He stared down at his hands, feeling ashamed of his words.
“You feel so helpless,” he said. “Like your life is completely out of your hands. All you can do is fight. You try everything possible to keep yourself alive, but when the sky’s filled with fire and ice, and so many are dying around you despite trying just as hard as you to survive, to live…”
He was crying. He didn’t know when he started. He didn’t even know why, but he was. Brad put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed.
“Hey, it’s all right,” he said. “You’re here. You made it.”
“Yeah,” Kael said, and he sniffled. “I did. At least there’s that, right?”
He smiled, and Brad returned it.
“Look on the bright side,” he said. “First one’s supposed to be the worst. It’s all downhill from here.”
“Damn straight,” Kael said. “Just wait until it’s your turn. I’m going to laugh my ass off when fattie gets his first kill. We’ll rub it in Instructor Dohn’s face together, how does that sound?”
“Sounds like a plan,” Brad said, rising from the bed. “But for now, I think a better plan is to get some sleep. You look exhausted.”
Kael wiped at the tears on his face.
“I can’t imagine why.”
Brad shut the door for him, and Kael leaned back down on his bed. Sleep. It sounded so wonderful. He prayed Bree was at least handling herself better than he was. He’d checked on her before coming to his apartment, and she’d seemed overwhelmed by it all.
“I have a new name,” she’d told him, the only thing she offered beyond insistences she was all right. There was no hiding her confusion and shock. If the battle was a dream, then it seemed his sister was still struggling to wake up.
Maybe it’s like that for everyone, Kael thought as the last of the daylight vanished behind his curtained window, overwhelmed by the inky darkness that preceded the midnight fire. Maybe we’re all still struggling to wake. Just open our eyes, and have the blood and death be nothing more than a nightmare, a harmless, fading…
Kael dreamt of the moment just before battle, of flying west as the entire Seraphim forces of Galen stretched out before him. Except this time there were more of them, far too many, thousands of men in red jackets and gold wings. Kael wanted to tell everyone to turn around, to flee. How could they win when facing so many? But despite how loud he shouted, no one heard him. No one cared. The enemy was upon him, but now their wings were no longer golden but instead made of long reams of shadow. Their red jackets burned with fire, and as the multitude of faces sailed past him, the battle raging despite ignoring him completely, he saw fanged mouths and deep red eyes.
And then the shadows began to scatter, for across the horizon rose a blinding white light. Kael squinted, trying to see. A voice called out to him, distant, crystalline. He swore he saw a set of wings, and a face…
Wake up, Kael.
Something hard struck his face, banishing the dream. Kael’s eyes snapped open, and he fought off a momentary wave of dizziness so strong he thought he’d vomit. The room was dark, too dark, and before he could ask what was going on a thick piece of cloth rammed into his mouth.
“I said wake up,” hissed a familiar voice into his ear.
Hands grabbed him by the wrist, pulling him out of the bed. Kael started to resist, and a punch to the gut rewarded his efforts. He dropped to his knees, retching. His vision finally coming about, he saw that three men surrounded him in his room. The tiniest hint of red light bypassed the thick curtain across the window, and it flickered off the steel of three drawn daggers. Across the hall, Brad’s door was shut, and he prayed his friend was unharmed.
“Keep an eye on the door,” one of the three whispered to another.
One left for Brad’s room; the other two lifted Kael back to his feet. The sharp point of a dagger pressed against his back, and the same rough voice whispered into his ear.
“Walk.”
Resisting seemed pointless, so Kael did as he was told. He stepped out into the hall, then spared another glance toward Brad’s room as he turned toward the apartment door. From within, he heard Brad’s loud, consistent snoring.
At least he’s safe, thought Kael.
His three captors pushed him out the door and into the brighter light of the midnight fire. They grabbed his hands and yanked them behind his back, tying them with a stiff piece of rope. His gag they tied as well, knotting two loose ends behind his head. They said nothing as they worked, and trying to keep calm, Kael surveyed the area in search for signs of hope. His apartment faced the stream and the advanced element training field beyond that. Just to his left was the main road that split the academy, and beyond that, the mess hall. The hour was clearly late, and so far he saw no one about.
“Come on,” one of his captors said, giving him a push once his hands were finished being tied. Kael stumbled forward, and he glanced over his shoulder at the three once he had a bit of separation. Already tired and confused, his shock only worsened when he realized he knew two of them: Saul and Jason Reigar.
“Saul?” Kael asked, the name coming out muffled. His classmate looked away, refusing to meet his eye. Jason, on the other hand…
“Not a word, you understand me?” he said, putting the knife to his back. “I hear the slightest noise and I’ll make you bleed.”
Kael bobbed his head in answer. Jason kept the dagger there while putting his other hand on his shoulder, guiding him. Kael had thought they’d head west, toward the empty training fields, but instead they curled around the northern side of the apartment complex and hurried across the road toward the four women’s buildings. Before they’d even finished crossing, Kael felt a sinking feeling in his stomach, for he knew where they were going. Bree’s room was on the northern side, and as they approached he saw three shadowed shapes hiding beside the door. Two were older students. One he recognized as Jason’s friend Alex from when they harassed him at the mess hall. The third shadow was Bree, bound and gagged.
“Anyone hear you?” Jason asked.
“No,” one of the other two holding Bree answered.
“Good.”
They put Kael and Bree side by side, and he checked her over in fear of wounds. He saw none, and he felt the tiniest bit of relief. To his eyes, she seemed calmer than he did. If anything, she looked furious. Each received a push to move, and while Kael stumbled forward, Bree tumbled to the ground and went limp. One of the older students pulled on her arm for her to stand, but she just lay there like a dead fish. Even when two of them lifted her together, she kept limp, accepting no weight on her legs.
Finally Jason pushed the two aside and knelt beside her.
“They may want you alive, but I’ll deliver a corpse before I let myself get caught,” he told her. “If you don’t want my knife in your belly, stand up, walk, and make no attempts to escape. You got that?”
Bree stared at him for a painfully long time, then nodded. The other two helped her up, and this time when they pushed, she walked alongside Kael toward the east. The five led them all the way to the wall encircling the academy. Up the stairs they went to the top. Kael wondered what they planned to do once there, but an answer was already awaiting him. Coiled rope lay atop the wall, a metal hook on one end. Jason grabbed it, secured it on the interior edge, and then hurried to the other side.
“Tyler, you first.”
Tyler, a wiry man with such pale skin he nearly looked orange from the light of the midnight fire, grabbed the rope and began to climb down. After a nod, Alex slithered after. When Jason confirmed him safe, he turned to Bree and cut off the rope around her wrists.
“Go on now,” Jason said, careful to keep her surrounded and his dagger pointed at her chest. Bree glared but obeyed, sliding down to where the other two men waited with their own weapons at the ready. Next was Kael’s turn. The knife slid through his wrists, cutting the rope. Kael rubbed his already sore skin, pondering an escape. Jason was much bigger than him, and he looked
ready for an attempt, almost eager for one.
He’d love an excuse to kill me, Kael thought, and it chilled him to the bone.
Kael climbed down the rope, still pondering an escape attempt now that he was momentarily away from Jason. The other two down below were prepared, for Alex held Bree in his beefy arms, a dagger pressed to her throat. It was clear what would happen should he try to run away. Swallowing down his frustration, Kael stepped away from the rope and offered them his hands so they might tie them again, this time in front of him.
Though Kael couldn’t see them, he could still hear the two Reigar brothers talking up on the wall, and he strained his ears to listen in.
“Remember, remove the rope and then lie low on your stomach until you see us coming back,” Jason told his brother. “If you think you’ll be caught, drop the rope and then get as far away as you can. You might be able to explain a midnight stroll, but if the rest of us can’t get back inside, we’re dead the moment they discover those two missing.”
“Stop worrying about me,” Saul said. “I got this.”
Jason rubbed his younger brother’s dirty blond hair and then slid down the rope. When he hit ground, he gave it a single tug, and then Saul started pulling it back up.
“Let’s go,” Jason said to them, his voice not so quiet as before. “We’ve a ways to travel before we reach the island’s edge.”
They curled around to the south, avoiding the roads. Soon they were in the field where the island of Weshern held its executions, and a morbid thought struck Kael. Would he envy the disciple of Johan and his quick death dropping down into the well? Jason had said whoever wanted them had wanted them alive… but that didn’t mean very much, did it? Terror struck him at the thought of Jason selling them out to Galen’s Seraphim. How great might their torture be? How long would they force the Phoenix that had humiliated them to suffer?
Suddenly the threat of Jason’s dagger didn’t seem so great. If only he’d tried to escape when they had them split up on the wall!
“We’re running behind,” Alex said as they reached the end of the field. Beyond that was a stretch of grasslands that sprouted up around a slender river running toward the island’s edge.
“You don’t know that,” Jason said.
“I know time better than you do. We’ve got an hour or two at most.”
Jason muttered something to himself as if he disagreed, but still he pushed them all on harder, forcing Kael and Bree into a light jog. The grass reached up to their knees, and they had to struggle for each step. The effort soon had him sweating, and he gasped in air through his nostrils. When they reached the river, they turned south and followed its bank. Far ahead, Kael saw where the river reached the island’s edge and went tumbling over. It’d take twenty minutes to reach it, thirty at most. If they were to escape, it’d have to be soon.
Kael glanced over at Bree, trying to convey his thoughts to her through sight alone. She saw him, and he flicked his eyes twice toward the river. His idea was to dive in and see if they could reach the other side, using both surprise and the current to gain enough distance so they might flee to safety. Bree saw, and she shook her head.
Why not? he wondered, wishing he could blatantly ask her, but that was a delusional hope. He trudged alongside the water, his legs aching and his lungs on fire. If only he could at least breathe through his mouth. The rag tasted like sweat and blood, and with each passing minute it made him sicker. The remaining four talked little, for Alex’s warnings appeared to have made them nervous. Once he and Bree were discovered missing, an investigation would certainly follow. If Jason and his ilk didn’t make it back before morning, they might as well immediately turn themselves in for the abduction.
The soft gurgle of the river gradually became a roar as it flowed over the island’s side and into open air. Two figures wearing wings and harnesses waited beside it, bathed in red light, and while Kael knew he should be surprised, deep down he wasn’t. One was a woman in golden armor, her white tunic seemingly orange due to the midnight fire. With the angelic knight was a theotech of Center.
“Have they been harmed?” the theotech asked. His head was shaved, and his face sported a thin patch of brown facial hair around his lips and chin. Jason’s attitude was far more subdued and respectful when he answered.
“Not much,” Jason said, shoving Kael closer. “I hope a few bruises don’t matter.”
The theotech gave cursory looks at the two of them.
“No, bruises don’t matter much so long as they’re alive and breathing,” he said, smiling as if they were guests he’d invited over for tea. “Zelda, my dear, would you prepare them for their travel to Center?”
“Not yet,” Jason said, stepping between them. “I want my payment.”
A look of utter disgust came over the theotech’s face.
“The proper amount will be transferred to your family’s coffers, I assure you,” he said. “Did you think I would arrive here with a giant bag of coin?”
Jason backed away, and he stammered out a weak apology. Zelda twisted a knob on her right gauntlet, then lifted it up. Electricity sparked from her palm.
“If you remain still, this will hurt less,” she said.
As she stepped forward, Kael heard a soft whistling sound, one he was intimately familiar with. Praying he was correct, he dove to his left, straight into Bree. Together they hit dirt, Kael crouching over Bree in a meager act of protection. The others cried out, but before anyone could react, Zelda suddenly staggered backward. A wet cough escaped her lips, followed by blood. A long lance of ice impaled her through the chest, and she dropped to her knees, body turning limp. When she slumped forward, the still-embedded lance caught the ground and propped her up. Her arms flopped at her sides like those of a strange child’s doll.
Jason saw, and he turned toward them with his dagger drawn.
“What the f—”
All around them, the night exploded. Fire and lightning blasted into the theotech before he could even raise his gauntlet. Alex started to flee, but another lance of ice hit his left shoulder, ripping his arm off his body. He dropped to the ground, whimpering as he bled out. Kael stared with eyes wide, unable to turn away. A stone came crashing in from the sky, its girth twice the size of Jason’s chest. It smashed his lower body, snapping the bones of his legs in a horrifying sound belonging to a nightmare instead of the waking world. Jason collapsed, body convulsing in shock from such pain and trauma. When another stone crushed his skull, Kael felt relieved.
And then just like that, it was over. The theotech and his escort were dead, as were the four who’d dragged Kael and Bree to the edge. Kael pulled the rag out of his mouth, and he sucked in air, hoping to fight off his suddenly light head and weak knees. Five Seraphim of Weshern landed around them, their wings softly humming.
“Are you two all right?” asked a blessedly familiar voice. Kael turned to see Argus among the five helping Bree to her feet. Another Seraph drew a sword and used its edge to cut free their bindings.
“I’ll be fine,” Kael said, still feeling wobbly on his feet. When Bree’s hands were free, she pushed away from Argus and rushed over to him, throwing her arms about him.
“I thought they’d kill me when I first woke,” she said as she hugged him.
“A shame you didn’t have a broom handle nearby,” Kael said, and he grinned despite the grim hour. “Jason would have fled in terror.”
Bree wiped away a single tear from her face as she laughed.
“Damn right,” she said.
Kael turned to Argus, who was busy inspecting the body of the dead theotech.
“How did you know we were here?” he asked.
Argus turned, then pointed to the sky.
“He told us.”
Both followed his gaze to see a sixth Seraph carrying a man in his arms. When they landed, Kael was hardly surprised to see it was Saul. What he was surprised to see, however, was that Saul wasn’t tied up or bound in some way.
Saul crossed his arms over his chest upon landing, and he struggled to look them in the eye.
“Jason didn’t tell me who we were taking,” Saul said. “Only that they were traitors to Weshern. When I saw it was you, I… I knew I couldn’t go through with it. Not after the battle we endured.”
Kael’s jaw dropped as he realized what that meant. Saul had turned on his own brother, sentencing him to die, all to protect him and Bree. To have done that, to be that loyal…
“Saul,” Kael said, stepping toward him. The young man had just done something Kael wasn’t sure he could ever have the strength to do. Could he condemn Bree to death, no matter what she did? He didn’t think so. No, he knew so.
Saul didn’t want to hear it. He put his back to them and asked the Seraph to fly him to the academy. Kael watched them go as Bree held his hand in hers. She said nothing, only watched until Saul was a speck on the red sky before turning to address Argus.
“What happens now?” she asked.
“Nothing,” Argus said after confirming all were dead. He gave a nod, and the other Seraphim began to fly back.
“What do you mean, nothing?” Kael asked.
“We leave, and come morning, vultures will retrieve their corpses. No charges will be filed, no questions asked by either side. It will be as if this never happened.”
“But that’s… that’s wrong,” Kael said, as if that should have meant something. He stormed closer to Argus, wishing his voice could match the strength of Argus’s. “A man from Center tried to kidnap us, maybe kill us. How can they go unpunished like this?”
“Because that’s how the islands work,” Argus said with such finality it made Kael take a step back. “You want us to accuse the Speaker’s theotechs? The only way we defend ourselves is with the elements those theotechs trade to us. With Galen breathing down our necks, do you think we’ll risk such vital supplies in a futile attempt to punish the failed kidnapping of two students?”
Skyborn Page 31
