by Lenore, Lani
“Let me see if I have it right,” she began in summary. “Rifter came back to Nevermor with a demon inside him, and you know because he told you this?”
“That’s right,” Toss confirmed.
“And this darkness that no one can quite explain was setting in before the demon was ever brought back to this place?”
“Yes!” Toss agreed emphatically. “That has been exactly my reasoning all along! So you see, Rifter – and Rifter’s demon – cannot be responsible!”
Wren was pleased to have gathered this, at least. It seemed that they all believed that Rifter had not ruined the world, and this was the work of the Scourge in some way that none of them could explain. She was glad that Toss agreed, but she was not done with her reconstruction.
“So, then, Nix decided that Rifter was acting much too unusual because of the demon. He aimed to stand up to Rifter – confront him about the darkness – and there was a fight?”
“I’d never seen either of them so angry against each other. You’d have thought Rifter was fighting the Scourge! I was the only one that saw the whole thing – snuck out to watch while the others stayed away. At the beginning, I thought they were only sparring as they had often done, but I realized it was different. Nix was yelling, accusing him of things. They fought with swords for a long time, and then Nix drew his gun. I wanted to stop it! I knew that it was going to end right there! I rushed out…”
Toss paused, and when Wren looked over at him, she saw that his brow was scrunched as he struggled to remember.
“Wait… No, that was not how it happened,” Toss corrected. “Nix reached for his gun, but Rifter snatched it first! They… One of them struck the other. Nix drew first, I suppose, and cut Rifter’s eye – or was it the other way around?” Toss scratched his messy mop of hair with a large hand. “I know I should remember. It seems like such an event! But it’s all so blurry now.”
A missing eye? Nix had told her that he’d been in a fight, he just hadn’t cared to tell her the truth of it. So it was Rifter who had taken his eye. It was no wonder Nix hated him.
“It was Rifter that struck Nix,” Wren explained. “Nix is the one with the missing eye.”
Toss sighed, caught on that, but finally nodded.
“Yes, that must have been how it happened. It has been a while,” he apologized. “After the fight, Nix fled quickly with his wounds and Rifter just sat down on the ground. I went to him, but he told me to leave him alone, so I didn’t question it; I did as he asked. I told the others what happened, but we didn’t see Rifter for the rest of the day. The next morning, he was gone. But we assumed he would be back. We waited.”
“Like true brothers,” she said, brushing some strands of hair from her face.
“Yes.” Toss’ voice was growing tired and sorrowful now as he recalled it. “We waited a long time, but the situation only got worse, and Rifter didn’t come back. When he finally did return, Sly was so worn down by it all that he left not a week after. Nix and Sly always had differences in the past, but Sly had said that if Rifter came back with Nix, he’d stay, but if he came back without him, he was going to leave and find the answers for himself – whatever it took. For some reason, Sly had set himself to that vow, though I don’t really understand why. That pretty well convinced the rest of them. I mean, we all questioned Nix’s motives, but who’s going to question Sly? He was smarter than all of us.”
Wren had considered this before, but had not made mention of it. She had grasped that wherever Sly was, that was where her answers would be. He would have the facts and the reasoning to put it all together. No doubt he had thought this through, and he had known what he was doing when he’d left Rifter. The question was why, and she hoped she would soon find out.
“Did Sly mention where he was going?” she asked. “I’d greatly love to speak with him.”
“Into the sun,” said Toss dreamily. “That was all he said.”
Into the sun? Wren did not like cryptic sayings, though Sly had offered her a few in the past. This sounded like one of them now. The boy had been fascinated with the sun, but he could not have literally gone to it, could he? She hadn’t quite wrapped her head around it before Toss spoke up.
“So, you are recruiting all of us to meet Rifter?” Toss concluded. “This is considering that all of us are willing to meet him, I suppose.”
“So far, Nix is rejecting the notion, but I am determined to convince him otherwise. Finn seems willing – if only for curiosity’s sake – and you are still completely loyal to Rifter, it seems. Calico is coming along for now but as far as I am concerned, none of this involves her at all.”
“That leaves the twins and Sly,” said Toss thoughtfully, pressing on by the light of the lantern.
“Yes,” said Wren, stumbling a bit, losing her footing in a slight incline. “I’m trying to figure it out: do you think we’ll find the twins together, or separated?”
“Your guess is as good as mine,” he said finally. “They did leave together. Mach seemed resistant, but Mech insisted, and eventually won out.”
She sighed in defeat. The lack of information was killing her! Though Nix had said she was leading this hunt, she felt that she was simply being dragged along, almost as though her presence didn’t matter at all. She was acting as Rifter’s puppet, merely a familiar face, and every one of them that saw her melted instantly and was forced to come along despite his better judgment. She didn’t like to think of it that way, but as of now, that was how she felt.
Toss marched on easily through the dirt that crumbled and sank a few inches with every step. Wren tried to keep up as best she could, all the while concentrating on Rifter and how bitter she was feeling toward him now.
2
Finn combed the darkness. He had moved on into the lead, the goggles guiding him. Nix and Calico held back, following his every step by the light of a torch that did little good in the vast tunnels. How much time had passed? Finn did not know, but the tunnels kept on going. Still, he couldn’t help but feel that they were coming closer to something, but he was not sure what.
The air had gotten cooler as they moved deeper into the hollow of the island, and Finn guessed that they were either headed to the mountain caves, or else directly to the open wind – which was what he hoped for. Whichever fate would have them, they seemed to be on an acceptable path.
Except for Wren…
Finn cursed himself for not holding onto her. He had released her when he’d fallen and heard her hit ground, but he had continued to plummet deeper into the dark. His only guess was that she was on a higher level of the tunnels, but he wanted to find her fast – as he was sure the others did as well. It worried him that the walls of the tunnels were worn. Something large had been through here recently, and all they could do was hope and pray that it didn’t come back.
Finn had been the only one to speak for a while, calling out things he made note of as they passed through. He stopped a moment to touch the dirt wall, running his fingers through the grooves.
“It’s incredible,” he muttered.
“What is?” asked Nix, though not seeming too interested.
“These markings. They spiral on and on through the tunnels without stopping. The Vorks would have protrusions coming from their bodies and travel in a circular motion to cut these tunnels.”
“And here we always thought you weren’t capable of anything, yet now you’re starting to sound like Sly,” Nix commented. Finn turned back to him with a grin that he may not have been able to see.
“Something had to give, right? But what about you, then? Have you changed at all?”
“No reason to,” Nix muttered. “I’ve only lost everything.”
Finn decided not to go further with those comments. Nix had always been hard to deal with, but he was still family, and Finn wanted to patch that up where he could. He turned his thoughts back to Vorks, making a mental note to record his findings when he got to civilization. If they ever did find Sly, he’d be ver
y interested in these things. Not only that, but perhaps if they had a little information on the Vorks, they could figure out how to keep them from spreading to the other regions. He was content to think of these things. It allowed him to forget about their current problems.
But it did not last long. Their current problems were simply too big to ignore.
“So Rifter has a plan,” Finn said thoughtfully. “What do you two say? He must’ve found a way to bring in new dreams, eh?”
“Impossible,” Nix countered. “We tried that once before, remember? There are too many nightmares.”
Finn did remember. The new dreams had never settled to reform the land before the nightmares had enveloped them. After Rifter had lost his bond with the world, to try again had simply been pointless.
“Why must you always be so negative about it?” Calico scolded hatefully.
“It’s just my way,” Nix replied, but he did not fly into a rage like before.
“It must have something to do with reversing the world then,” Finn tried. “But that’s…”
He recalled this from so long ago when they had spoken of it – back when they were still together, trying to discover the source of the darkness. It had been considered that Rifter might completely erase what he had done in creating Nevermor and start again, but the idea of that was terrifying to them all. Would any of them have existed on the other side of that?
“Rifter needs to reestablish his connection with the world again,” Calico said, “but Nevermor does not have to be reborn. There is another way.”
“Oh?” Finn could not deny himself the opportunity to press her if she knew something, but at that, she hesitated.
“That is not mine to tell,” she said lowly, refusing him, but Finn was not willing to let her get away with that.
“What do you know?” he asked.
At that, she hesitated, but when Nix’s eye joined in to pressure her, she caved as much as she was willing.
“I only know that we have to walk this path,” she sighed. “In the end, it will have been worth it.”
Would it? Through all the things Finn had seen, including the events at the treetop village, he had to wonder if simply fixing the world was enough. They could not bring back the fallen, and pain sprung up again with every new death. Maybe they would all be better off as Rifter had once been. Simply forgetting.
“Do you hear that sound?” Nix asked suddenly, stopping in his tracks.
Finn became quiet and listened a moment. Yes; he heard it. He heard an unorganized pattern of sound a good distance away, but couldn’t place it.
Not a Vork. Don’t let it be a Vork.
Footsteps? He pivoted slowly toward the noise and adjusted the scope on his goggles. They slowly began to cut through more of the darkness until finally he saw them – two figures heading west. One was a large hulk, but the other was a girl with blond curls – unmistakable.
“It’s Wren!” he exclaimed. “I see her!”
He didn’t wait for the others to acknowledge him before he took off running across the unsteady terrain. He didn’t need their approval to approach, merely pleased that she wasn’t hurt. If something had happened to her, it would have been his fault, and he couldn’t have lived with himself knowing that.
3
Wren was stuck in her own thoughts, considering what she and Toss had just discussed, when she heard her name echoing down the tunnel. The call shattered the doubt that was forming around her, but when she lifted her eyes, she could see nothing in the darkness of the tunnel.
“Did you hear that?” she asked Toss quietly, listening, fearing that she’d imagined it. Was it a voice from the ones she had lost?
Please say it again. Let me hear it one more time. It was Toss’ voice that she heard first.
“I heard it,” he confirmed, moving the light in front of him to peer into the blackness ahead.
Wren felt hopeful. She could hear footsteps pounding towards them now. Either it was an echo, or there was a group of people rushing closer in the dark.
“It’s them!” Wren cried, her heart pounding with excitement. “I know it!”
“Wren!” came the yell again.
“Finn!” she called back. “Over here!”
Wren could not see beyond the circle of light that the torch offered, and she hardly had time to register Finn’s appearance before he had dashed in and snatched her up, swinging her around.
“I’m sorry I let go of you. It was my fault…”
“I’m fine,” she swore, shocked by his embrace. “I had a rescuer.”
He put her down and she indicated the tall one standing next to her, who had gone completely unnoticed by Finn until now. Finn seemed surprised to even realize another person was there, but it only took a moment before a crooked grin rose up on his face.
“Toss?” he questioned incredulously. “Good lord, how you’ve grown, mate!”
“You’ve only shrunk,” Toss said with a smile of his own, placing his palm on the top of Finn’s head to measure his height.
Wren smiled as well to see the immediate link between them. It was very different from the way the others had reacted to each other.
This is how things should be.
Nix and Calico finally emerged from the darkness. The Tribal girl was out of breath, but Nix did not seem so taxed. He looked down at Wren with concern, but he did not touch her or offer any greeting. She caught his gaze, reading his mind.
“I’m alright. Just a little dirty,” she said.
“You sure?”
“Maybe a few bruises,” she admitted.
She flashed an assuring smile and he quickly returned to his regular, stern self, but Wren knew there was more to be said.
“Nix, I’m sorry for lashing out at you before–”
“Forget it,” he said, cutting her off. “The past is sort of irrelevant at this point, isn’t it? I’m just glad you’re alright.”
To hear him say that touched her. She was caught there, looking in his eyes, but before she could consider the matter deeply, Finn’s voice had interrupted.
“Now that everyone is reunited, what do you say we get out of here?”
“Not too early for my taste,” Calico seconded blandly. Wren wouldn’t disagree. She was as ready to leave was they were.
Nix looked up at the large boy beside Finn. He smiled shortly at the sight of him, and Wren was glad to see his recognition as well. It seemed none of them could hold a grudge against this gentle giant.
“Good to see you, Toss,” he said before carrying on. “Do these tunnels connect with the mountain caves?”
Toss nodded positively. “Aye, farther on,” he said.
“Good,” said Nix, adjusting his satchel across his back. “Take us that way.”
Chapter Twenty
1
Wren shielded herself from the cold as the dirt tunnels finally led into the caves. She wasn’t sure if her relief of being out of Vork territory was enough to counter her fear of the unknown ahead, but she kept her focus set on being brave. The others were with her.
Toss had told them that he didn’t venture into the caves often because of the darkness. There were many pits and drop-offs. He’d tried to map them once, but hadn’t gotten far in the venture. Even so, he seemed to believe that he could lead them through to the mountainside.
Wren could already hear the water trickling in the distance. She hung near the back with Nix and Calico as Toss and Finn led the way through, chatting conversationally.
“Toss, old boy! You have no shadow! Did you lose it again?”
“Oh, that old thing took off ages ago. I don’t regret it. It made me look fat.”
Finn laughed heartily and Wren smiled. It was good to see them taking up with each other again. Well, most of them. Calico had said nothing since they’d begun heading back to the surface, and Wren didn’t ask why, somehow feeling it would be wrong to. Maybe it was nothing to worry about, but Calico’s silence seemed resentful.
<
br /> Wren looked toward Nix, who watched everything – the floor, the ceiling, the walls – everything. He wouldn’t be caught unawares. As she walked beside him, she took his arm to keep herself steady, and he made no response to it. She searched her mind for a way to talk him into seeing Rifter. There must be some way! If she paid close attention to everything and found some evidence to support him–
“Wren…” Nix had called for her attention, breaking through her thoughts. “What is Rifter doing now?”
She was surprised by his sudden words. Hadn’t he asked her this before?
“Were you telling the truth when you said he didn’t tell you? It could be important,” he insisted, not seeming to care how accusatory that sounded. She tried not to be insulted.
“He wouldn’t tell me,” she said firmly. “That’s the truth.”
Nix hummed thoughtfully. She wondered if he believed her.
A disgusted sigh nearby shook her and Wren snapped back to see Calico brush past them hurriedly, moving to the front of the group. Beside her, Nix chuckled.
“What was that about?” Wren asked.
He managed to stifle his amusement after a moment, not looking back at her for whatever unknown reason he kept to himself.
“She hates me,” he said simply and unfeelingly.
“She thinks it is your fault that everyone left Rifter, like she said before?”
He nodded. “She grew up on stories of the Rifter and his feats – his powers. To her, he is a near mythical figure with god-like status. He is the only true force, and she stands by that.”
“Surely she can’t find a way to blame everything on you,” Wren whispered with wide eyes. Unconsciously, her fingers slipped down his arm, searching for his hand, and he welcomed her fingers into his own. It was casual; she was hardly aware she’d done it.
“Everything with us – Rifter’s loyal Wolf Pack,” he sneered. “She says he waited so long to fight because of what I did, and he doesn’t have the confidence he did before because his own are not behind him. But I guess you’re set out to fix that, aren’t you?”
