by J. J. Green
She didn’t comment on what was evident to everyone. “Come on. Let’s go. It’s getting dark and we don’t have anywhere to sleep yet.”
The group began to trudge across the short distance of wasteland that lay between them and the ruined houses. Their pleasant walk through the countryside had come to an end. Now they walked toward darkness and destruction. Carina wondered what had happened to Langley Dirksen and her two-faced son, Reyes. Did their estate still exist or had the Sherrerrs bombed it to smithereens? Knowing how self-serving Langley was, she and Reyes were probably long gone.
She surveyed the destruction. The scene in front of her was depressing enough but she had a greater concern: how could they expect to find information about the origin of mages in this wrecked and chaotic place?
Chapter Fourteen
As they walked down the center of a main street that appeared to lead toward the city center, avoiding bricks, broken concrete, and other remains of buildings that littered the sidewalk, Carina became aware of their first mistake.
Not many people were about but those who were found her group very interesting. They were attracting attention wherever they passed, and it wasn’t a good kind of attention. She saw hungry, envious looks coming from the shadows where Ostillonians lurked.
Bryce had noticed them too. “Looks like we’re famous or something.”
“I don’t think it’s that,” Carina replied. “At least, I hope not.”
It wasn’t impossible that the Dirksens might have thought the mages could return to Ostillon but it seemed very unlikely. A move like that would be mad if it weren’t for the information on mage clans the place contained and the Dirksens couldn’t know anything about it.
“It’s our clothes,” she decided.
They were all wearing clothes taken from the Zenobia. The children had altered theirs to make them fit, but they were essentially the same: made from rich, costly fabrics. By contrast, everyone else in that residue of a city was dressed in rags. Either they had nothing better to wear or they weren’t stupid enough to dress expensively in a place full of starving looters.
“Shit,” said Bryce. “You’re right. But it isn’t just the clothes, it’s our bags. Look at everything we’re carrying out in the open, like we’re asking for it all to be taken off our hands.”
“Are those people following us?” Parthenia asked.
Carina looked back. A handful of men and women had joined their path down the center of the street. They were looking directly at her group, making their intent clear.
Carina turned to face ahead again. The street stretched onward without a bend or corner. Running into one of the derelict buildings would be madness. They would be trapped—if the building didn’t fall on them.
Neither could they Transport out of the situation. The Dirksens were probably unaware the mages had returned, but the first report of a group of strangely dressed people vanishing into thin air would soon alter their misconception.
“Bryce,” Carina murmured. “I think it’s time we showed our admirers what they’re up against.” She reached into a long bag she carried so he would get her meaning. He was carrying a similar bag.
She took out the Dirksen pulse rifle. She turned around and began to walk backward, aiming at the goons on their tail while Bryce his focused on the road ahead.
“Carina,” said Nahla nervously.
“It’s fine,” she replied. “Don’t worry. Everything’s going to be fine.”
One minute passed and then another. They’d hit upon a major thoroughfare that showed no signs of coming to an end, and though after catching sight of the guns their followers hadn’t drawn closer, others had joined them.
It was crazy. As far as Carina could see none of them was armed. The Dirksens had done a great job of disarming the local population. If they attacked some were sure to die yet they seemed willing to take the chance and hope it wouldn’t be them. Things had gotten desperate on Ostillon.
“So…how long do we do this?” Bryce asked.
The city was darkening as night fell. Dark clouds scudded across the indigo sky, shading out the starlight. Soon, everyone would be navigating mostly by sound and if it came to a firefight Carina didn’t want to risk accidentally shooting one of the kids or Bryce.
“We just need to find somewhere to stay the night,” she said.
“I don’t think these good people are interested in letting us sleep,” Bryce muttered.
Carina wracked her brains for an idea on how to get out of the situation. She was fast realizing it would have been safer for them to sleep out in the open beyond the city outskirts than enter it at night.
She glanced over her shoulder. They were coming up to a side street. Perhaps if they could get off the main drag they could escape down the warren-like lanes she remembered carved through that part of the city. Even if they couldn’t escape they could lose their pursuers long enough to Transport without being seen.
“We’re taking the next left,” she said.
Despite the gun muzzle staring them in their faces, the people following had begun to edge closer. In the shadowy light, Carina saw looks of tense, fearful anticipation on some of the faces as if the individuals were steeling themselves to make the first move. It wouldn’t be long until one of them worked up the courage. Carina’s glance forward and saw Ostillonians walking slowly in front of them too.
If things were different Carina would be tempted to take out a member of the crowd with a stun shot just to warn them off—but she had a feeling the city dwellers were so starved and desperate firing on them would break the tension and trigger an attack.
They turned onto the next street. Narrower and darker, it concentrated their pursuers into a knot of people who had drawn so close the mages would not have time to stop and Cast before they were set upon.
Carina began to mentally curse. She didn’t want to kill anyone and neither did she want to draw attention to themselves but it was looking like she didn’t have a choice. All her other options involved risking the kids’ safety.
Bryce seemed to have read her thoughts. “It’s time we made a stand.”
“You’re right. In another ten paces, we stop.”
She counted down her steps. When she reached zero, she halted. The Ostillonians were so close each face was distinct to her in the low light. They were dirty and unkempt and their eyes sunk into their sockets.
“Get back,” Carina told them firmly, “or we’ll shoot.”
“Give us your stuff,” said a man wearing a black hat pulled down low over his eyes, “and we’ll leave you alone.”
“You’ve got food in those bags,” a woman wrapped in a shawl said. “I can smell it. Share some with us. That’s all we want. We’re starving.”
“We don’t have enough to share,” said Bryce. “We only have enough for ourselves.”
“If you won’t share,” the man in the hat said, “we’ll take it. All of it. And you’ll have nothing.”
Despite the man and woman’s words it was clear the mob would take every scrap of food they had the minute Carina and Bryce lowered their weapons, and probably hurt or even kill them in the process.
“If any of you take a step closer I’ll shoot to kill,” said Carina. “Leave us alone. I’m sorry you’re hungry but it isn’t our fault. Go ask the Dirksens why they aren’t helping you.”
The woman spat. “We haven’t seen those bastards for weeks. They don’t give a shit about us. I have kids at home who’ll die soon if I don’t get them something to eat. If you kill me at least I won’t have to go home and face them empty-handed.”
“Maybe we should give them something,” said Parthenia.
The woman’s words had moved Carina too. If it weren’t for the certainty that the mob would overwhelm them she would have already helped the woman. But she couldn’t. She also had kids to protect.
She didn’t reply, only took aim at the crowd.
“These people are under the protection of the Templ
e of Lomeq,” said a woman’s voice, clear and strong. Carina turned toward the speaker. A woman in priestess robes stood there, her back to the mages and her hands raised, facing the mob.
“Step back or face her wrath.”
Not a soul moved.
“I command you to step back!”
The crowd shifted and murmured.
“But we’re hungry and they have food,” a voice shouted. “Why has Lomeq provided for them and not us?”
“It is not your place to question her ways,” the priestess replied. “But if you wait I will bring out what little we can spare. Be patient. Do not fight each other. Show dignity and grace or Lomeq will not hear your prayers.”
The priestess gazed at Carina’s group for a moment and then turned and walked into the building behind her. Carina recognized it as the same kind of place she’d slept at after escaping from Langley Dirksen. The entrance was open and she could see garish religious paintings on the walls in the lamplight within.
“I guess we’re supposed to follow her,” said Bryce.
“That would seem like a good idea,” Parthenia agreed.
The priestess’s words hadn’t had the desired effect on everyone in the crowd. As Carina moved to go with the others into the temple, the man in the black hat flew at her. She heard his quick footsteps and saw him run up.
She’d have time to get off a shot but her gun was set to kill and she didn’t have time to change the setting. Instead, she turned the rifle around, waited a beat for the man to reach her, and then cracked the butt against his skull.
As he hit the ground, she cast a glance at the remaining Ostillonians. No one else was feeling brave any longer.
Carina walked into the temple.
Chapter Fifteen
When they were out of sight of the crowd and within the inner temple where the walls and floor were plain and rough and torches flamed for lighting, the priestess turned and lowered her hood. “If you have food you must give it to me. Not all of it, but some. If I don’t take some food out to them they will attack.”
“What about the wrath of Lomeq?” Bryce asked.
“Her wrath will descend in the next life,” replied the priestess, “not this one. Sometimes people’s viewpoints are short-sighted, especially when they haven’t eaten for days.”
“We’re happy to give you what we can spare,” said Carina. “I didn’t realize things were so bad.”
“You didn’t?” The priestess sounded incredulous. “Where have you been living for the last few months?”
An uncomfortable look passed between the members of Carina’s group.
Instead of answering, Carina directed her attention to her siblings. “Let’s give the lady some food. Everyone’s carrying some. Give her half of what you have.”
“Half?” said Ferne. “But what if we run out?”
“If we run out we’ll find some more,” she replied.
This answer didn’t satisfy Ferne but, like the others, he dropped his bag onto the floor and began to look through it. They quickly made a pile of random packages.
Carina noticed Parthenia taking most of the food out of her bag.
“No,” she said, touching her sister’s arm. “Put some back.”
“I don’t need it,” Parthenia insisted. “I don’t eat much. I can go for days without feeling hungry.”
“No you can’t,” Carina said. “Put some back. I need you strong and healthy.”
“But those people are—”
“Those people are not our problem or our responsibility,” Carina said with finality. “I know it sounds harsh, but it’s true. All over the galactic sector people will be starving due to this war between the Dirksens and the Sherrerrs. Are you going to feed them all? We give what we can but we look after ourselves too.”
Parthenia wore a defiant look that Carina hadn’t seen for a while, but she did as Carina asked and reluctantly took some of the packages back, angrily thrusting them into the depths of her bag.
When they’d divided up their food and donated half, the priestess put it into two bags which she lifted to carry out to the crowd.
“Do you need protection?” Carina asked her.
The priestess smiled. “They won’t hurt me. They know Lomeq will punish them.”
While the woman was outside distributing the food, Carina and the others repacked their lightened bags. Losing half their food was a blow but it was true that the mages had more options than the regular folk.
“Is this where we’re sleeping tonight?” Oriana asked, always the one to consider the state of her feet.
“I hope so,” replied Carina. “I think the priestess will feel obliged, and we’ll need somewhere to stay until the crowd disperses. I wouldn’t put it past them to wait until we leave so they can take the rest of what we have. But we’re also in the right place to find out some more information about mages.”
She’d told the children about the connections she’d found between the Ostillonians’ religion and mage lore.
“Yes,” said Darius. “We can ask to look at their Map.”
“It won’t be that easy,” Carina said. “We have to tread carefully. The Map and the Characters are religious items to them. Maybe sacred items. If we push too much we might be kicked out. And, tonight at least, that’s something we need to avoid.”
When the priestess returned it was she who made the suggestion that Carina’s group stay the night.
“We only have this room to offer you,” she said. “We have taken in a number of orphaned children and the weak and elderly, but it will be safer for you to sleep here than on the street tonight.”
“This room will do us fine,” said Carina. “We appreciate it.”
“Then I will show you were you can wash up.”
“You can show Ferne and he’ll tell us later,” said Carina. “The rest of us will prepare our bedding.”
Ferne went with the priestess and the others pulled out the sleeping bags they’d made from the fine fabrics available on the Zenobia. Carina suggested they sleep next to each other in one corner of the inner temple for warmth and for protection. She and Bryce would take turns keeping watch, just in case some starving Ostillonians lost their religious sentiment.
When Ferne returned they ate a small meal, not knowing how long their halved rations might have to last. The priestess didn’t visit them. Carina guessed they were alone for the night and her inquiries about the Temple of Lomeq’s religious artifacts would have to wait for the morning.
“Can you tell us some more stories about mages before we go to sleep?” asked Nahla.
“Shhh,” said Carina. “Remember, we can’t speak freely. We aren’t alone anymore, even though we might appear to be.”
“I don’t think anyone is listening,” said Oriana, who had just returned from the restroom. “The corridor is empty.”
Carina looked at the eager, expectant faces of her siblings. It probably wouldn’t hurt to tell them something as long as she didn’t use the word ‘mages’.
“I can tell you what Ma told me when we were on the Nightfall.”
“I’d love to hear that,” Parthenia said, her eyes shining in the torchlight.
“Okay.” Carina took a breath. “Ma said that when our ancestors first came together as a group they went to live on a remote mountaintop. There, they could practice their skills in peace and quiet away from the rest of humankind. They learned about the different…things…they could do. Maybe they even invented new ones, like Darius does.”
The little boy beamed.
“What was it like living on the mountain?” Nahla asked.
“I don’t know,” Carina replied. She recalled her time at the Sherrerr mountain stronghold. “Cold, I guess.”
“Very cold,” said Bryce, sharing a look that told Carina he knew the subject of her thoughts.
“The problem was,” she continued, “the secret about where they were staying got out. People would journey into the mountains to try to find t
hem, hoping to join them or receive instruction on how to do what they did. So our ancestors began to test everyone who turned up. If the visitor failed the test they had to leave, and some perished on their way back. That was what began the true hatred for our kind. They were blamed for the deaths.”
“But why didn’t they let them in?” Parthenia asked. “It wouldn’t have hurt them.”
“Because if they had more would come,” explained Bryce. Though he didn’t know the story, the answer was obvious. “Then your ancestors would have had to house and feed them all and teach them and deal with their disappointment when they finally understood that they didn’t have the ability they desired. All your ancestors wanted was to be left alone to live their lives.”
“I guess that’s kind of similar to the reason we can’t give all our food away,” Parthenia said.
“That’s right,” said Carina, relieved her sister was finally getting it. “We have as much right to survive as everyone else. It feels selfish but unless we have more than we need we have to keep some back for ourselves.”
“I wish I hadn’t given away the cookies I made,” Ferne said wistfully. “They were delicious.”
This brought a chuckle from the others.
“Don’t worry,” Carina said, “I’m sure you’ll get a chance to make some more one day.”
“Will we find the mountain where the…our ancestors…lived?” asked Oriana.
“It’s been so long since they left Earth it might not be possible,” Carina replied. “Things will have changed a lot. Even the climate. Magda, the Spirit Mage, said the climate had undergone a huge upheaval before our ancestors fled. But who knows? Maybe we will find that mountain home and traces of the people who lived there. But that’s going to be a long time from now after a long journey. It’s time you guys got some sleep.”
Bryce volunteered to take first watch, so Carina lay down and shut her eyes. She listened as, one by one, the children fell asleep, their breathing altering to a deep, regular pattern. But sleep would not come to her.
