by Greg Dragon
She darted down an alleyway and kept her head low, running so fast and hard that the world became a blur. Her only thoughts were on survival and escaping Veece city. Her birthplace was falling, just like Palus had fallen. Yet civilians were dying, innocents, and it was her friends, her fellow resistance members, who were doing it.
The troopers had been corrupt enforcers of Felitious’s will, but the citizens did not deserve the fires and savagery that the Daltaks were giving them.
The chaos slowed as she reached an area of the city near the palace, and though she ran past troopers, none of them bothered to stop her. Illi now had troops all over Veece, and since he was on Talula rescuing Amanxa, she wondered just how large his army was.
Marian saw the outer wall of the city looming on her left, so she ran, jumped and stuck to it, climbing as fast as she could to gain the top. She ran along the wall towards the stream and then dove outside into the freezing waters. She struggled to get out before the current could take her, and managed to grab a rock near the bank and pull herself out of the drink.
“What a mess,” she muttered, then got to her feet and continued to run in the direction of Cally. She could hear more explosions, screams and gunfire, but something told her not to look back. Veece was over, the last of her past, but there was nothing to celebrate as far as she was concerned.
~ * ~
Marian pushed forward through the woods and could not see much due to the moon’s obscured light. It was symbolic of the lights of Veece going out, as the battle continued between the invaders and the desperate troopers continued.
As she felt her way past the trunks of the trees and willed her eyes to become used to the darkness, she could hear the sound of aircraft flying in from Veece’s allies. Felitians to the rescue, flying from all cities around Tyhera in order to save the capital. Marian thought about this and realized that they were in luck. With the distraction of the battle going on in Veece, most other cities would be open for the resistance to move on to with very little interference.
She began to make out the trees and the bushes a little better as her eyes adjusted to the dark. In time she was pushing easily through the forest, moving up the hilly countryside away from the city. She tried to keep her wits about her and not to become upset at the loss of life happening in her old home. She pulled out her carf knife and held it near her chin, focusing on the ‘now’ as she walked.
The forest was reputed to be wild despite its close proximity to the city, and if a rock cat was to jump out at her, she wanted to be ready to defend herself. It was uncharacteristically quiet as she moved along. There were no frogs singing mating songs, no intimidating growls, and no wind brushing through the branches audibly.
Marian moved into a clearing after some time had passed and backed up against the trees when she saw that she would be fully exposed if she walked across it. She stuck to the tree line and called up Rafian, hoping he would be alone and her call wouldn’t be a source of entertainment for his fellow rebels.
“Rafian, where are you?” she asked as soon as he was there.
“Waiting for you in one of the buildings – here in Cally. It’s actually pretty well preserved. Do you have an estimate on when you’ll get to us? Our friends are getting anxious, and I’m not sure this is the best place for us to be,” he said.
Marian heard a woman giggle in the background and she looked to the sky as if trying to determine the time. It was very late, and memories of past infidelities by her husband brought about an uneasy feeling in her gut which she then translated into anger.
“A little late for company don’t you think, husband?” she said and when he laughed at her tone, it only served to anger her more.
“He laughs, he thinks it’s funny,” she said.
“No, no, I don’t think it’s funny, Rhee. It’s just that … look, I know I haven’t been the best husband, but we talked about trust the other night and everything I said to you was true. I’m through with the games and running around like a new recruit with an agenda. I’m here with the lovely Jelline,” he said, and a sultry voice in the background confirmed it. “I’m also here with Delyi, who we’ve just found out is a Primian princess!” A softer voice in the background made a bashful grunt, but it did nothing to calm Marian’s temper.
“These girls played a major role in you being able to rid Luca of Palus, Marian. For instance, if it hadn’t been for Delyi, Marika would not have been able to get into the prison to rescue Blu. Delyi helped her to get with a key member of the troops that provided intel, and she also helped our girl to escape the city,” he said. “We’re here toasting to your success; well not only your success but to theirs, as well. They did a lot to get us to the places where we needed to be in order for this to happen,” Rafian said.
Marian exhaled and spoke. “Well, tell them I send my sincerest thanks, Rafian, and I would love to raise a glass with you all whenever I get there. For the record, I do believe you and everything you said, but I know that when it comes to women, especially beautiful women, you can make some poor choices sometimes. So, bear with me as I work on trusting you, but you’ve given me years of doubt in that light, so … just understand that it’s going to take some time.”
“I understand, Rhee,” Rafian said. She heard a new noise that sounded as if he’d gotten up, and then there was silence on the comm.
“Rafian?” she said, and he came back on instantly.
“Had to get away from the party a bit to talk to you,” he said. “Where exactly are you?”
“I’m in the forest north of where you guys are located, working my way to you and keeping my knife close in case of anything,” Marian replied.
“When you come up on Cally, just find the old casino. You remember where it’s located, don’t you?” he asked.
“Yes, but barely. I didn’t get much experience in that city, remember? By the time we were living with the resistance, we were forced to stay in the temple since the Fels were bombing Cally so much that it was unwise to try and stay there.”
There was a small brook that split the line of trees as it ran east and west through the hills. Marian glanced up to see if any cruisers were hovering close and when she saw none, she silenced her comm and listened. It was as silent as deep space, so she risked a run and jump maneuver to clear the water. Once she was over and under the cover of the branches, she touched the comm in her ear again and was surprised that Rafian was still talking.
“—you know the fact that we were so young back then, we didn’t know how dangerous life was for us as freedom fighters. Man, did we do some stupid things,” he was saying.
“Oh, stupid things? You mean like eloping as enemies to get married in the middle of a war? Spending our honeymoon on Lochte, an uncivilized planet? Lochte, where the same crazy Ranalos that now burn Veece were born? Yeah, we were stupid alright,” Marian said.
“We were living on the edge, but I cannot recall a night when I had trouble sleeping with you in my arms,” Rafian said.
“Yeah, I remember those days. I remember thinking: this man fears nothing, and we’ve been through so much that it has to be a much bigger plan of the makers that we are still together,” Marian said, smiling.
She crested a hill and could see down past the trees where familiar stone structures appeared like teeth pushing out of an endless clearing. This was what was left of Cally, and Marian found it amazing that the city was built where it was. It had to have taken a lot of time and machinery to clear out the forestry, then additional effort to lay a foundation for the tiny city.
“Hey babe, I’m right outside the city. I see what I think is the casino. Just hold on and I will come and find you guys,” she said into the comm, and quickened her pace to start down the hill.
The crack of a whip brought Marian around as a shadow caught her and pulled her in. It happened so fast that she couldn’t think or react. The coils of the whip trapped her arms to her side painfully, and as the surprise faded, she looked at who it was t
hat had struck her.
The woman’s skin was alabaster, and she had dark stains around her eyes that gave her face the look of a skull. Around her neck were the black feathers of the predatory birds that frequented the area, and as the woman pulled her in, she could smell the sickly sweet smell of rotten flesh.
The creature put something on her wrist that acted like a stasis cuff. Marian could not move her arms and as she turned around to look at her attacker, she threw her right leg up into a roundhouse, catching her on the underside of her jaw.
Black and yellow teeth flew from the mouth of the woman when Marian’s foot connected, and a sickening, bone-crunching sound came from it as her body stiffened and fell to the ground, unconscious.
Two more witches came out of the darkness, each prodding her with rods that sent electricity through her body and forced her to her knees instantly. The 3B suit protected her, but one of the rods caught her exposed neck. The voltage was enough to make her lose her balance, and several of them poured out from behind the trees, each with their own rod to poke at her body.
The rods that actually touched her skin brought about a ticklish, hot, yet painful sensation, and Marian wanted it to stop. She wanted to touch her ear, to let Rafian know that she was in trouble, but her arms couldn’t move and the painful electrocution was never ending.
She felt almost helpless as they pinned her legs down, but something inside of her knew that she was still in the fight.
The first woman stood up, rubbing her sore jaw as she walked over to Marian, and kicked her hard in the abdomen. Marian rolled over, coughing, and cursed her luck for getting so close without remembering Blu’s earlier warning that there were witches around the city.
She closed her eyes and uttered her last rites in preparation for the inevitable. Either the witches would kill her or slowly torture her—which was the same as death, or worse. Thype this, she thought, I won’t die in the dirt, and she sprung up to her feet, then ducked and spun with one leg out, knocking the first witch off her feet.
The stun rods hit her but she ignored the pain and kicked another in the abdomen before following up with a roundhouse, then climbing the woman while using the cuffs to cut off her circulation. More witches appeared, plentiful and angry, like serpents roused from their concealed pit. But there was a new sound, the sound of humming, and they all stopped to see what it was.
All that Marian could make out was blackness, and then a bright white light which she recognized as the hot edge of a las-sword. Next, a figure was swinging arcs everywhere, and the smell of burning flesh caught her nose. The witches screamed and fell under the blade, and two took off running into the woods. The las-sword’s wielder had managed to kill one of them, but three stood firm with their staffs extended, trying to fight back against it.
Marian killed the big witch that she had mounted, and then stepped into a sidekick to stop one of the others from fleeing the sword.
There was a violent swipe that resounded in a thump, and an ear-shattering scream as two of the remaining witches fell down dead. The last witch was brave and charged the shadow, but the white streak danced around multiple times, forming beautiful half circles that resulted in the woman being chopped into three separate parts.
The white light faded to black and Rafian came over to unlock Marian’s cuffs. He leaned in and looked at her, trying to assess the damage, then he kissed her and brushed the leaves from out of her hair.
“Forgot to warn you about the wildlife,” he said calmly.
She hissed her teeth and dusted herself off. “Well,” she said, “Looks like I’ve had the highest moment of my career and now … possibly the lowest. How is a skilled, war-proven Phaser going to be handcuffed by a bunch of savages with sticks? You are not to speak a word of this to anyone, Rafian, or I’ll never forgive you!”
“I won’t say anything, Rhee, but I can’t promise to keep quiet if there’s drinking involved,” he said, laughing loudly. “It’s not like they had you, my lovely hatch kitten. You were already working them out by the time I got here. We just had to – you know, show them our worth. I bet that they won’t be hunting around these parts again for a really long time.”
“Why did you come here, anyway?” Marian said, ignoring his attempts to get her worked up. “I thought you would be waiting for me in the casino.”
“Rhee, seriously? Do you really think I wasn’t going to come out here to retrieve you? When you told me that you were near the city, I came out to find you, but then I saw the witches roaming about. They couldn’t see me, and I stayed low amongst the fallen buildings. Lucky for you that I came along ... who knows what their intent was? From what Blu and Orion have told me, these witches actually eat their enemies.”
Memory 22
“How come you never talk about your sister, Rhee?” Rafian asked Marian, and she spun and stared at him with her mouth quivering as if she fought to keep her words suppressed. “I don’t know if it’s okay to ask you this because I feel like I’m crossing the line, but I would like to know, since it will allow me to understand you more – I think,” he said.
“You can never cross the line, Rafian. You can ask me anything. If I cannot be open with you as your wife, then who can I be open with? I guess it’s kind of good to talk these things, out isn’t it? To not keep them in.”
“That’s what I hear. So, your sister, who was she?” Rafian asked.
“Well, her name was Wharena, and she was beautiful like my mom. I remember her photos and vids the most, since I used to stare at them and try to look like her. You call me beautiful but you should have seen her. Oh, and she was feisty. My father said that they would argue all the time because my sister was so feisty. For a common girl under the old regime, it was a bad thing to be considered spirited, so my parents always worried that she would get herself into trouble. I question the truth of this, though because my parents are the only ones who remember her this way. Maybe she was only feisty with them, but to everyone else she was a sweet, quiet girl.
“One of the things that made everyone like Palus back then was that he was one of the only men to stand up against the Manas. They were a small group, not unlike our resistance, but they had big aspirations. Their leader, Mikah, wanted to take over Tyhera in order to bring in his own regime, but he wasn’t really a good person. When Palus showed up and fought against him, my parents thought he was their savior. Palus started his coup, and my parents helped – they helped a lot actually, and once the gangs were eliminated, Palus didn’t forget their service.
“As a matter of fact, due to my father’s loyalty, Palus told him that I would never ever have to work. I was made into my family’s first royal. A baroness, a privileged brat who never hesitated to remind others of my station.” She sighed with frustration and shook her head, then sat back on the bed so that her back touched the wall as she stared at her husband.
“So, why you and not your sister?” Rafian asked.
“Well, originally I was supposed to be married off to a man named Okov Wilder. My Uncle Okov – which is what I called him, did not agree with Palus’s decree of forced marriage and took me under his wing as a sort of niece or daughter. He was the one that made me into a true baroness, instead of one of his wives.
“As for my sister, she wasn’t even considered. She had taken her own life way before Palus’s army purged the streets. If she had been alive, they would have given her to Uncle Okov, but she was dead, so I was chosen instead.”
“Why would Wharena take her own life?” Rafian asked, leaning in with his arms resting on one of the pillows, his gaze intense.
Marian started talking but she didn’t look at him. “One of Mikah’s main lieutenants came across my sister in the market one day. She had actually gone there to get my dad a gift since they had been arguing and—” Marian, paused as if to collect herself and swallowed hard. She looked up at Rafian with her large, sparkling eyes and he could see that they were filled with tears before she looked away. He reached down
and took her hands, then brought them together and kissed them.
Marian took a deep breath and continued. “Wharena worked at the store and since she had said some nasty things to him, she went to purchase a peace offering. But when she was in the streets, Mikah’s gang took notice of her. My mom was the one who told her to do it, to go out there to get that gift. She has not been able to forgive herself since,” Marian said.
“We should go visit them,” Rafian said, but Marian shook her head at him.
“Please respect my wishes to stay away, Raf. Rienne Laren is dead to my parents, and they are dead to me. Anyway, one of the gangsters wanted Wharena, so they went ahead and kidnapped her. Now, my father, who was a very brave man in his own right, went after my sister and took on the gang. They beat him bloody and spared his life only because Wharena begged them to. My father came back home, defeated and humiliated, but what was he to do? Nobody would do anything, not the local magistrate, not the guards. They were allowed to snatch up girls, these filthy bastards, and there was no one there to make them pay, not until Palus Felitious.
“Now, I hadn’t been born yet but I heard about these things as I grew up, mostly in arguments between my mother and father. Then there were the whispers from neighbors who talk, but it came to a point where my parents lost Wharena. She married Mikah – apparently he liked her enough to take her from his man. She swore herself to him and became a member of the gang. My sister at this point had lost the will to live, and had committed her body to the gang, so when the gang members were beheaded for treason, she was one of them. She died with her own twisted sense of honor.
“My parents forbade anyone from talking about Wharena. They wanted her to be forgotten. To be honest, babe, I wish that I had known her. I wish that I knew her so I could see if I am anything like her. I’ve always thought that if it had been me in that situation, I would have done the same thing, especially being the fact that she was only 16.”
