Cadence

by China Dennington

  ​Astrid was almost to her room when she heard a voice coming from a partially opened door.

  Rune. He wasn’t going to dinner either. As she neared his quarters, curiosity drew her to the open door. Who is he talking to?

  She paused and peaked through the opening. Rune stood, staring in the mirror, his hands clutching the edges of the desk beneath it.

  “I’m right,” he muttered to himself so desperately, so vehemently, that she knew he was trying to convince himself. His eyes burned with a fire of hatred and fear. The knuckles on his hands were white from grasping the desk so tightly.

  “I will build an empire. A grand place that exceeds their petty mindsets. I’ll become a legend.”

  He clenched his teeth.

  “I will show them what an eleven can truly do. They will still hate me, but this time it will be from fear instead of mockery,” he growled at himself. “This time, I’ll live in comfort while they toil, building my empire. I’ll pay them back with two blows for every single blow they’ve ever given me. I’m right. I am right.”

  He closed his eyes and lowered his head, pounding his hand against the desk.

  ​Astrid shook her head in disbelief and swiftly swam past the doorway while his eyes were closed. She fought back the tears as she entered her room. Astrid was tired of crying, tired of being shocked. Rune...Who is he now? She feared the answer with steadily growing dread. She barred the tears from her eyes, she barred the emotions from her heart until all that remained was a faint undercurrent of disturbance. Sleep overcame her quickly, and she gladly gave in.

  ​She felt the anger and hatred swirling through her mind. Her view was red-and-black. Fire could be good or bad. This was only bad. A fire of rage against the people who had been so cruel to her. It boiled and writhed...screaming for release. They would pay. She would show them what a sixteen could really do— the harm a sixteen could inflict. She would hurt them in every way she knew how. Verbally, physically— in all the ways they had hurt her.

  “No matter how much you would like to believe in a world with a good heart, it doesn’t exist! This is for your benefit, you have to learn to hurt them, or the people of this world will crush you under their weight and grind you into dust.”

  Repeating Rune’s words, she shouted to the world as loud and far as her voice would go. All emotions were eclipsed by anger and hatred built from the hurt and the fear she’d endured.

  ​Astrid woke with a start. She began to choke out tears. The nightmare screamed in her head as though it were still happening. She didn’t want to be consumed by hate and malice. But she had the potential to end up that way. She snuggled farther under the covers and cried her heart out. She didn’t want to become that. She didn’t. She refused.

  Chapter fourteen

  The guider pressed his hand against his head, which was pounding with pain. He sat on the bed in his room. Unease and weariness swirled through his heart as he thought about how his plan to take over Akayta and Velee was progressing.

  The king of Akayta and the high commander of Velee were already under his control. Well, mostly. They’d given in due to the threat of a deadly weapon made by Cog, a notorious weapons inventor.

  Just for good measure, he’d threatened them with assassination as well. For months now they had been giving him smaller hand weapons, providing food, and gathering intelligence for him.

  His hold on them was loosening. The Veleens’ attack, no doubt initiated by their high commander, was evidence of that.

  Once he amassed a bigger group of people in the Star, he planned to take full control by force and declare himself king. He knew very well that if he tried to do that now, the leaders of Akayta and Velee would surely assassinate him. He’d started the Star so that he would have a group of people who were loyal to him. By surrounding himself with faithful followers, his chances of survival had increased.

  The guider sighed and crossed his arms. A flare of anger sparked through his mind. Astrid was making this difficult. Far too difficult. If she knew...

  No. He didn’t want to think about that. The look in her eyes when she rushed into the din of battle, after he told her not to. The look in her eyes when he tried to explain how she should defend herself against the world. She...she didn’t understand.

  A tear floated out of his eye. For a moment his hatred was gone and he was just an oppressed, abused boy, crushed by the Akaytans.

  He steeled himself. They would be the slaves when he was king. They would be the oppressed.

  Chapter fifteen

  Astrid trained for three weeks. Rune taught her many things, from evading attacks to defending herself with whatever was at hand. He taught her to be quick, silent, and deadly if need be. Every day she felt herself getting stronger. Astrid wasn’t a master, but she was efficient.

  An uneasy feeling grew in the back of her mind as Rune shoved her through training exercises where she had to “kill” a dummy. She learned to kill with poison, a knife, a laser gun. It isn’t just defense. She pushed her doubts away with all her might and replaced them with learning the skills, with being the best she could possibly be. After all, Rune was her friend. When she overheard him talking...the anger in his voice…

  But she had to remain confident that he would never use that anger for sinister purposes. Because if he did, she would lose everything. It would be worse than if he’d actually died. She had to trust him. But in the depths of her soul, she knew she was just lying to herself.

  ​Her heart beat impossibly fast as she flipped backwards to avoid Rune’s sword. It was much more efficient than trying to swim backwards. Panting, she deftly swung around behind him and knocked the knife out of his hand, managing to get his arms into a position where he couldn’t move.

  “Got you,” Astrid said. She was becoming more confident in her abilities.

  ​He turned and gave a small smile once she let him go. “You’re ready. Go take a break and pack. Come back in an hour and a half and we’ll send you off.”

  She nodded with a sigh and swam away. Already? This is all happening so quickly.

  After she packed, she went to the cafeteria to look for Ris and Honor since it was lunchtime. They were at a table and both looked up as she sat down.

  “You must have been given an assignment. I haven’t seen you around lately,” Ris said.

  “Yeah. I’m actually leaving today.”

  “Well, good luck!” Ris replied brightly.

  “More like don’t kill anyone,” Honor muttered, looking down into her noasé.

  Astrid looked toward her in confusion.

  “What?”

  Honor shook her head, making her black hair move slightly. “Nevermind.”

  What Honor said bothered her. What could she mean? She quickly picked the conversation back up. “Have you ever been on a mission, Honor?”

  “No. I’ve been here for two years, but haven’t received one yet. And I hope I never will,” she said darkly, then quickly continued in an overly bright way, “I’m perfectly happy with my job as records keeper, and I may be a coward, but I don’t want to leave it.”

  Astrid studied her. The second part didn’t sound like something Honor would say at all. What does she mean by she hopes she won’t get an assignment? She shook herself out of her thoughts and got up.

  “Well, I have to go.”

  “Good luck until then!” Ris turned back to her food.

  Honor stared into her eyes seriously, not smiling the least bit. “You have the choice,” she mouthed before turning back to her food speedily, with a demeanor that almost spoke of fear.

  Astrid just gaped at her for a moment before she forced herself to move on. You have the choice. It rang through her head over and over. Honor obviously knew something she didn’t.

  Finally she reached the training ground once more. Rune was waiting for her. There was a moment of silence as they evaluated each other.

  “I knew you could do it, but you learned faster and better than I exp
ected,” he said with a genuine smile.

  Astrid grinned back. She felt like she had her friend back. At least for a moment. Things were going to be fine. Rune may have gone astray in some ways, but he was still her friend.

  “Are you ready for your mission?”

  “Very,” she replied, taking a deep breath.

  “Alright then. You’re going to be on call in Velee. One of our people there says she asked around and you’ve been largely forgotten. So you should be safe. Occasionally there are people that pose a threat to our plan. Your job will be to eliminate them,” he said casually.

  At that moment Astrid’s world changed for good. It felt like her life had shattered, and pieces of it were cutting her as they rained down on her head. She was careful to keep her face neutral, but her emotions raged like a storm. Assassin? He wants me to be an assassin. No. No. I must not have heard right. Except...she did. Rune isn’t the same. He’s become cold, just like Mist said.

  She felt betrayed, and that betrayal sank deep into her heart. His face flashed into her mind as she remembered all the times they’d taken comfort in each other over the years. All the times she’d looked into his eyes and felt that everything would be alright. He had helped her maintain the belief that not everyone in the world was cruel, that not everyone in the world wanted to hurt her.

  Her heart was breaking in two. Rune had changed. He had become the opposite of everything he’d been before. He was now cruel and self-centered. Hard. Cold. She felt tears rise in her throat that she desperately wanted to let out. Rune. The loss was too great to have to endure again in a way even worse than before.

  She quickly sorted through her options and forced herself to realize that she might be in danger if she refused the mission. Who knew what this new Rune with a dangerous glint in his eyes would do? I can’t get out of the complex. The dome is caging me in, so I just have to play along for now and wait for a chance...a chance to run.

  She was careful to keep her face neutral as he studied her, then continued, “I’ll contact you on this device when you need to eliminate a target.” He handed her a rectangular tablet.

  She swallowed, trying to keep her hands from trembling as she took it.

  “Until then, you will find a place to stay and a way to support yourself, but to start you off I’ll give you fifty Veleen onants. That should be enough to buy housing and food for two or three months. The very first thing you’ll need to do though is dye your hair and change your appearance. Just to ensure no one will recognize you.” He handed her a small bag that clanked when she took it.

  All of her tears wanted to flow out. Her sobs tried to explode, but she knew she couldn’t let them.

  She had to take a moment before saying, “Alright.”

  I’ve been trained as an assassin. She tucked the tablet and money into the bag she’d packed with her few belongings.

  “Come on. I have to open the gate for you,” he said, swimming off.

  Astrid followed, forcing herself to keep her breathing even. When they reached the gate, Rune used a card to open it. Outside was the same blue and sandy world she knew, but it looked so wide. So big.

  “I programmed the coordinates of Velee into your tablet,” he said.

  “Thank you,” she managed to get out.

  His green eyes seemed to drill into hers as he smiled slightly. “Once we’ve successfully taken over and corrected the oppressive attitudes of the Veleens and Akaytans, we’ll move to a beautiful planet I have chosen. We won’t have to deal with these people anymore. But we have to take it one step at a time. You will be a big part of this movement. You’ll be remembered as a hero, Astrid.”

  A hero and an assassin are very different things. She answered with a false smile.

  He touched her hair briefly then turned and went back inside the dome, the door closing behind him.

  I can’t run away yet, there are cameras everywhere. I’ve got to look like I’m going to Velee. It’s my best option. What will I do? This all seems so hopeless. I just have to take it one step at a time. She pulled out the tablet. As soon as the power was on, the coordinates popped up and it began to guide her. She swam as fast as she could. The lump in her throat made it hard to breathe.

  After swimming for two hours she reached the outskirts of Velee. She continued to swim onward, having no idea where she was going. No destination. Just like my life. Nowhere to hide. Why do I still want to save these people? It’s obviously up to me and Effie to tell everyone about the core.

  The core. Nobody’s listening. We’re all going to die anyway. She could barely hold the pain inside her throbbing, breaking heart. She swam and swam and swam, her heart boiling with anger and fear and hurt.

  Being lost in the noisy Veleen crowd made her feel sick. A familiar voice caught her ears and she turned to look at the platform in the city center. The high commander in all of his arrogant pomp. She stopped, letting people push past her as she listened to him drone on about the recent events in their “ancient and orderly democracy.” Her eyes wandered over the faces in the crowd.

  One face in particular caught her eye. A girl. She looked familiar. Where have I seen her? It bothered Astrid. Something bothered her about that face being out of place. I know. She’s a part of the Star.

  At that moment Astrid saw the arm rise. She saw the gun in the hand of the Star. She lunged forward in horror as the sound resounded. She watched the laser fly through the water and straight into the high commander’s body.

  “No!” she shouted in horror as he fell to the bottom of the platform, dead.

  Dead. Killed. Killed by the Star. Simultaneous shouts rang out every which way. People moved in a manic frenzy as the culprit set off some sort of contamination bomb that Astrid began to choke on. They killed him. They just...killed him. Astrid didn’t like him as a person, but she didn’t want him to die.

  The water all around her was clouded. The hectic motions of the crowd made her turn in so many directions, trying to figure out what to do, while still processing the trauma. Tears floated out of her eyes. So many faces...so many faces rushing past. A blur of conflicting noises and colors. Confusion blurred her mind as she choked.

  Then she spotted another familiar face. Green eyes lighting up in surprise as he saw her. A mask slipped over her mouth and nose to filter out the fog. A hand on her shoulder urging her to move. As they struggled through the smoke, a strong sense of relief hit her.

  Together. Struggling through it together.

  Tears continued to pour out. How can I change any of this? How can I make a difference when no one will listen and I can’t trust anyone? She tried to calm her sobs as she closed her eyes in agony. I’m trying to help everyone, but I’m just one person. How much of a difference can I actually make? Her life, her goals...everything seemed to be broken, lying on the ground in scattered pieces. Where can I even start?

  She continued to scramble through the fog with him. It surrounded her and swirled, the commotion around them deafening. The noise began to fade. The fog disappeared and they both collapsed in an alley. As they took off their masks, they turned to face each other.

  Chapter sixteen

  “What are you doing back here?”

  ​She wasn’t shocked when she saw that it was Mist, though she should've been. A minute of silence prevailed as they stared at each other, both of them hot and panting from escaping the contamination bomb. Jolting emotions rose in her as she remembered waiting out the dust storm with Rune years ago, and wading through the fog with Mist just a second ago.

  “What are you doing back here?” he repeated.

  Astrid took deep breaths as mixed feelings swept through her. Rune said Mist was a criminal. Then again, he did help me...and Rune may have been lying.

  No, he probably was lying.

  Mist’s earnestness in the video flashed back into her mind. Well, I’m more inclined to trust Mist. I’d better be careful though—I was wrong about Rune. She sighed, tears welling up in her throat. I
was wrong about Rune.

  “Why did you help me again?” she asked cautiously.

  ​He crossed his arms and leaned against the wall. “I was watching the high commander’s speech and then I saw you. I should have known that Rune would try to use your drive for excellence to his advantage.”

  ​“My drive for excellence? How would you know anything about me?” Her face displayed her growing anxiety. Astrid felt like she’d been hit by a transport.

  ​He smiled genuinely. “That’s what makes you such a great scientist. I always saw it in you.”

  ​“How…I never even knew Rune had a twin brother. I certainly didn’t meet you.”

  ​His green eyes softened as he gazed at her and swam a bit closer. Her heart jumped and tears threatened once more.

  In that moment she knew. His face right before her, yearning for acceptance.

  ​“Your name isn’t Mist. It’s Rune,” she whispered.

  ​He nodded as he smiled softly. “It’s me.”

  ​She hugged him and started sobbing as everything that she had experienced that day overwhelmed her.

  “That wasn’t you. The Rune in the complex...he didn’t seem like you at all, but I thought he was. I thought...you had changed.”

  ​His arms closed around her, making her feel safe in their hold.

  ​He pulled away and put his hand on her face. Rune’s touch felt right, unlike his twin’s.

  “Astrid.”

  They both felt the joy of finally being in the other’s presence once again. And they both knew exactly what the other was trying to say. It’s been so long. I missed you terribly.