Chosen: Dystopian Fantasy (Absence of Song Book 3)

by C. B. Stone

  Cal emerges from the darkness then, standing just at the edge of the firelight. The flames glitter and sparkle off the wicked looking blade of his sword that I’m starting to think is another extension of the man himself. Out of breath, the first soldier, a man named Franco, stops short of Cal and falls to his knees. Gasping and panting, the others join him, all of them too winded to speak, collapsing to their knees as they reach the camp.

  “What’s going on?” Cal demands, but no one seems able to speak. They are too busy trying to suck in air and catch their breath. “What’s chasing you?”

  “Nothing,” Franco finally gasps out. “Nothing at all. Do you think if we were being pursued, we’d dare bring danger back here? What kind of soldiers do you think we are?” He sounds almost offended, in between still panting for air.

  Cal frowns. “Then why rush to get back at all?”

  I notice he still hasn’t put his sword away and the light from the fire bounces off of it, making it look as though the blade is aflame.

  No answer. I lean forward, eager to hear their response as well, but the men say nothing.

  “Well, are you going to tell us what the heck is going on, or not?” Cal demands again, his tone angry and impatient.

  “Sir, it’s just that- it’s almost unbelievable, really,” Franco replies. “But we think we found Dove’s Peak.”

  I gasp, my eyes opening wide, fresh excitement flooding me. Cal looks confused.

  “That can’t be,” he says. “We haven’t been walking that long. You must be mistaken.”

  “That’s what we were afraid of too, but please, listen to us,” Franco begs. “There was a light in the distance, a star of sorts, but much brighter than any in the sky right now, and it shined down in the distance. We could see the mountains from the light of this star. It’s still a ways off, but we know the direction we are to be heading in now. I’m sure of it.” The man speaks with utter conviction, and I can only stare.

  Cal doesn’t say anything, but Noah does.

  “The North Star,” he whispers.

  “Wait, what?” I ask, turning to look at him. “What did you say?”

  “I remember something my father told me a long time ago,” he says. “There’s a star that will light your way there. Follow it. Go forth and it’s less than a day’s journey from where you are at.”

  “You mean-,” I trail off, unable to believe we are really this close to Dove’s Peak, already.

  “He’s right,” Cal says, sitting down near the fire once more, his body relaxing somewhat. “He’s absolutely right.”

  Safety is less than a day away. This is it. This is what we’ve been waiting for. In the last twenty-four hours, I’d learned about this mystical safe haven that still seems little more than legend. And within the next twenty-four hours, I will be there. It almost seems too easy.

  And it breaks my heart to think that a handful of hours behind us, the others of Bethel army are likely not faring so well.

  XVIII

  FAYNE

  I open my eyes, confused. Staring around at my surroundings, I try to get my bearings. I must have passed out. I’m in a large tent, not one of our small, battlefield tents. This one is bright burgundy and gold, fancier than anything I’ve ever seen before, especially as tents go. Instead of a sleeping bag, it seems I’m on a cot with a feather pad of sorts beneath me. It’s comfy. Much too comfy for someone in the middle of a war zone. I frown, still feeling muddled.

  Sitting up, several of my men crowd around me. They jumped to attention as soon as I began to stir. Others, men and women I don’t recognize, stand around my bedside as well. All eyes are fixed on me, and I have a momentary flash of insecurity beneath all the scrutiny.

  A tall, broad shouldered man adorned in armor made from the finest metals I’ve ever seen in my life, bows down low in front of me. His hair is thick and long, and his grey beard dangles to his chest. His eyes are friendly and warm, dancing almost.

  “I’m Michael Lyon,” he says. “I don’t expect you to know me, I only recently became familiar with you, Commander Pythe.”

  Now I’m even more confused. What is going on?

  “I’m sorry that our introductions couldn’t have been more- pleasant,” he says, a smile curling his lips upward. “We hadn’t anticipated the Ministry finding you so soon. We are from the city of Wellington.”

  Wellington. A tidal wave of relief courses through my body as I realize my troops made it.

  “It’s nice to meet you too,” I say, rubbing my temples. They hurt, but at least I have my hearing back. “I thought we were meeting you closer to your city limits?”

  “Ah, yes. Well, things changed a bit. Our computers showed that Ministry was on their way to you, so we rushed out as soon as we could. We knew you wouldn’t be able to handle them alone.”

  No, no, we couldn’t. But something else sticks out to me more than anything else he just said.

  “Wait, computers?” I ask, my eyes widening.

  “Yes, sorry,” he smiles sheepishly. “I forget that most cities aren’t as- advanced as we are. We have technology that allows for tracking, similar to what the Ministry has. In fact, almost exactly like it.”

  “How is that possible?” I ask.

  “Let’s just say, not everyone who works for the Ministry actually works for the Ministry,” he states with a wink. “And with that knowledge, we were able to use their tech to create the weapons you witnessed in use earlier.”

  “But I’d never heard of Wellington possessing such technology.”

  “Of course not,” he responds knowingly. “If you had, then so would the Ministry. And that just would not do.” He smiles.

  Good point. I’ve never been so impressed with anything in my life. I thought I’d seen it all when it comes to surprises on the battlefield, but this- the display the army of Wellington had put on in destroying the Ministry’s air patrol took the cake.

  “I have to say, I’m impressed,” I comment mildly.

  “And again, I want to thank you for coming to our aide.”

  Michael bows again. “We are at your disposal Commander Pythe. “Anyone who follows God is our friend too.”

  Slipping over to the edge of the cot and swinging my legs down, I try to stand up, but sway slightly, overcome with a wave of dizziness. My men grab onto me before I topple to the floor. What the heck is going on here? I put fingers to my temples again, feeling them throb dully beneath my touch.

  “Oh, and I do apologize that you’re feeling ill,” Michael says. “It’s an unfortunate side-effect of the explosions for those who are sensitive. Several of your other troops are recovering as we speak as well.”

  Grimacing, I nod. I can’t be laid up for long: there is a war to fight. Forcing my men to back up, away from me, I slowly stand on my own. Staying upright proves to be easier than the struggle it was to climb to my feet, and the dizziness begins to ebb somewhat.

  “I’m fine,” I fib.

  His smile returns. “Good. The effects are only temporary, and once the deafness goes away, usually you have a headache for a day or so, nothing more. It’s hard to adjust when you’re not use to such things.”

  That’s for sure. I have never heard anything so loud in my life. No gun, nothing I’ve ever held in my hand has ever had such an effect on me, and it’s extremely disconcerting. My pounding head only makes me even more curious to see the weapon responsible for my current woes.

  “Can I see it?” I ask, hoping Michael will know what I’m asking about.

  Apparently he does, because he turns to the man standing beside him and says something. Then he motions for me to come forward. My legs feel wobbly, but I refuse any assistance. Lifting my chin, I keep going, determined to do this on my own. We walk out of the tent and my eyes pop wide again. While I man a large army of my own, the addition of Wellington’s troops makes it appear as though we are millions strong. There is no way I can see all of them, not by a long shot. I let out a gasp of surprise.
/>   Michael’s lips curve in another knowing smile. “We have a large army.”

  “You can say that again,” I mumble.

  We walk a short distance away, to the edge of the campsite, before we stop amongst a group of Wellington soldiers.

  “Here you go, Commander Pythe. The BirdKiller, as we like to call it.”

  My brow furrows. I’m really not sure what I’m looking at. There’s nothing there. Thinking Michael is playing me for a fool, I start to say something, but then notice a large weapon in one of the soldier’s arms. It’s small but appears to be quite heavy. Though I figured something as destructive as what I’d seen must be huge, apparently the BirdKiller only requires one man to hold it. I look at the weapon in his arms with awe, mixed with a healthy dose of disbelief. Seriously? This can’t be it. This can’t be the machine that took out multiple Ministry air craft, right from the sky. The machine that caused my current pounding headache. No way.

  “This?” I ask, pointing to it. It looks like nothing more than an exceptionally large gun.

  “Yes,” Michael confirms. “Don’t believe me?”

  “It’s not that I don’t-,” I start to say, but he stops me.

  “Cover your ears, Commander Pythe,” he says.

  One of the soldiers hands me something and instructs me to place it over my ears. I do as I’m told, and the others do as well. Unable to hear what the others are now saying, I follow them a short distance away. Michael points up to the sky and nods. One of his soldiers tosses a backpack up into the air while taking aim with the supposed weapon, and fires. The ground shakes, but no sound can be heard, not with the ear protection. The backpack disintegrates before it even hits the ground.

  Michael takes off his ear protection and winks at me again. “See?”

  I take off mine as well, still unsure of what I’d just seen. Still disbelieving.

  “Wow,” was all I could come up with to say.

  Suddenly, not just surviving this war, but actually winning it, seems more possible than ever. Maybe even likely. My lips tilt up in a smile, despite my raging headache, and my heart suddenly feels lifted with renewed hope.

  XIX

  MARCUS

  “What happened?” Leora Blackwood screeches.

  I wince, and Grayburn doesn’t dare speak. I have no idea what to say. Even knowing the power of God, I’m still surprised. One minute our troops were lit up on the screen, poised to attack. And the next minute, they’d vanished. Signal wiped. Just like that.

  “I don’t know,” I answer. “I’ve never seen anything like that. Could we have lost connection with them somehow?”

  “No way, not all of them at once,” Grayburn growls, hammering away on his keyboard, sending out signals that aren’t being returned. “What the heck just happened?”

  No one has an answer. Not even I know everything that’s going on at this point. One moment we are sending in troops to attack, and the next minute they are gone.

  “What about those on the ground? Have you been able to reach them?”

  Grayburn grunts. “Haven’t tried, but I’ll do that now.”

  The ground troops aren’t going to get to the site for a few more hours, and as far as I can tell, they are still sending regular signals alerting the base to their location.

  “They sent a signal ten minutes ago, they’re about two hours away.”

  “But did they see anything? That’s the question I want answered,” Leora barks.

  She paces the room biting her fingernail with her brow crinkled. The lines that crease her face as she scowls make her appear closer to her actual age.

  Grayburn gets a response. “They said the sky lit up like the sun exploded. They could see it all the way from where they were at.”

  “Interesting,” Ms. Blackwood observes, hovering over my shoulder.

  I’m not sure what makes it so interesting, especially since it means our troops are probably dead, but I’m not about to argue semantics with her. Especially not when I’m practically cheering on the inside.

  But Grayburn takes the bait, dunce that he is. “Interesting? That’s all you have to say about this?”

  She turns toward him, moving across the room in one quick stride, and grabs him by the back of the shirt.

  “Do you want to know why it’s interesting, Officer Grayburn? Or perhaps you already know?”

  “Know what?” he mutters, looking confused and keeping his gaze down.

  She shoves him back down into his seat, but her stare remains focused on him. “The technology they used, it sounds- familiar, doesn’t it?”

  “It does?” I ask.

  As soon as I open my mouth, I wish I didn’t, because now her attention is refocused back on me. I inwardly cringe.

  She sneers in my direction. “Yes, Officer Rose, it does. Because it sounds like the exact same technology we were working on in secret,” she spits. “Yet somehow, they’ve made advances with it that we haven’t. Yet.”

  I don’t say anything else. I’m afraid to. But once more, Grayburn proves to be the less wise of the pair of us, and opens his mouth once again.

  “So what does that mean? How did they get more advanced weapons than we have right now?”

  I cringe outwardly this time. Leora does more than cringe though, she rears back and slaps the man across the face, her hand landing with a resounding THWACK!

  Grayburn yelps, grabbing his face and cowering back from her. She stoops down to glare into his face, hissing, “That means you ignorant fool, that we have spies in our midst.”

  I do my best not to stare or look too obvious. While I’m technically a spy myself, I’m not a spy in the way she is thinking. I’m simply guilty of not being on her side. But considering my relationship with Jaelynn, whether I’m a true spy or not, that fact alone makes me a very likely suspect.

  “Why are you looking at me?” Grayburn asks her, his gaze landing on me and practically drilling a hole through my head. “Shouldn’t you be looking at him? He’s the girl’s father, after all.”

  I hold my breath. Leora Blackwood turns, slowly, and stares in my direction. Her eyes glitter with malice and the near insanity I see behind them makes my blood run cold.

  “Yes,” she says, “But unlike you, Officer Grayburn, he didn’t have any knowledge of said weapons. Only a handful of people knew about our technology and efforts.”

  I slump a little, a tiny flood of relief allowing me to relax. Marginally. Leora turns back to Grayburn, so that I can no longer see her expression. And for the first time in my life, I’m grateful I don’t have inside knowledge of such things. It’s keeping the target off my back.

  For now, at least.

  XX

  NOAH

  I’m up before everyone else the next morning. Only the two guards watching for trouble remain awake, and I merely nod in their direction as I walk into the woods. They don’t seem overly concerned about me. They really have no need to be, since Jaelynn is the one that needs to be protected. Even I’m fully aware of that.

  Glancing around and then up at the sky, I’m up even before the sun is up. I head into the woods in the direction the others had come from the night before. I know the mountain should be that way, but how far? They seemed to have run quite a ways. Nonetheless, I have to see for myself and I can’t wait until daybreak. I want to see the star.

  I’m not sure how long I walk for, but I make certain to mark my trail so I can find my way back without trouble. The trees rattle in the wind, and except for a lone owl watching me from high up in the bare branches of a tree, there’s no one but me out here in the wilderness.

  As I climb my way over a steep hill, I stop suddenly and feel the ground beneath my feet begin to crumble. I leap back, my heart pounding, and watch the earth fall away down a steep cliff. Had I not stopped, I would have fallen to my death! But thankfully, something had kept me from going any farther, instinctively warning me of danger. I stand there, looking out across the valley, and my mouth curves in a
slow smile. There it is. The one, sole star, lighting up the entire dark sky. Dove’s Peak looks so close, yet so far away at the same time. I can see the snow capped mountain tops and wonder what it will be like to experience snow for the first time. What will Jaelynn think? I’ve heard about snow, in stories passed down through the generations, but they’d always been nothing more than myth. Legend. Just like the peak itself.

  My heart fills with happiness as I see the spot, the sanctuary set apart for believers. Their safe haven. Knowing we are so close to getting Jaelynn to safety fills me with joy, and for a moment, I’m overwhelmed by the beauty, and the love from God that fills me, I almost fall to my knees in tears.

  Thank you. Thank you.

  I thank Him because I know there is no way we ever would have made it this far without Him. He has helped to speed up our journey, turning days and weeks into mere hours. I just know it, right down into my bones.

  I’m also so thankful to God for giving me Jaelynn. This journey has brought us so much closer together, and I realize in that moment that there will never be another moment in time, where I would want to live without her by my side.

  Satisfied the others are right about finding the legendary peak, I make my way back to the camp. I find Jaelynn fast asleep in her sleeping bag, curled up and warm. She looks at peace, but she always looks at peace. I’d almost describe her as the epitome of peace, if I didn’t know that title already belongs to God. I smile. But nevertheless, Jaelynn carries peace and serenity wherever she goes, and that’s just one of the many things I adore about her.

  I sit there, unable to go back to sleep, wishing that everyone would wake up so we can start the trek, but also enjoying the moment of quiet time with the girl I love. It isnt long though, before Cal’s voice pulls me out of my fantasy, announcing it’s time to go. Jaelynn’s eyes open, and a smile is on her face the very next instant.