s bikes.
I held on to Sebastian’s waist as he started it up, the footsteps of the scavengers tearing after us. I kept my head down low as the bike’s tires kicked up dirt and we went charging through the war-torn desert.
“I’ll find you!” Ella screamed after us. “And you’ll wish I let the ravengers get you! You’ll wish as we pluck the flesh from your bones to feed to my boys!”
Scavengers ate flesh; it was the thing of nightmares.
I buried my face down into Sebastian’s shoulder and blocked out the words that followed. Slowly, Ella’s voice faded into the distance as the roar of ravengers in pursuit hurried toward us.
They felt me just as I felt them. I was sure of it now more than ever. Something in my bones ached when they were near, and my heart quickened out of something more than just fear. It was a bit more like the charge of destiny.
I was racing toward it, whether I wanted to or not.
Chapter Fourteen
The Taylors
Sandra fashioned her sheet and hung it through the metal rafters above the bench in her cell. She gazed up, fear and loathing in her heart. She had been strong, wasn’t that what everyone said? She kept her family together, and anyone who dared hurt Robert, dared to hurt Abby, well, they’d get an earful.
Now look at her, but it was the only choice. If her life meant the ministers would use her to trap or hurt Abby, this was the only way out. Sandra would be damned if she’d be used to hurt her daughter.
Sandra loved her. Maybe she had never said it out loud, but by the workmen, she loved her. More than Sandra thought possible to love another human being. To love anything.
Moonlight streamed in from the window of her cell, and in its glow, Sandra wiped her face dry. The smell of smoke drifted in from outside as the bonfires burned for the worship ceremony day and night. So, it would be for the next two days as townsfolk gave up part of their possessions and beloved trinkets to the dark lord.
She’d give her life, not as a sacrifice to the dark lord, but to Abby.
Sandra labored a deep breath, picturing her darling daughter’s face. She gazed through the bars at Robert. He stood on his own bench, the twirl of sheets in his hand. The kindness in Abby’s face came from him. Now, Sandra could barely bring herself to look at him—it hurt just too much.
“Ready?” she said with a shaking voice, her stomach wrenched with sickness. Sandra couldn’t stand what they had been reduced to, couldn’t fathom, but it had to be done. Had to.
He sucked on his bottom lip, and it disappeared beneath his mustache. “Ready as I will ever be, my beloved.”
His words put tears in her eyes, and Sandra’s resolve waned. “Oh, Robert Taylor. Don’t you start,” she whispered.
Robert fished his hands between the bars and stroked her cheek. “If this will be our final act as husband and wife, know I give my life freely to you. As I always have.” His voice quaked and tears leaked from his eyes as he kissed her hand through the bars.
Sandra had never seen him cry, and the image moved her. She stretched through the bars to touch him. “You’re a romantic fool.”
“Who loves you. Who wishes he hadn’t been so ashamed to say it before.”
“I always knew.” Sandra smiled through her tears. “We do this together, as we move through life.”
Robert nodded and took his position back up on the bench. “I’m ready. For our darling Abbigail. May she be strong. May she find the will to lead. To be strong.”
Sandra pulled herself up onto her own bench. “May she be wise and brave.” Her lip quivered and shook. She didn’t want to die, but this was the only way. Still, her heart didn’t want to give in. “May she live long enough to know the happiness I have known with you.”
Tears shined in Robert’s eyes, and Sandra equally felt his pain. “I have loved you from the beginning. I wish I had told you then.”
Oh, Sandra knew. How she knew, and she didn’t want this to be the end. She wanted to stay. She wanted to see who Abby would grow into. So much to say, so much to see.
“Forgive me, my darling Abby,” Sandra whispered. “I don’t think I can do it, Robert. I don’t think—”
A whistle rang out loud and close by. The ministers and their hunters were coming for them. Sandra gasped. “They’re coming. We have to do it now, Robert! Now!” Sandra slipped her head through the noose and tightened the sheet.
But her fingers shook. They quaked, and Sandra couldn’t get them to do what needed to be done. “No, damnit no!” she called out in terror.
They threw her cell door open, and it wacked the stone wall. “Get in there! Stop her! Stop her!” The minister rushed inside, blowing his whistle.
“Robert!” Sandra screamed for help and looked over to see her husband already besieged by hunters. They sur
rounded him where he stood, the noose tight around his throat, but he hadn’t had a chance to drop.
What would the hunters do to them?
They swarmed into her cell. Sandra held her hands up to protect herself and backed up against the wall. The hunters grabbed her. She was thrown to the opposite side of the cell face first. Her nose cracked against the brick, and she felt blood flowing from it as she slipped down to the ground.
“Sandra!” Robert gurgled from the other side of the room with such terror, such finality, it struck her heart ice cold.
The hunter grabbed Sandra’s throat with its bony skeleton hand. Sandra closed her eyes and pushed her head against the brick. She wouldn’t look, wouldn’t look, but she smelled something so horrible. Burning, charred flesh, but it wasn’t hers. It was her dear husband.
Oh, not Robert. Please… he was such a good man. A strong man. Sandra wanted only a little more time, just a few more days. A couple hours. Anything.
“Open your eyes and see what is left of your husband.”
She didn’t want to. Let the workmen help her, Sandra didn’t want to, but she couldn’t help herself. Sandra opened her eyes, and across in Robert’s cell, the hunters stood in an adjoined circle, a pile of ash and dust between them.
Robert was gone. Dead. Decimated, and no one but she and Abby would ever care. Life would go on, just as it always had. Just as she had responded over the years as it happened countless times, over and over again.
The realization struck her heart, and she was afraid. The only thing she could do was scream. Her sobs choked her with grief so tight, she wanted to die.
“You monsters!”
The hunter squeezed her neck and forced her back. Yes, kill her. It’d be for the best. She welcomed it now more than anything.
As she gagged, the Minister of City Affairs' voice rang out loud and clear. “Save her. The Dark Lord Creighton has plans for this one.”
The hunter squawked, robbed of its kill. For a brief moment, Sandra stared into its bony face with its giant, red marble eyes. She saw death, and that’s all there was. Pure and unadulterated death. It was coming for her.
