by Lenore, Lani
“And who’s this girl?” Mach asked, directing his attention to Wren. She was a bit stunned that he didn’t talk to her directly. “Beautiful – but by God! She stands out something terrible! Pirate bait!”
She still said nothing, confused, until Nix turned his face to her.
“Introduce yourself,” he instructed, leaning back casually and starting up his pipe.
She forced a smile, turning back toward Mach.
“I’m Wren,” she said, looking for any shred of recognition on his face. She saw nothing. Either he wasn’t faking his memory loss or she was poor at spotting liars.
Mach stared back at her with a blank expression for a moment. Then a slight smile crossed his face. He looked back to Nix in disbelief.
“Wren,” he said doubtfully. “Right.”
“She is Wren,” Nix told him calmly, glancing back to her. “Aren’t you?”
She nodded slowly in response, thinking the conversation sounded quite strange. She wasn’t sure where it was going, or even if she should keep insisting her identity, so she kept quiet.
“So,” Mach said finally. “Wren, is it? That means you’re searching for the Rifter. Sounds like he might be the reason for this quest of yours.”
She wondered if this was her cue to speak about the true nature of their journey, but before she gathered the nerve, Finn jumped in.
“That’s right. He apparently has some plan to fix this world.” He paused to shrug. “All I know is when this world goes back to the way it was, the first thing I’m gonna do is strip naked and jump into the frozen waters of the tundra. I was too much of a weasel to do it before, but after all this – hell, I’ll be glad for it!”
“No you won’t.” Mach rebuked disbelievingly. “Not even the Rifter would have the balls for that.”
“I’ll bet I do, and don’t say I won’t,” Finn said seriously with a pointed finger. “What do you want to wager?”
Toss chimed in. “A gold piece if you slow dance with a water nymph afterward.”
“I like the cut of your jib, mate,” Finn laughed. “You’re on! And while we’re at it, what about you? What’s the first thing you’ll do?”
“I’d like to start smithing again,” Toss remarked, “and maybe have a little hut with a statue garden out back.”
The rest of them stared at him in muted disbelief.
“What?” Toss asked innocently, but there was a smile at the corner of his mouth.
“I already know that Nix wouldn’t change a damn thing,” Finn mocked, still laughing at Toss. “He can’t get enough of solitude.”
“I certainly haven’t had any peace since you’ve come along,” Nix retorted.
“What about you, Wren?”
She didn’t care for being put on the spot – especially since she didn’t have a clear answer, but they were all looking at her now, and she said the first thing that came to her head.
“I don’t know if I’ve thought of anything specific as all that,” she started. “There are a lot of things that I miss and many things that I invented in my time away from here, but I just want to be able to sleep – to wake up in the morning and hear birds singing. I know there will always be dangers of some sort, but I want to feel safe – like I used to. I want to be surrounded by the ones I love. I just want to live. I want to grow old and know that the choices I made were the right ones.”
She had drifted away from them as she spoke, but she was suddenly aware of the silence. When she looked up, she saw that they were all staring at her, but it was not with disapproval. They were surprised and yet subdued by her simple wishes.
Wren felt herself blush, trying to look away but instead caught Nix’s eye. He peered at her, his expression soft, and she wondered if – in that moment – they had shared the same dream.
“That was well-spoken, Wren,” Finn said, breaking through the moment which felt so awkward now, but he was quick to move on. “So tell us about your statue garden, Toss. Will there be some lovely lady muse to inspire you?”
“Maybe there will be,” Toss declared, to which Finn howled with pleasure. They went on jovially until the laughter died down, and then Mach decided to turn back to more serious things.
“So if she is Wren, then the rest of you must be the infamous Wolf Pack. I hear there’s quite a price on all your heads. Specifically, for the heads.”
The rest were silent at that, perhaps unsure how to take it. Wren did not try to reply, feeling that this was not a conversation meant for her.
“You want to try your luck, is that it?” Nix asked threateningly, staring at him firmly, but he was not the only one. All of them had taken clear offense to the remark.
“Nothing like that,” Mach said, holding up his hands as if to hold them off. “But it does answer my question. Your quest is to gather up and reunite with your leader, is that it?”
“It could be that we’re missing a couple of our brothers,” Finn said leadingly. “There used to be a pair of red-haired boys with us. They looked quite a bit alike, these two. We’re still looking for them.”
“I don’t know anything about that,” Mach sneered. He leaned back against a rock, crossing one foot over the other. “I look like a red-haired bitch to you? And I certainly don’t have a brother.”
Despite Finn’s effort to encourage him toward the truth, Mach was not anxious to give in. They all watched him, but their effort to jog his memory, or at least to have him admit it, had not been effective. Collectively – silently – they gave up for now.
“So where are you headed?” Mach asked.
“To the other side of the mountains,” Nix said simply, and Wren guessed he was refusing to give more information than that.
“Through the canyon?” Mach asked curiously, sounding interested.
“Yeah, that’s right,” Toss chimed in, still munching on his meal.
“Hmm, I wonder…” Mach looked away thoughtfully, finally directing his attention back to them. “I wonder if you’d let me help you.”
“But you don’t even know where we’re headed,” Wren started, but she was quickly cut off.
“I don’t care where you’re going,” he insisted roughly. “I just wonder if you’d let me help you – to cross the canyon, of course.”
“You have a way?” Nix asked.
“I’ve been working on it for a while,” he said. “I’ve calculated specific areas in the mountain where, if plugged with enough explosives and set off at the right time, I believe it will create a land bridge across the canyon. I just haven’t worked up to it yet. But with you here, it’ll give us both what we want.”
Wren was quiet, glancing towards Nix who seemed deep in thought. She didn’t know what to say. He was better at reading people than she was, though she couldn’t help but want to be a bit cautious, especially until she knew more about who Mach had become in the last four years.
“What do you think?” Nix asked finally, looking toward the others.
Toss looked up from his seconds. “Worth a try,” he said agreeably.
Finn shrugged in a way that said ‘why not?’ and Calico was staring at the fire, leaving Wren to wonder if she was even there with them.
Nix looked into her eyes then, just as she’d expected him to. “What do you think?”
Wren didn’t say it, but she didn’t want to be the one to make this decision.
“Why should we trust you?” she asked Mach instead. “According to you, we don’t know anything about you.”
Nix smirked at her words, turning back to see what Mach’s reply would be.
“Fair enough,” said Mach, holding up his hands in surrender. “I was with pirates for a while, but I’ve been through with that for almost a year now. I’ve been living down here by myself, hunting nightmares and trying to survive. That’s all.”
So, the old raft they’d used was his, most likely the one that had taken him away from the pirate ship.
“And we know you won’t hurt us? That this isn’t some
sort of trick?” Wren asked.
“It was just a simple proposal, lady,” he said, getting annoyed. “Promise. All business.”
She sighed. She supposed giving this a try would be better than trying to make it across the canyon on their own. She nodded.
“I think we have a deal,” she said. “We’ll help you.”
“It’s settled then,” Mach said, using a stick to prod the fire. “We help each other pass the canyon. Then we forget that the other ever existed. Follow me?”
She nodded, but only because that was what he expected her to do. She was certain of his identity and she wasn’t willing to let that stop her, intending to get through to him, but for now she would relent.
They sat for a while beside the fire until a cool breeze funneled through, making the cave groan.
2
On the far side of the island, near the lagoon where the black nightmare sludge had swallowed the incubating dreams long ago, several ships approached. They anchored in this spot, away from prying eyes, and the men aboard loaded themselves into smaller boats to row themselves to shore.
For the first time in four years, the pirates returned to land.
There were stray nightmares – lesser, unformed abominations – roaming the beach, and while those were the very things that the men had fled from, they leapt from the rolling surf and attacked the creatures with renewed vigor. As if believing themselves invincible now that their leader had reemerged, they battled the nightmares with guns and blades, slaughtering the very creatures they had once feared.
The pirates, though only a few dozen in number, would pass over the island like the darkness itself, carrying a cloud of destruction along with them. More were waiting to join their ranks, and word would spread quickly as they began to move across the island. Their numbers would grow until they had taken it all.
Behind them, still aboard a ship, there was one man who observed the maelstrom, gathering power from the violence and evil within the hearts of his followers. He did not take part himself, but he did not have to. It gave him pleasure enough to see it, and for now that would have to do. It was not yet time for him to emerge.
I’ve waited this long, the Scourge thought. It’s all falling into place.
If it had not been for the telltale whisper above, he would have missed the fairy’s light against the sky. From beneath his hat, he lifted a glowing eye to her as she came down to hover before him.
“My, my, don’t you look lovely,” he said cunningly. His deep voice was threatening and sensual all at once. “What do you have to tell me?”
The fairy’s whispered reply suited the Scourge immensely. She had been his willing spy, watching as the girl, Wren, had traveled across the island, gathering the Wolf Pack for war. They were close now – very close – and soon his enemies would be gathered for the grandest battle Nevermor had ever seen.
The fairy wisp lighted on his shoulder, quite content in his presence for the secret deal he had promised her. Behind his bandages, the Scourge smiled a wicked smile.
War
A war is coming, it has been said:
The land turns black, the sea to red
Those once lost are found again
As evil thrives on forgotten sin.
To the last man, death march plays on
Madness takes over, come the dawn.
Chapter Twenty-Two
1
There was darkness in her mind, a heavy cloud, but it was not unfamiliar. Calico had seen it many seasons ago and had heard of it long before that. She, like so many of her people, understood the island like no others. The darkness had not surprised her when it had first spread itself over Nevermor, and this new vision did not surprise her now.
But it did rattle her.
She saw the great shadow that had taken over the land, stretched across the ruins of a place formerly inhabited by her people. The once-sacred relics of that place were tattered and rotten, but there was a figure standing among the weathered tents. It was the Rifter, with a demon’s mark on his forehead. Lightning flashed and then…
That girl… Wren was there, standing in his place.
After that, time passed over the land like many days. The plants withered as the sun slipped away, retreating from this realm that it had once found favor in. The sea turned to ice, the world gone cold, and the sun went black, casting Nevermor in eternal night.
At the end of her dream, just on the verge of waking up, she heard a voice.
“Do not believe everything you see.” It was familiar, though she could not respond to it. “Do not be afraid. This must happen. We must see it through.”
Calico tried to believe that. She had been trying to believe it since the beginning.
Opening her eyes, the huntress looked over at the pale girl sleeping near her, and she could feel malice churning in her heart. Calico’s fingers were itching to reach for her, to end this here and now, but she stayed her hand. She knew that this was a choice she could not make, even if it was the right one for all of them.
But I cannot sit here either.
Calico rose up, restless, knowing that she needed to distance herself from Wren – from her fears of what the future would bring, and pray that she could hold onto her faith for just a while longer.
2
Wren was dreaming about Rifter. They were in a lovely forest scene, dancing in the air as fairy wisps spun around them, lively and dizzying. She smiled, dreaming and dancing away the hours of the night, and when she awoke, she found herself wondering if it had actually happened.
She came back to herself within the tent, exhausted and yet she was not sure of the hour. Within the cave, there was only darkness except what the crystals allowed, and that wasn’t much. There was a slight glow emitting from the Tikilin suit beneath her clothes, however. Looking toward the mat next to hers, she saw that Calico was no longer asleep there. Even though Wren felt drowsy, though she often did, she guessed that since the other girl was gone, it was time to rise.
Wren left the tent but quickly realized her error. She had not been at rest as long as she’d thought. In fact, a few were still awake, not having attempted sleep, and she was among them now. There was no hope for rest.
I’ll check on Finn, she resolved.
She moved out of sight and into the shadows, passing through the maze of shelters. Reaching his tent, she grasped the flap to peek inside, expecting to see him resting there, but the sound of whispers within made her freeze. There were two voices talking quietly, sharing secrets that no one else was invited to. They were male and female, and she recognized them.
Finn and Calico.
Wren stepped back, thinking it wrong to intrude, but could not make herself duck away. She listened to their quiet words, waiting for them to finish, until soon their conversation took a turn for the interesting that she could not get away from.
“You got lucky, you know,” Calico said.
“Yeah. Good ole Tikilin,” Finn said, his voice still brimmed with discomfort.
Calico sighed, silent a moment, then lowered her voice down a level.
“So, what do you think?” she asked. “You saw it, didn’t you?”
The jesting air left Finn’s voice. “Yeah,” he said. “Yeah, I did.”
“It might be a lie then.”
“Yes, but it might be true.”
“I don’t really know how to feel about any of this,” Calico said. “Don’t say anything to the others. Promise? I want to speak to Sly about it.”
“Okay,” he agreed. “But something doesn’t feel right about that…”
What were they talking about? Rifter? Wren pressed closer to the tent, trying to concentrate on the voices that had gotten suddenly lower. She wanted to know. What were none of them telling her?
Catching movement from the corner of her eye, she saw someone pass, and she caught his attention as he had caught hers. Wren snapped up to see Nix, who hesitated when he saw her near the flap of the tent. She immediately s
tood up a bit straighter as if she hadn’t been acting suspiciously.
“It’s rude to be eavesdropping, you know,” he said quietly, looking up at her with a knowing smile.
Wren stepped away from the tent guiltily and moved toward him. If she’d been trying to paint herself as innocent, she failed.
“I wasn’t eavesdropping,” she lied.
“Well, that’s generally what one is doing when she has an ear to the wall when others are talking,” he pointed out for her. “But I guess I was wrong. My mistake.”
She shrugged. “Well I wouldn’t have to eavesdrop if I could get all of you to tell me the truth.”
“Are you pointing that at me?”
“Why are you getting suspicious?” she returned.
He chuckled a bit, crossing his arms.
“I know you have doubts about me,” he said. “I can tell. But I guess the others aren’t helping to boost me up.”
Wren considered. It was true that some, especially Calico, seemed to be against him, but that wasn’t her reasoning. Wren didn’t think badly of him anymore – couldn’t. He’d saved her life too many times for that.
“It’s not about you,” she promised. “I don’t really know what it is, actually. I just have a feeling. It doesn’t all seem to fit together. Well no, it’s not that it seems so, it is so! It doesn’t all fit!”
He was silent then, glancing over the cavern walls by the light of the surrounding crystals. She looked out as well, wondering once again what it was that didn’t fit. The stories went together, but it seemed there was a chunk missing somewhere. Whether or not anyone knew the truth, she was unsure.
She thought about the group – each of them so different, so far apart. She couldn’t say that she fully understood any of them. The boys had all changed too much. They were different than she remembered from long ago. But time had made them older, all of them wiser – even her.
“We are an odd group, aren’t we?” she said suddenly, veering from any subject they might have been on before.
“What do you mean?” he asked.
