“I’m fine, Isavel.”
She nodded, and pulled her hands back to herself, glancing between Hail and Erran. “What happened to that warrior?”
“I blew her smug fucking face off.”
Isavel looked back into Hail’s face and saw no regret there. “Oh, Hail. How are -”
“I know. I had to do it. It’s fine.” Hail’s jaw visibly stiffened. “I found you again, and that’s what matters.”
She nodded, wondering just how fine it really was. What kind of new nightmares would Hail have to face in her sleep now - in Isavel’s name? She looked aside, to the pillar of ash and smoke that had once been Campus.
“What about Mother Jera? Elder Magan? Dendre?”
“I don’t know.” She glanced at the walker. “He pulled us into some stinking jungle world, I dealt with the warrior, and then I think we were walking underground to escape. Didn’t see anyone else. I assume they all survived, though I’d be glad if we hunted them down and took their heads off too.”
Isavel looked at her, and Hail cleared her throat.
“Metaphorically speaking, of course.”
Isavel looked to Tanos and Sam. “What about you two?”
“Sam wanted to die fighting.” Tanos pointed at the ghost. “I told her that was stupid, and we ran away. We saw these two running for the hills and recognised Hail, so we picked them up.”
“He’s stupid.” Sam didn’t look too unhappy to be alive, though. Isavel reached out and put a hand on her shoulder.
“Ghost, right?”
Sam smiled weakly. “That’s me.”
“That’s fine.” She kept her hand on Sam’s shoulder for a moment longer, then pulled it back to rub her eyes again. She looked up to the sky. There was no sign of anything there, no sign of the ship that had taken Ada away from her.
“What about that?”
She pointed at the code creature, which was still growing closer, and everyone grew a little uneasy. Erran glanced at it. “A wraith. Ada made a lot of them, but once the ship left for good, they all ran off into the wilds. Gods only know what they’ll get up to.”
This wraith continued picking its way along the coastline for a while before Sam pointed to Isavel’s chest, and the stone swinging there. “Ada has one of those.”
She looked down and found it still pointing towards the sky. “I know she does.”
Erran had been quiet so far, his eyes aglow as he stared into other worlds, but at this he became a bit more attentive. “Okay, so uh, just to be clear, you two -”
“Yes.”
The others all shot him angry glances. Tanos and Sam knew already? Outnumbered, Erran threw up his hands in defence. “Just checking! Just making sure I, you know, knew what’s what.”
Hail rubbed her shoulder. “Isavel. I know you’re in pain, but we should think about what to do next. The army might send people here to check for survivors.” She sounded concerned. “If you’re not sure about anything right now, we can decide for you. But we’re not leaving without you.”
Isavel nodded, looking out across the sea, to the mainland in the distance. To the south a huge, strange pillar reached into the sky. To the north, somewhere, was Glass Peaks.
“Thank you, but no. I think… I know what I have to do. I didn’t go with Ada for a reason, you know. A… good reason, I hope. I told Ada.”
She wasn’t making sense. She took a deep breath.
“I want answers. I deserve answers. The gods have been toying with me for months now - killing me, bringing me back, giving me powers, taking away my friends, taking away my leadership, giving me Ada and then taking her away as well. I need know why. Why me, why all this… why . I don’t know if I can decide what to do with myself without knowing what this is all for. But I’m sick of waiting for the gods to decide to answer me. They promised I’d understand if I did what I was told, and I did my best.”
She pulled herself to her feet.
“I want to find everything that gives the gods voice in this world, and I want to make them answer me. And if they don’t, I’ll strangle that voice and find another, until they tell me what I need to know. Or until I’ve silenced them completely.”
They stood up with her, and Hail nodded solemnly. “Where to?”
“The one place we already know the gods have voice.”
They exchanged nervous glances, and Hail explained. “The temple in Glass Peaks.”
“Yes. I don’t think I’m welcome there anymore, so we’ll have to break in.” She almost smiled at the thought of upturning the elder priestess’ home.
Erran nodded. “I can walk us in there, if I can find a safe world for it. Tevoria might be able to help; I’ll talk to her.”
“I can drive the hauler.” Sam nodded.
Tanos glanced around. “I sit stand here looking pretty?”
Isavel curled her lips. “It’s a start.”
She turned her head to the last figure on the beach with her. The wraith had crawled directly towards them across the rocks, and it had become clear it was heading for her. When her gaze settled on it, it rose up and took on a new silhouette, a fragmentary, wispy impression of a human hooded and cloaked. It stared at them, silent and unmoving, and everyone but Isavel shuffled away a step or two.
Sam looked nervous. “Ada never really explained how they work. What they want.”
Isavel took a step towards it, and it seemed to contemplate her. She raised a hand, as though to wave, and it mimicked the gesture with an inchoate tangle of code. “Maybe it will follow us.”
“And do what?”
She shrugged, and turned away from it. “I don’t know. It doesn’t seem dangerous, but I think it has a mind of its own.”
“I saw what they did on the battlefield.” Hail looked leery. “I’d say it’s dangerous.”
Isavel nodded. “But not… hostile.”
“We just let it follow us?”
She sighed. “What’s the worst that could happen?”
Erran gripped his head. “Don’t say that! Gods, that’s just asking for trouble.”
“I know. Chase it away if you want to, then.”
Nobody did.
Isavel hugged Hail again, and they walked towards the hauler. She heaved herself up onto it, her strength and her gifts unable to keep the feeling of heaviness out of her muscles. She was stiff, rigid, and sore, but it wasn’t the fighting that had done her in. She collapsed onto the hauler’s flatbed and dragged herself up to a sitting position. Hail followed.
Sam and Tanos climbed into the front of the vehicle, and Erran hopped onto the back, dangling his legs off the edge and staring off at the ruins. The wraith followed, shrinking itself and sloshing up into the middle of the flatbed, and everyone else backed off warily.
Hail sat next to Isavel, reaching for her hand and leaning against her. “Whatever you need.”
Isavel looked up to the sky.
“I don’t know about that.” She lowered her eyes back to Earth, and set her shoulders straight as the hauler thrummed to life and turned around, pointing itself across the water and towards Glass Peaks. She felt something harden in her heart. “Let’s take this one thing at a time. Right now, we’ve got some gods to piss off.”
About the Author
Pacific in Vancouver, BC, which has lead to experience working in videogame development, volunteering at the Vancouver Aquarium, and pursuing a passion for writing. The Digitesque stories are born of a love of science-fantasy as well as a deep draw towards all things liminal, eclectic, and transitional.
Independent authors always appreciate reviews, positive or negative, not only for the visibility but also because they provide valuable feedback that helps them improve their writing!
Guerric can be found on Goodreads, as well as on Twitter as @GarrickWinter.
Copyright © 2017 by Guerric Haché
All rights reserved
Cover art by Keezy Young
Young, Second Contact
Second Contact Page 30
