Burned and Scarred (Burn this City Book 2)

by Brenda Poppy

  It was a good thing that her backup plan was still intact. As she struggled to regain her composure, her own PeaceBot slammed into the side of her foe, sending it careening down the alley where it collided with two of its now-defunct brethren. Seizing the opportunity, Scar ran up behind it and positioned her pen for the kill.

  This time, the stun gun sprang to life, sending waves of electricity into the PeaceBot’s core. She breathed a sigh of relief as the bot slowed and stopped, its body giving out under the force of the current.

  Scar wanted to revel in her victory, to delight in their defeat, but time wasn’t on her side. Grabbing her tab, she canceled the distress call and promptly got to work updating the bots’ core commands, giving herself complete remote access to their systems and their cams. Now whatever they saw, she saw, and whatever she wanted, they did. It was the perfect robotic army, with four new soldiers at her beck and call.

  Within a few minutes, she’d managed to reprogram all four bots, putting each under her control before sending it into the world. Then she, too, took her leave, her original PeaceBot traveling in her wake. Several pairs of curious eyes poked out as she passed, but Scar kept her head bent, letting the smog conceal her identity – and her indiscretions.

  ✽✽✽

  The next morning dawned cool and bright. Before the suns had even cleared the horizon, Burn was out of bed, dressed and ready for the day. Slinging a light pack across her back and fastening her knife belt around her waist, she took one last look at Hale, who was still sound asleep.

  Burn had the sudden urge to wake him and beg him to come with her. Yet he’d made his feelings clear: He wanted to stay. So she would do this on her own. Turning her back on the sleeping giant, she shut the door quietly and snuck down the stairs, carefully sidestepping the creaky floorboards. She opened the front door without a sound and stepped into the shy morning light.

  Videre had yet to awaken. She’d never seen the city so still, so tranquil. Burn drank in the silence, enjoying the calm feeling that blanketed her mind.

  Instead of heading toward the gate like she usually did, Burn weaved her way through the city toward the stables. As she approached, she heard the familiar sound of Jez’s whistling wafting through the cool air. Turning the corner, she spotted the man, who was carefully inspecting each animal with the eye of a jeweler.

  “Not today, my lovely lady,” he murmured gently to one of the donkey-rams. “You just rest and regain your strength, and soon you’ll be as strong as an ox again.”

  It was a strangely endearing sight, and Burn suddenly felt as if she didn’t belong. She wavered for a moment, uncertain whether to intrude, but she was soon spared the choice.

  “Hello, Burn,” Jez said without looking up.

  Coaxed from the shadows, Burn stepped forward and joined Jez amongst the animals, giving him a nod in lieu of a greeting.

  “How did you know I was there?” Burn asked, genuinely curious.

  “The animals,” he replied simply. “They get spooked by strangers.”

  Of course. The animals acted as his sentinels, alerting him when anything – or anyone – was out of place. What a useful gift, Burn thought, eyeing the creatures around her.

  “What are you doing here, Burn?” Jez asked, efficiently getting to the point.

  “I’m here to join you on your trade mission. I have business in the other camps. I figured since we’re both headed in the same direction, we could share a ride.” Well, she could share his ride – and his knowledge of the desert, since hers was practically nonexistent.

  Jez considered her for a moment, taking in her pack and weapons belt. “Did you tell Imber about your business?” he queried, a hint of suspicion creeping into his voice.

  “He knows,” she replied simply. It was technically true. Imber did know what she was planning, although he hadn’t officially signed off on it. Still, he hadn’t physically stopped her, so that was good enough for her.

  Jez seemed to accept her answer, shrugging his shoulders. “Why not? It’d be nice to have some company out there. It can get a touch lonely in the wildlands.”

  He let go of the creature he’d been petting and sidled up to Burn. “But if anything happens, anything that puts us in danger or hampers our trade talks, you’re on your own. My priority is and will remain the safe transport and sale of our goods. You got that?”

  Burn was taken aback by his sudden seriousness, but she nodded in assent. As if to emphasize his point, Jez leaned over and picked up his rifle from the ground, shouldering the weapon.

  “Great,” he said, his voice reverting to its normally jovial tone. “Give me a hand loading up the cart and we’ll be off.”

  Burn did as she was bid, hoisting bags of grain and barrels of water onto the nearby cart while Jez carefully selected the creature that would be leading them through the desert. Within no time, her muscles burned from the effort of transporting the hefty cargo. She briefly considered fetching Hale to assist her but quickly banished the idea from her mind. After all, she needed to get used to a life without him in it.

  Fifteen minutes later, the cart was packed and ready to go, with Jez sitting happily in the driver’s seat. Burn climbed up next to him and gave him a short nod, a nervous excitement growing in her chest. With a small flick of Jez’s wrist, the cart began to roll, and they took off in the direction of the gate.

  As they moved toward the wall, Burn spotted Nara seated atop it, her still form keeping watch over the equally still desert. At their approach, she turned to inspect them. Burn smiled at her friend and nodded, knowing that Nara could see the gesture even from her perch.

  In return, Nara whispered, “Good luck,” knowing that Burn – and only Burn – would be able to hear her. With that, Jez and Burn and their cartload of goods rolled through the gate and into the desert beyond.

  Chapter 12

  Burn marveled at how much had changed since her first cart ride through the desert. The landscape itself was exactly the same, with its flowing dunes, stoic plateaus, and unrelenting heat. However, she was no longer the same woman who had once traveled through it.

  For one thing, she was stronger. Her training with Nara had begun to chisel her body, with lean muscles now apparent on her arms and a new sharpness in her face. Yet it was more than that. Cloaked in the familiarity of Kasis, she’d been afraid – afraid to lead, to choose a path, to act when action was needed. Now, surrounded by nothing but uncertainty, she knew her purpose, and she finally felt strong enough to see it through.

  “So where is this camp anyway?” she asked, curious how far they’d have to travel before they happened upon another living soul. It had already been over an hour since they’d departed, and the suns were creeping up in the sky, their bright heat unbroken by clouds.

  “Callidus. They call it Callidus. And it’s a few hours thataway,” he stated, pointing ahead of them.

  Burn wasn’t a navigational expert, but she knew that when they’d exited Videre, they’d headed off to the right. From what she knew, it wasn’t in the opposite direction of Kasis, but their route wouldn’t take them any closer to the city. Which meant that, despite their progress, she was still nowhere near home.

  She glanced toward the space in the distance where she knew Kasis lay, the blank landscape tugging at her heart. She imagined the domed city sitting on the horizon, glinting in the suns, and it filled her with an immeasurable longing. Tearing herself from the daydream, Burn refocused her attention on the path ahead.

  “What’s it like, this Callidus?” she asked, trying to prepare herself.

  “It’s…different than Videre,” Jez responded slowly. Burn waited for him to elaborate, but he remained silent, his eyes fixed on the skyline.

  “How so?” Burn prodded, hoping for more.

  “Well,” Jez began, pausing to collect his thoughts, “they’ve had a tougher time of it. They don’t have the luxury of staying in one place, which means they can’t build up defenses like we have. They’re at the
mercy of the desert.”

  “So? What does that mean?” Jez’s patented version of storytelling made it difficult to get a clear answer from him, so Burn pushed on, attempting to ferret it out of him.

  “They’re not as friendly, shall we say,” he replied lazily. “They’ve had to fight for what they have, and they’ll fight to keep it. They’re not too keen on outsiders. Heck, they only tolerate us because we’re good trade partners. They know if they did anything to Videre or one of its people, they’d never see another bag of grain again.” Jez chuckled lightly, seemingly unconcerned with the city’s violent tendencies.

  Burn mulled it over, forming a picture of the city in her head. Tents, crude weapons, a hunter-gatherer society. It sounded like a tedious existence – one that could be wiped out by one bad sandstorm or a mild depletion in wild game.

  “Do they have a leader, then? Someone like Imber?” Burn went on, trying to solidify the image.

  “Yes and no,” Jez said, sighing. “They have a leader, but he’s nothing like Imber. Thestle is…strict with his people. He doesn’t let them decide their own fates. They do what he tells them.”

  Burn was about to ask about his gift and how he had come to dominate Callidus, but something at the edge of her vision caught her attention. She whipped her head around, not quite sure what she was looking for. At first, she thought it had been a trick of her imagination, just the suns and the sand playing games with her eyes, but then she spotted it again: a small patch of white peeking through the sand.

  Curious, she leaned toward it, sticking the top half of her body out of the cart to get a better view. It looked like an anomaly in the sand, a place the gods forgot to color in when they’d shaped the desert floor. It was probably just a rock or a plant or the skull of a poor creature who had perished in the sun. Then again, none of those things tended to move – and this thing was moving.

  “Jez…” Burn said loudly, her eyes trained on the rising figure. He followed her gaze, his eyes going wide as sand streamed off the growing shape like water down a mountain. Whatever this thing was, it was huge.

  “Run!” Jez screamed to the animal tethered to their cart.

  In an instant, they had doubled their speed. The cart bumped unsteadily over mounds of sand, sending grain bags and fruit crates rocketing into each other and over the side. Jez didn’t even notice the lost cargo. Instead, he frantically switched his gaze back and forth from the desert ahead of them to the creature behind.

  Burn, on the other hand, couldn’t take her eyes off the enormous shape. It had stopped rising from the ground now, and it paused to shake the remaining sand off its colossal body. Burn’s mouth went dry at the sight.

  It was a bear – or at least it had the general shape of a bear, except it was at least three times the normal size. It also appeared to be balding, with patches of rough, hairless hide interspersed with tufts of thick white hair. Then the pieces came together in Burn’s mind, and she realized what it was: a sand bear.

  Terror pulsed through Burn’s veins as she watched the creature sniff the air and languidly turn its head in their direction. It’s piercing blue eyes locked on the cart, and it actually seemed to smile at the sight. With a feral leap, it began its pursuit.

  Fueled by its powerful legs, the creature bounded toward them, letting loose a guttural growl. Jez glanced back, his eyes wild. He flicked the reins, urging the animal at the cart’s helm to accelerate, but Burn knew with a savage certainty that it wouldn’t be enough. No matter their speed, they’d never be able to match the beast at their back.

  “Use the gun!” Jez yelled to Burn as he drove, swerving to avoid a large dune that could have upended them.

  Burn ripped her eyes away from the sand bear to search for the weapon within the wreckage of their goods. After a few seconds, she spotted the rifle lodged under a crate of pears near the rear of the cart. She strained desperately to reach it, but her arms weren’t long enough to make contact. Giving in, she vaulted over the seat and into the storage area, grabbing the gun and aiming it at the bear.

  The heavy rifle felt foreign in her hands. She’d only ever used a handgun – and even then she’d been out of her mind on ManniK. Still, she knew she had to do something. The bear was nearly upon them now, only a few strides away from the back of the cart. Burn took aim, struggling to steady herself amidst the jostling, and fired.

  The force from the shot sent her sprawling, and she landed in a pile of grain on the cart’s bed. Picking herself up, she got to her knees and peered through the detritus. Her heart sank as she saw that the sand bear was still in pursuit, with only a few feet between them.

  She grabbed the gun from beside her and steadied it on a crate, aiming the muzzle toward the beast’s enormous body. Taking a shuddering breath, she fired again. This time the bullet flew straight, striking the bear in the chest.

  Burn felt a brief moment of elation before she realized that the bear wasn’t slowing. It was close enough now that she could see the spot on its thick, calloused hide where the bullet had struck. It had barely left a mark.

  “It didn’t work!” Burn began, but before she could finish the bear reached out one of its massive paws and sent the cart flying – along with its inhabitants.

  Burn’s world spun as she flew through the air. Her back hit the sand with a muted thump, stunning her, and she looked up just in time to see the cart sail overhead and land behind her with a furious crash.

  As her world fell back into place, she realized with heart-stopping clarity that the bear was still coming. Knowing she could never escape in time, she rolled into a ball, making herself as small as she felt. Peering through her hair in hopeless terror, she watched as the creature thundered toward her. Yet right before it reached her, it lurched into the air, landing heavily on the cart behind her.

  Relief surged through her, but it was painfully temporary. She knew it was only a matter of time before the bear finished with the cart and made a move for her. So she pushed herself up and ran. The sand clung to her feet, making every step torturously slow, but she kept going, kept moving, putting more and more distance between them.

  She didn’t know where she was going. All that mattered was that she got away – as far away as possible. In the moments between utter panic, her thoughts turned to Jez. Where had he landed? Was he safe? Had he gotten away? Or was he there, in the cart, facing the sand bear alone?

  A bubble of guilt swelled in her chest, but she tamped it down, telling herself that there was nothing she could do. One person couldn’t take on that bear alone. Nor could two.

  A deafening growl split the air behind Burn, and she turned to see the bear standing on its hind legs amidst the remains of their cart. Her mouth dropped at the sheer scale of the creature, its muscular body nearing the height of five men. She raised her eyes to its head and realized with a jolt that the animal was staring straight at her.

  Stumbling, she turned and fled, picking up speed. The bear followed, its paws striking the sand with loud thumps as it gained on her. She didn’t know what to do. She had no plan, no place to hide, no clear means of escape. Her mind reeled, searching for a way out.

  In the distance, Burn spotted a crack in the sand. Putting on a burst of speed, she drew nearer, watching as the crack widened into a canyon. A very large canyon.

  Burn had an idea. It was a stupid idea, but it was all she had. The bear was practically on her heels, and she had no other options. Fumbling, she drew one of the long knives from the belt around her waist. But instead of throwing it at the creature, she ran forward, carrying it to the mouth of the canyon.

  Right before the sand dropped away beneath her feet, she plunged the knife into the desert floor. Then she hurled herself off the edge and into the chasm. Holding fast to the knife, she dangled over the cliff’s side, her feet flailing in mid-air as her arms absorbed the shock.

  Unable to stop its momentum in time, the sand bear careened over the edge, narrowly missing Burn as it fell. Out of the corne
r of her eye, she saw it thrashing, pawing in vain for purchase in the empty air. A moment later, Burn heard a resounding thud as the bear collided with the canyon’s hard rock floor.

  She felt like she couldn’t breathe, couldn’t get enough air into her lungs to stop her world from spinning. Her arms ached, and she tried and failed to pull herself up the cliff face. Finding a foothold, she finally managed to drag herself over the ledge and onto the safety of the sand.

  For a small eternity, Burn lay there, panting. Despite the heat, she suddenly felt numb, her body and brain sapped of all their energy. She couldn’t find the strength to move or shout or cry. All she could do was stare up at the sky, her mind blank.

  Some time later, knowing she had to move, Burn got to her feet. She couldn’t bring herself to look down at the creature she’d killed. Instead, she simply turned away. Only, she didn’t know what direction they’d come from. The wind had long since erased their tracks from the sand. So she picked one that felt right and walked. And walked. And walked.

  After a time, she stopped. Glancing around her, nothing looked familiar. There were no signs of Jez or their cart. She was lost. She tried calling for help, shouting Jez’s name as loud as she was able, but the wind stole her words just as it had stolen her tracks.

  She cried then. Falling to all fours, she let the tears come. They flowed freely onto the sand, creating dimples in its golden surface much like the rain had all those weeks ago.

  The thought of the rain – and of Hale – sobered her, and she climbed to her feet, wiping the sand off her hands and her pants. She might not know where she was, but she knew where she was going. Jez had pointed out the direction of Callidus, indicating a space to the right of the twin suns. Although the suns were somewhat higher in their arc now, Burn could still follow the path, using the sky as her compass.

  Steadying herself, she set off toward the horizon, her head held high.